Starving Scooter Blennie

c2rn

c2rn

Member
We have a very small scooter blennie in our 50g FOWLS. I am worried that the blennie is not getting enough to eat. I've tried really hard to put the brine right in front of him but he's just too slow and they get away from him. He constantly picks at the LS but is that enough? The LFS where I got him says that he'll eat flakes but that doesn't seem to work either. Do you think he might go for sinking pellets or something? Help :eek: . I'd hate to see the little guy slowly starve to death :(
 
shel

shel

Member
My lawnmower blemmie eats off the LR through out the day. At nite he perches on a flat LR and waits for me to dump in the frozen brime shrimp. He gets a few that floats directly in front of him. he does not go after like the other fish. He also eats off the back of the tank. He seems to be doing very well. Sometimes he even looks like he has a small pot belly. LOL
Try the sinking pellets in his favorite area of the tank, or put the brime shrimp in a turkey baster and squirt in right in front of his face. he is bound to get some then.
Good luck.
Shel
He should be getting the majority of his diet from the lr and ls. :D
 
fish_kisses

fish_kisses

Member
We have a scooter in our 55 gal FOWLR..my advice is to check to see if you have any little coepods. This is their main diet although with time they will eat brine or flake. To check if you have coepods wait till the lights go out and shine a flashlight in your tank. Coepods look like little clear bugs running around in your substrate and rock. They have long antenna. If you have an abundance of them like I do you might see little moltings of them floating around in your tank. These little creatures are your scooters favorite meal and if you have them don't worry about them starving themselves. They will eat! If you see a little cloud of dust come out from behind his gills when he's swimming around; He is eating! Good Luck! :)
 
jimi

jimi

Active Member
First, a lawnmower blennie can in no way be compared to a scooter. They are entirely different fish and species. The scooter is incorrectly called a blennie but it is actually a dragonet.Second just because dust is being thrown out the top of its gills does not mean it is eating, it means he is sifting which does not mean he is finding food. Although they are a little hardier then a mandarin they still need a calm tank and special care. It can take months for a fish to starve to death. I would suggest you turn of your powerheads when feeding. Use a turkey baster to slowly put the food in front of him. Try mysis shrimp, they are far more nutritious then brine. You could also soak your brine in selcon to fatten him up a little and make the brine more nutritious. What other fish are in the tank?
 
fish_kisses

fish_kisses

Member
Well I'm sure that it is not safe to say that when the dust comes out that they are eating, but in our tank that is what it means. We are just giving advice from our experiences. But at least if c2rn has coepods, then it is a very good chance that the scooter is eating. This little bit is just from our point of view, and thought that they could use it to their advantage to get an idea of what is going on. But then we all have our opinions!! :D
 
kingbrd1

kingbrd1

Member
I have a scooter blenny that is doing great. He chases after the frozen food I drop in and tries to swim up to get the flakes (doesn't ever succeed :) I'
ve had hime for the better part of 3 months or so and he's made himself quite a home. He antagonizes the green emeralds and spends the day moving all over the rock and CC. He will generally pick up what's left on the bottom. Not sure this helps but hope it gives you some clues that they will survive.
King
 
c2rn

c2rn

Member
Thanks everyone ;) . jimi, fyi, his tankmates are a long nosed hawk, perc clown, and foxface. He ate really well last night. As per the suggestions, we made sure the brine landed right in front of him and he ate it up. Not the smartest little guy but very cute. By the way does mysis come frozen or freeze dried. I don't recall seeing it at the LFS but I'll check again.
 
c2rn

c2rn

Member
Thanks everyone ;) . jimi, fyi, his tankmates are a long nosed hawk, perc clown, and foxface. He ate really well last night. As per the suggestions, we made sure the brine landed right in front of him and he ate it up. Not the smartest little guy but very cute. By the way does mysis come frozen or freeze dried. I don't recall seeing it at the LFS but I'll check again.
 
stig

stig

Member
My scooter died today :(
I'd had him since June last year and he always seemed happy; grazed on the live rock and accepted brine shrimp and pellets.
A while ago I added a 6-line wrasse which took to ramming the blenny whenever it was on the rock so I took it back to the shop. For the next 2 weeks the blenny spent nearly all of every day hovering high up in the tank but still came down to eat.
Then, about a week ago it pretty much stopped moving around. It just kind of sat in the same place, didn't eat and moved about twice a day.
It had no signs of disease. Does anyone have any ideas of what went wrong?
Could it have been the stress from the wrasse even though it was removed several weeks ago? It was only about 2 inches so I doubt it was old age.
Someone mentioned that starving to death can take a long time. Could it be that it wasn't getting enough nutrition?
Any experts out there who can give me insights into what went wrong?? All my other fish are doing fine.
 
jimi

jimi

Active Member
C2rn it comes frozen. Look around a few stores you will find some.Try to find Hikari brand if you can, it is the cleanest I have found.Stig a six-line competes for the same foods as dragonets.
 
stig

stig

Member
Thanks, Jimi, I didn't know that.
That would certainly explain why the wrasse was picking on it but....do you think the stress of that could be why it died a full 2 weeks later? (I took the wrasse back 2 weeks ago).
I know you can't "know" why it died, I'm just curious to hear some opinions. I'd like to know what I did wrong and I've already discovered one thing.
 
jimi

jimi

Active Member
Starving to death could take months for a fish. Did your scooter get skinny or could you see lines down it sides? Other then that the wrasse ramming it may have done internal damage. Their noses are pretty hard and pointy.
 
stig

stig

Member
No, it never got skinny and I couldn't see any lines. I think it ate well.
Perhaps the wrasse did some internal damage like you said.
Thanks for the input.
 
fotank

fotank

New Member
So, I'm curious if I have a scooter or lawnmower blennie. I've never been quite sure:

He's a card. Likes to float in the middle of the tank, almost saying 'hi' to me. One of the more personable fish I've had. And he gets enough to eat.
Richard
46g FOWLR tank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top