Scooter questions :)

[Peanutsnanotank21]

Hey guys I have scooter blenny questions
What I wanna know is what age they hit sexual maturity- I wanted a male because I love the beautiful dorsal fins , they had two Scooters for sale I ended up going with the smallest for it like the colors a lot better then the other ( which was also 2 -3 times the size of the one I got)
Once all settled I noticed the small dorsal fin and thought I had gotten a female. Later when back at the store I purchased her from I was talking to an employee who said my fish my still end up being a male ( they mostly got males and showed me the other scooters fin, it had been there for a good two months. While mine had come in the day I bought it) and it had to hit sexual maturity before getting its pretty dorsal fin.
Is this true?
How can I tell how old my scooter is?
I attached two pictures below. I would imagine it is about the size of an inch to a inch in a half.

 

[jay0705]

I've always seen them w the fin if its male. Even at 1.5-2" inch size

 

[Peanutsnanotank21]

Thank you!
Good to know once I move and get a bigger tank I wanna get her a mate. Scooters are some of my favorite fish even though the are hard to take care of because of feeding requirements.
Do you know how long they take to fatten up? The store didn't feed pods ( I do) but I have only had her for a couple of weeks so her belly seems sunken in still. She will also pick at some frozen food.

 

[jay0705]

Honesty there tough fish bc there usually in such bad shape when we get them. I assume its a brown common scooter? There by far the easiest to get on frozen. I've had mine for a yr now and he fights w the tangs when i pour food in lol. A good food is nutramar prawn roe, it comes frozen. Draggonetts really like it

 

[Jesterrace]

The problem with all dragonette fish is you need lots of well eastablished live rock with a healthy copepod population in order to ensure long term survival of the fish. They can be trained to eat frozen but the problem is that they are very slow and methodical eaters and many fish will beat them to the punch with eating. I do hope your tank is good sized and has a well established pod population.

 

[Peanutsnanotank21]

The problem with all dragonette fish is you need lots of well eastablished live rock with a healthy copepod population in order to ensure long term survival of the fish. They can be trained to eat frozen but the problem is that they are very slow and methodical eaters and many fish will beat them to the punch with eating. I do hope your tank is good sized and has a well established pod population.

I had a decent population started I buy pods to make sure the population stays up, at this point its probably a little over kill but she eats a lot and was very skinny when I got her from the store. I Don't mind spending the 20 dollars to stay on the safe side. She also picks at frozen foods but I will not be relying on them anytime soon.
I did a lot of research before I got her - its hard to tell if they are gaining weight

 

[jay0705]

What other fish do u have?

 

[Peanutsnanotank21]

What other fish do u have?

A coral banded shrimp
Who loves the frozen and pellet food.

 

[jay0705]

Ah ok not a pod eater tho lol

 

[Jesterrace]

I had a decent population started I buy pods to make sure the population stays up, at this point its probably a little over kill but she eats a lot and was very skinny when I got her from the store. I Don't mind spending the 20 dollars to stay on the safe side. She also picks at frozen foods but I will not be relying on them anytime soon.
I did a lot of research before I got her - its hard to tell if they are gaining weight

You are luckier with your scooter than I was with my Green Mandarin. It learned to eat Mysis and Reef Frenzy and I spent over $300 on pods and it still died. I have been wary of any pod dependent eater since then.

 

[jay0705]

Green mandys and ruby reds are the two toughest fish. You need big old tanks loaded w pods. Even then you still need a fish not too far gone from retail.
Common scooters take to frozen fairly well, but there a drab brown so they often get over looked. If i could get a video to load, i would show mine at feeding time. He comes rt up in the water column picking food off amongst my 3 tangs and my coris wrasse.