Originally Posted by
stubbbs
http:///forum/post/2479971
i have had him about 2 months and i think the problem is he is starving...what can i now do to get him to eat? i used to see him picking at the gravel but have not noticed lately. I always float some algea sheets but can honestly say he never really looked interested in the algae sheets....as far as the way he is acting...very blah, not active, and he was very easy to catch and place in a qt tank...any advice??? thanks
First, it's really best to have a constant, natural food source available to them - ie. copepods and amphipods, etc. A refugium is a good way to 'farm' these live foods without the fish completely depleting the population.
That said, I've had luck getting them to eat frozen by using blood worms and then adding more variety. Most people will say scooters and mandarins don't get the nutrition they need, but I think the issue is really the availability of the food. If you're relying on frozen for the scooter, feed at least 3 or 4 times a day. Or better yet, set-up a feeding station that he can use any time of day.
Unfortunately, this fish is hard to enough to keep healthy, and significantly harder to nurse it back.