Scooter Blennies....(Love em)

[LtSmash]

i just got home from my local Marine Dealer, (www.reefsystemsonline.com) and they had a badass scooter blennie for only 6 bucks! so naturally i came home first to check up on them i read they are territorial...is this towards other fish or just same species? i only have a blue damsel and the hardiest hermit crab i have ever seen. =) are they hardy? my tanks been running for about 6 weeks now with a nice amount of algae (some red some blueish) and all my tests came out fine. let me know =)

Jake

 

[_range_]

I've got two scooter blennies, I haven't seen any territorial problems whatsoever... read disclaimer.

 

[naesco]

Unless you have lots of pods in your tank, definitly do not get the scooter.
Take it easy. I know you are anxious. But the longer you wait for your tank to age the better.
Thanks for asking before you buy.

 

[LtSmash]

not necessarily as anxious as a bargain hunter =). but what do you mean by pods? *newb cloud looms* =)

 

[SAT]

but what do you mean by pods?

Copepods, which are basically all a dragonette will eat. The short answer is you shouldn't put a dragonette in a 6-week-old tank. It will most likely starve to death.

 

[Anonymous]

As in amphipods and copepods. Copepods are very small amphipods kind of look like those sand fleas you may have seen at the beach. You may have a few on the live rock but it takes a while for their to be a sustainable population. Add fish and invertebrate predators and the population thins out obviously. Scooter Blennies are much like Mandarins, both are in a family of fishes commonly referred to as dragonets. Both need substantial amounts of live food in an established system to thrive (pods). People occasionally get these to eat prepared/frozen food but 90% of them end up wasting away in immature systems.

Many moons ago my first marine tank was a fish only I had in high school. Was actually pretty successful and never had any losses to speak of except a scooter, yep he starved, I bought him listening to the bozo in the LFS say hed scavenge. Not true. For mandarins I beleive the figure I remember reading was 40 gallons per fish with lots of very well established live rock in a system at least 6 months old.

Search threads here for mandarins, similar rules apply to the scooter. Also check over on wetwebmedia, they have a ton of faqs on almost every species of commonly kept fish. You will read countless sad stories of people buying these cute little fish and having them starve to death.

 

[naesco]

SAT is right.
If they tried to sell you a scooter for a six week old tank, switch LFS.

 

[_range_]

Crizap. I've got two mandarin dragonettes in my 105 reef right now. I've had it running for about 2 or 3 months. I've seen pods, not numerous but they're there. My LFS would take them back if I asked - what do you guys recommend?

 

[zibnata]

My tank is about 3 mos. old. 55 gallon with 50LBS LR.I bought a scooter blennie recently . When I feed the fish I take a turkey baster and squirt some brine shrimp near him and he eats it. Can he survive on what he finds on the LR and brine shrimp ?

 

[LtSmash]

I have a Brine Shrimp Farm for my Freshies...and about my LFS, they didnt try to sell him to me, i saw him in the tank, noted it and went home. i trust these guys pretty well but i wanted a mass responce=) i've also heard they are good nuisance alge cleaners in a newly established tank.

 

[SPC]

Posted by zibnata:

My tank is about 3 mos. old. 55 gallon with 50LBS LR.I bought a scooter blennie recently . When I feed the fish I take a turkey baster and squirt some brine shrimp near him and he eats it. Can he survive on what he finds on the LR and brine shrimp ?

-If you are referring to frozen brine shrimp, or even live adult brine that has not been gut loaded, then no. This food is about the least nutritious (very little protien) you can feed to your animals. I would suggest at least soaking it in Selco at the very minimum.

Posted by LTsmash:

i've also heard they are good nuisance alge cleaners in a newly established tank.

-This is false, but I have heard it too at some LFSs. These fish are carnivores.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Posted by LTsmash:

i've also heard they are good nuisance alge cleaners in a newly established tank.

-This is false, but I have heard it too at some LFSs. These fish are carnivores.
Steve

Steve - depends on the definition of "scooter blenny" many LFS's attribute that moniker to any benthic goby or blenny including say the "lawnmower" Salarias fasciatus which do obviously consume algae. Hence the mis-ID's and poor information from those that can't seem to afford to buy a book and actually read it.

 

[LtSmash]

i should have been a bit more specific.. hes an indo pacific brown blennie.

 

[SAT]

i should have been a bit more specific.. hes an indo pacific brown blennie.

OK, so you can ignore all the comments about pods and dragonettes. The trouble is "indo pacific brown blennie" narrows it down to about a zillion species with many possible habits. Many blennies are territorial, but mostly towards just their own (or similar) species. Make sure you see it eat.