scooter blenny

citymouse · Jul 31, 2019

I bought a red scooter blenny a couple days ago, along with a bicolor angel. The angel is a pig and eats everything! I'm concerned about feeding the scooter, he's in the QT, bare bottom, I have plants and a couple of pots for them to hide but he doesn't seem to be eating.
I fed them frozen brine shrimp, pretty sure the Angel fish eats all of it...the scooter doesn't move to go after food.
I read they need sand and rocks to graze on, but I don't have those in the QT. Can I put a rock in there?

Any suggestions on feeding the scooter blenny? He's a tiny little thing!! Half the time I can't even find him in there.

Old Fritz · Jul 31, 2019

It is a pain to get scooters onto frozen sometimes. What I did was put mysis shrimp inside the sand bed that way when he goes around grazing he grabs something, if he has a favorite spot put it there. Scooter blennies really prefer copepods ime but it is possible to get them on frozen with a bit of work

Tamberav · Jul 31, 2019

Prawn or fish eggs seem to work the best for frozen. Otherwise try live white worms.

citymouse · Jul 31, 2019

Old Fritz said:
It is a pain to get scooters onto frozen sometimes. What I did was put mysis shrimp inside the sand bed that way when he goes around grazing he grabs something, if he has a favorite spot put it there. Scooter blennies really prefer copepods ime but it is possible to get them on frozen with a bit of work

He's in a bare bottom QT right now, this concerns me when it comes to feeding. I don't know anything about copepods, live worms etc in my tank kind of freaks me out, lol. My fish get frozen and NLS....I should have paid more attention to the guy at the store telling me this fish is sometimes difficult to feed....

I'm going to try frozen prawn and fish eggs to see if that motivates him. I'll also put a flat container with sand in it, maybe he'll go in there and feel more comfortable. I did this when I had a Goby in QT, ultimately I ended up dumping the sand and the Goby was much happier...luckily he was healthy and easily moved to the DT without treatments.

I guess I need to look more into copepods too....

Tamberav · Jul 31, 2019

citymouse said:
He's in a bare bottom QT right now, this concerns me when it comes to feeding. I don't know anything about copepods, live worms etc in my tank kind of freaks me out, lol. My fish get frozen and NLS....I should have paid more attention to the guy at the store telling me this fish is sometimes difficult to feed....

I'm going to try frozen prawn and fish eggs to see if that motivates him. I'll also put a flat container with sand in it, maybe he'll go in there and feel more comfortable. I did this when I had a Goby in QT, ultimately I ended up dumping the sand and the Goby was much happier...luckily he was healthy and easily moved to the DT without treatments.

I guess I need to look more into copepods too....

You may want to return him if those things freak you out. He would be best in an established aquarium with all the creepy crawlies to eat. They have a short digestive tract and need to eat a lot and often so even if you get him on frozen, you would have to feed often and leave the pumps off for long periods. They are slow eaters so things like nass snails/cleaner shrimp/aggressive eating fish, etc can pose problems if they decide to take the food for themselves. This fish has special requirements.

The bare bottom should not matter. My display tank is bare bottom with a scooter in it. If anything, it's easier to find frozen food on glass then sand.

He probably just doesn't like how barren and unnatural QT tanks can look or is unhealthy if he isn't actively scooting around trying to find pods. They look for food constantly.

Old Fritz · Jul 31, 2019

citymouse said:
He's in a bare bottom QT right now, this concerns me when it comes to feeding. I don't know anything about copepods, live worms etc in my tank kind of freaks me out, lol. My fish get frozen and NLS....I should have paid more attention to the guy at the store telling me this fish is sometimes difficult to feed....

I'm going to try frozen prawn and fish eggs to see if that motivates him. I'll also put a flat container with sand in it, maybe he'll go in there and feel more comfortable. I did this when I had a Goby in QT, ultimately I ended up dumping the sand and the Goby was much happier...luckily he was healthy and easily moved to the DT without treatments.

I guess I need to look more into copepods too....

