Scooter Blenny Help.....

[fredro]

I purchased a scooter blenny yesterday, tried to feed frozed and it declined. i see it happily "scooting" around the tank all day pecking at the ground, i was told that even though i cannot see what it's eating, the fact that it is doing that, it is finding pods to eat. tha fish is skinny obviously b/c they warehouses and petstores dont keep them in anything more than a 10gal with plastic corals. any help/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have a few pods in the sponge area of my filter. Tank has no fuge or sump.

46 bow up Aprox. 1yr.
50lbs LR
1" Bed LS
various LPS and few SPS coral
Yellow Watchman Goby
Scooter Blenny
Purple Pseudochromis
Firefish Goby
Peppermint Shrimp
Snails and Hermits

 

[Deanos]

Why buy a fish that's obviously skinny? What was it eating at the place you bought it? What sources did you research before buying a fish with a specialized diet? Help us help you...

 

[KathyC]

Is it one of these?
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=96

Not the easiest fish to feed.
My book says shaved shrimp or vitamin enriched live brine shrimp. You'd need to grow these on a daily basis to feed if you do not have a substantial amount growing in your tank.

What frozen food were you trying to feed him?

Any chance you can take him back to the LFS and get something easier to feed and more appropriate for your tank?

 

[MikeyNYC]

I've had a scooter blenny for about 6 months now, main source of food has been pods, and also mix a bunch of different frozen foods for the tank. I usually see the blenny going for the frozen plankton, and bloodworms. Good luck!


Also, forgot to mention. Enrich w/ vitamins and garlic, can only help.

 

[fredro]

Why buy a fish that's obviously skinny? What was it eating at the place you bought it? What sources did you research before buying a fish with a specialized diet? Help us help you...

listen it was skinny, it obviously wasnt being fed propperly, i got it for $5 b/c i had brought them a few few fish i no longer wanted, i felt bad for it, i knew it had a specialized diet and it was more work than your average fish, but i can do it, my tank has pods, so what the hell is so wrong with me buying the fish?!:anger2:

 

[EmilyT]

i believe some stores sell bottled pods. next time ask us about what you're about to do and we'll help you out. we're not getting on your case about it. just some constructive criticizm. the majority of everything ive learned came from other reefers's input.

 

[fredro]

i have a good friend with 2 mandarins and i have been into the hobby for about 5 years now, i understand the needs of the fish. now again, i will repeat my original question: IF THE FISH IS HAPPILY SWIMMING AROUND PECKING AT THE ROCKS AND SAND, COULD IT BE ACTUALLY FINDING AND EATING FOOD EVEN THOUGH THE PODS ARE TO SMALL FOR ME TO SEE (keeping in mind that i do know for a fact that there are pods in my tank). I WAS TOLD THAT IF THE FOOD WASNT THERE HE WOULDN'T BE PECKING.

any answer to this question would be greatly appreciated

 

[DevIouS]

listen it was skinny, it obviously wasnt being fed propperly, i got it for $5 b/c i had brought them a few few fish i no longer wanted, i felt bad for it, i knew it had a specialized diet and it was more work than your average fish, but i can do it, my tank has pods, so what the hell is so wrong with me buying the fish?!:anger2:

If it was skinny, what makes you think it isn't sick?
It wasn't eating at the place you bought it from.....so, if he's far gone it wouldn't start immediately eating just because you place it your tank.
What's so wrong about purchasing the fish is that they already have a bad track record & you made a purchase with hopes in saving it.
Although it might have a better chance in your tank, you just supported that LFS to go & order another one.

If you "can do it", you wouldn't have created a thread for assistance.:tired:

They're saying "help us help you" & your getting defensive.:sigh:

 

[ellebelle]

Fredo, I'll answer your original question.

Yes, he is finding pods in your tank, and he is eating them.

Now, I'll give you a little more information ....
He is likely going to exhaust your supply of pods in a very short amount of time. If you want to keep this fish in the long term in a 46 bow, you should look into pod cultivation.

:dead:

 

[roncgizmo]

i have a good friend with 2 mandarins and i have been into the hobby for about 5 years now, i understand the needs of the fish. now again, i will repeat my original question: IF THE FISH IS HAPPILY SWIMMING AROUND PECKING AT THE ROCKS AND SAND, COULD IT BE ACTUALLY FINDING AND EATING FOOD EVEN THOUGH THE PODS ARE TO SMALL FOR ME TO SEE (keeping in mind that i do know for a fact that there are pods in my tank). I WAS TOLD THAT IF THE FOOD WASNT THERE HE WOULDN'T BE PECKING.

any answer to this question would be greatly appreciated

Yes It's very possible it's eating...Keep an eye on it.

I bought a Mandy and thought I had no food for it, my fuge looked bad in Pod life after I changed tanks..but I see he's getting fat so all ok
plus I got my fuge kickin again.

 

[NYreefNoob]

on the brighter side mine after awhile ate anything i put into the tank. if it has only been in there for a day i wouldnt worry about it not eating, it's use to food from the sea, get a bottle of tiger pod's. i dose my tank with these every other month or so to keep ample pod's for my manderin, as well as wrasse. you will have to give it time to get use to eating frozen preparations or freez edried, you tried cycopleze ? and basically what the mean mod was saying is even at $5 it's a hard fish to keep and to take a chance at buying a possibly sick fish isnt the best thing, and this just give's the store room to buy more and sell too those who dont know how to care for certain type's of fish with certain needs

 

[DevIouS]

Is there an echo in here?

 

[fredro]

i am investing in pod cultivation, i assuned the fish was skinny because due to the idiots in the warehouses and in the LFS that keep the fish in a tank w/o any LR, only display tanks, that the fish hadnt eaten in a few days/weeks but it wasnt famished and swam happily so i figured instead of starve to death i'd try to help it out, plus it was cute.... i have heard that many ppl find these fish and others with similar diets skinny b/c of impropper feeding after their capture. for example, do you think a petco could keep one of these alive for very long?

but since it's eating pods and i will be investing in more pods / pod cultivation, it seems my question has been answered and everything should be ok. thank you for your help

 

[EmilyT]

p.s. don't buy from people who cant take care of their livestock

 

[nemofreak]

I have had my scooter for 2 weeks I bought pods and it loved those but i noticed that past few days it has started to eat frozen brine so i'm excited about that. I will continue to buy it copepods as a treat.

 

[fredro]

i'm happy to announce the today my new little friend too a liking to the frozen brine shrimp!!!!! i will be buying live pods on occasion and will be growing my own live brine also. thanks for the input

 

[OctaviousMonk]

make sure you enrich the brine shrimp with nutrient/vitamins like selcon and garlic as the brine themselves have almost no nutritional value. Mysis would be better for them

 

[partobe]

I bought one two weeks ago and I asked to see him eat so they feed him some frozen cylcopzeez(sp) and he actually chased the food down. I now make sure I put some in with each feeding. I think your fish is finding food but you might want to add some cyclopeez(sp) to help him fatten up.
Good luck!

 

[fredro]

Just an update, i has been a few weeks now and the blenny is pretty much 100% healthy, eating frozen mysis and brine happily, and picking for pods constantly.......... ots a happy ending for him.

 

[Killerdrgn]

if your ever afraid of running out of pods you could always attempt to make one of these.
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47552