Help my scooter blenny is starving

[iAmARomeoSF]

His stomach is very concave and looks like he could kick the bucket at any given minute.... he is still constantly sifting through the sand and on the live rock so he is trying to eat but when I place any type of food in the tank he just over looks it and continues sifting through the sand... is he too far gone or can I still save him

 

[Hemmdog]

What have you been trying to feed him?

 

[Omarons]

Is this a new tank? Purchase some live pods and seed them in your tank, he would eat happily.
I do not feed my scooter blenny, ive never seen him eat, yet he has grown to double his size in 2 months.

If you have chaeto, that would help the pods grow

 

[fishguy242]

if have chaeto pull out shake over bowl put pods in tank,or buy some asap ,best wishes

 

[najer]

As above add pods as soon as you can, if it stops searching and pecking it will starve.

 

[Hallowhead]

Can you also add some sheets of nori?

 

[OrionN]

Your tank is new and not suitable for Dragonet. You need to get him to a large mature tank. He only eat live tiny crustaceans hardly larger than a flake of dust. Without providing these for him, either expensive MO live food or get him to a suitable system he is “a dead fish swimming”. Nori is not going to help other than foul up the water. He is not eating large amphipods, nor “shifting” the sand for food. He just peck these tiny crustaceans living on/in the sand and surface of rock.

Sorry to be negative but it is what it is. There isn’t anyway to say it nicely.

 

[Big G]

The fish needs copepods. And it needs a constant supply of them. Places like Algaebarn can supply you with pods from a fishless environment to avoid parasites. Nice people too.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I feed mine with a mandarin feeder. No need for pods https://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

 

[NowGlazeIT]

If you don’t have a feeder or pods then try feeding small particle foods like cyclops/oyster eggs or baby brine. Spot feed in a corner of the tank with all flow/circulation OFF. For at least 20 min. They don’t eat food from the open water column like other reef ornamentals

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

If you don’t have a feeder or pods then try feeding small particle foods like cyclops/oyster eggs or baby brine. Spot feed in a corner of the tank with all flow/circulation OFF. For at least 20 min. They don’t eat food from the open water column like other reef ornamentals

Or do that in a jam jar so only the dragnet can access the food, thats how i trained mine to eat food and it may be worth while getting some chaetomorpha algae and rubberbanding it to a rock to create some sort of pod hotel for pods to grow and him to eat

 

[Big G]

So many great ideas above ^^^

More info on Scooters: https://www.themandaringarden.com/scooter-blenny.html

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Or do that in a jam jar so only the dragnet can access the food, thats how i trained mine to eat food and it may be worth while getting some chaetomorpha algae and rubberbanding it to a rock to create some sort of pod hotel for pods to grow and him to eat.

Exactly. I made a feeder out of large vinyl tubing. It doesn’t have to be just like paul B’s but they need access to a readily available food source, one with zero competition

 

[William Mumford]

I sell pods if you need some no fish water in any of my cultures I feed phytoplankton. They may also eat fresh hatched brine shrimp. Adult brine are not very nutritious fresh hatched babies are better.

 

[hikermike]

I think a basic point has been missed in the OP's question...can I feed it nori. This is a problem at the level of the local fish store that sold it to him in that the scooter blenny and the lawnmower blenny look very mush alike the the LFS seldom point out the difference. I think he feels he has a lawnmower blenny and nori would suit him just fine if no hair algae is available. (But mine loves Hikari "crab cuisine"). But apparently hw has a scooter "blenny" which is not a blenny but a dragonet and very hard to feed.