My scooter went under the sand once which was the night i got him. He never did it since even when I reach into the tank. I dont think sand is really that necessary

citymouse · Aug 1, 2019

Tamberav said:
You may want to return him if those things freak you out. He would be best in an established aquarium with all the creepy crawlies to eat. They have a short digestive tract and need to eat a lot and often so even if you get him on frozen, you would have to feed often and leave the pumps off for long periods. They are slow eaters so things like nass snails/cleaner shrimp/aggressive eating fish, etc can pose problems if they decide to take the food for themselves. This fish has special requirements.

The bare bottom should not matter. My display tank is bare bottom with a scooter in it. If anything, it's easier to find frozen food on glass then sand.

He probably just doesn't like how barren and unnatural QT tanks can look or is unhealthy if he isn't actively scooting around trying to find pods. They look for food constantly.

My DT has been set up for 2 yrs, it was an upgrade from a 75g to a 210g. Fish only tank. I'm curious about copepods, I'm not entirely unwilling to find a healthy diet to feed this little guy but I did consider maybe returning him today after reading more about their feeding habits. Why do you leave the pumps off for an extended time?

Everything i read mentioned sand, that's why I was worried about the bare bottom QT. I have 2 large pots, 2 plants and 2 pieces of PVC in the QT, so it's not completely empty.

Tonight I used a dropper and put frozen food right down where he was sitting, he seemed to go after it and eat some. I am concerned long term if he will continue eating frozen, if it's right for him, if he'll get the food when the other try to eat it all. I have a goby and have been thinking of moving my fire shrimp into that tank, currently in a biocube. Also, 2 tang and 2 clownfish. The bicolor angel is in QT with the scooter and he/she is a pig!

Love the bright red little guy, but I want to do what's right. The guy at the fish store is very good, he mentioned he could be difficult to feed, I just didn't consider how hard it might be. Everything I read says they eat copepods. I'm not even sure how to return a fish....

Tamberav · Aug 1, 2019

I leave the pumps off because they generally won't chase food down and they take forever to eat enough.

If you have copepods, which I would think you would in a 210g then you should be fine to let him hunt and not worry about feeding. I am not familiar with FOWLR though. Pods have to be introduced on rock or added in some way... then they establish to a number vs how much food is available to the pods. Algae, debris, leftovers, they scavenge. Other fish will eat them too, especially wrasses.

You'll need to do something in QT though, I would just cut the pumps and try a variety of food and live foods you can't get him to eat enough frozen.

citymouse · Aug 1, 2019

Tamberav said:
I leave the pumps off because they generally won't chase food down and they take forever to eat enough.

If you have copepods, which I would think you would in a 210g then you should be fine to let him hunt and not worry about feeding. I am not familiar with FOWLR though. Pods have to be introduced on rock or added in some way... then they establish to a number vs how much food is available to the pods. Algae, debris, leftovers, they scavenge. Other fish will eat them too, especially wrasses.

You'll need to do something in QT though, I would just cut the pumps and try a variety of food and live foods you can't get him to eat enough frozen.

I started that tank with dry rock, I assume I'd have to add pods in order to have them. I'm not sure the angel fish gives him much time to eat, it darts around grabbing up all of the food.
Tomorrow I'll try the frozen again, until I can buy something different. I might return him this weekend...but that saddens me, I really wanted him but I don't want to risk him dying either.

Tamberav · Aug 1, 2019

citymouse said:
I started that tank with dry rock, I assume I'd have to add pods in order to have them. I'm not sure the angel fish gives him much time to eat, it darts around grabbing up all of the food.
Tomorrow I'll try the frozen again, until I can buy something different. I might return him this weekend...but that saddens me, I really wanted him but I don't want to risk him dying either.

If it doesn't work out...you can buy bottled pods to seed your tank to get it started and try again in the future. Maybe QT the next one alone so nothing can steal the food.

Jet Sled · Aug 1, 2019

If he is eating frozen then your off to a good start. Mine is a pig and eats everything even pellets and flake food.

citymouse · Aug 10, 2019

I want to update: This little guy is eating the frozen food no problem! He eats as soon as I feed, he's holding his own against the piggish Angel fish....also he was pretty excited about the new snails that my husband dropped in my tank when he received 8x more than he ordered....

I'm still going to look for some other food for him, just in case the frozen isn't enough.