thoughts on scooter blennies?

[nemofish2217]

I am thinking about buying a scooter blenny for my biocube, and i just wanted to know what you guys thought about how well they do?

Are they mainly scavengers?

What i mean is, i know they look similar to mandarins but are they as difficult?

Will i most likely be able to get him to eat frozen food or pellets? thanks

[Amoore311]

They need the same food source as a mandarin. They are a dragonette (sp?).

You might have success training it to eat mysis and cyclopeeze, but if you're going to try a scooter.... why not just try a mandarin

[nemofish2217]

thats what i was wondering, because i realistically wont have any live food in the tank(sixline),lol. I thought i had heard that the scooters were not as finicky as the mandarins....but maybe i was wrong?

[Newlin]

The Mandarins are a lot harder to keep than the Blennys. I love Blennys but don't have any in my tank at this time. With the Wrasse in there, it's going to be hard for him to find food, like you said. So, unless you want to see if you can train him on frozen, I would leave him at the store.

[nemofish2217]

those were my thoughts....how hard do you think it will be to train him? I'm willing to work with him if there is a pretty reasonable chance....

[Newlin]

What I would do is setup a 10 gallon that is attached to your main tank. You will need sand and a little rock in there for him to sit on. Then, just take a cup with tank water and melt the frozen foods. With a turkey baster, suck some up and squirt it in front of him. If he starts to eat, you are set. If not, you may have to start out with some BBS (Baby Brine Shrimp). I have a tank setup just for the BBS and I shut off all the flow in my tank once a week and feed them to the tank. Everything loves them and some are still in the rock and sand.

That is how I would try to get him to eat. But, if the Wrasse is anything like mine, he will hate any new fish that you put in there. I hope he's not though.

[rssjsb]

I would advise against it. Even if it takes some frozen food, I think they still need pods to survive in the long run. I don't think frozen foods are enough for them - they're like mandarins in that they are constantly hunting. In a tank that size, even without the sixline, it would be a stretch.

I had one that ate mysis like a champ, but still didn't make it. I still feel bad about it.

[Rewd]

We sell scooters where I work. Traditionally I've always had excellent success with getting them to eat prepared foods. It takes patience.

If you decide to purchase one ask your LFS if they are taking prepared foods and then have them demonstrate it for you.

[dendro982]

The constant presence of the food in the tank will affect water quality, may be skimmer help.
Or you may feed it near the glass several times daily - it will come.

[kar93]

Ive had my Scooter for about 9 months and hes been feeding well since i got him on frozen brine, i put him in when the tank had finished cycling

[sk8rreefgeek]

I had one that wouldn't eat. lasted a week or two, then found him under my starfish.

[j5aliv]

big fan of scooter blennies...i had 3, one male and two females that lived happily in a 135

[kookerson]

FWIW.....My very first fish was a scoot, been in there since early June and he is fat. Although, if I new that they primarily feed on Pods, I probably wouldnt have bought him yet. I guess I just got lucky : )

[capn_hylinur]

IMO I wouldn't try to keep a scooter or a manderine without a well established and run refugium to supply the live zooplankton they need.