will my scooter blenny live?!?!?

fedukeford

Active Member
today my mom told one of her cowerkers that i got a scooter blenny adn he said that the blenny might not live..... i have 60 #'s or live rock, 15 #'s of dead rock, and 20 #'s of used rock if that helps the tank is 4 months old
will he live?
 

danedodger

Member
Maybe he said that because with new tanks there's not as much algae for the scooters to graze on yet? Tell us more about your tank. How big? Water parameters? Other fish?
 

fedukeford

Active Member
55 gallon tank the water perimeters are fine i have 1 coral beauty 2 perc. clown fish, 3 hermits, 3 shrimp, 2 crabs.. 1 brittle star, 2 snails
 

jmick

Active Member
Originally Posted by DaneDodger
Maybe he said that because with new tanks there's not as much algae for the scooters to graze on yet? Tell us more about your tank. How big? Water parameters? Other fish?

Scooter blennies do not eat algae! They eat pods and you need a lot more rock in your tank or a fuge to provide enough nourishment for your animal to live. You need to invest in a fuge or return him because he is most likely doomed. Again, pls research before buying.
 

smarls

Member
A scooter Blenny has basically the same dietary needs as a mandarin. Basically, all day long they eat live copepods. An immature 55 gallon tank with 90 or so lbs of live rock will not sustain it. You could buy some live copepods on the Internet to try and supplement your current population, although this is really a short-term fix.
As mentioned scooters do not eat algae (this is not a lawnmower blenny), and in the future it would be a good diea for you to reserach the needs of a fish before adding it to your tank....but we do all make mistakes, and I have made my share as well.
While it is a good sign that you have a few hundred copepods, you should be awrae that a scooter blenny will go through that number of copepods in no time at all. (figures as: it constantly eats, maybe "picks" on the rocks every 10 seconds, which equates to 6 copepods a minute, 360 an hour, and thus 3600 copepods during a 10 hour light cycle).
So basically, without a large tank with tons of LR, and/or a fuge for the pods to reproduce in without predation, your chances of keeping the scooter are VERY slim. You might try getting it to eat some form of frozen food, but I do not think your chances are very good (under 5% from what I have red).
Sorry it is not better news.
Stewart
 

crush4989

Member
I have had a scotter bleny sence my tank was 1 month old and he is doing fine. I have 95lbs live rock in a 75gal tank. Mine will also eat brine shrimp everday when i feed the other fish.
 

murph

Active Member
I made the same mistake due to some not so good info from an LFS. They will eat live brine and blood worms however since this is not there natural food they are incredibly clumsy at preying on these items and if any other fish are in the tank the live food disappears faster than the blenny can grab some.
He is now the sole fish in my fuge which means he is able to feed on the live brine and blood worms at his own incredibly clumsy pace and seems to be doing fine. If I had it to do over I would never have purchased him though.
On the other hand he has become one of my favorite fish. Full of personality quite active and seems to be fascinated by what is going on outside his tank perching on his favorite rock and watching me as I do the daily maintenance.
 

smarls

Member
As I said, you could try frozen food, or as mentioned, live brine if it is available in your area. The problem is, while some people get very lucky with the frozen, the vast majority of these fish wil not eat frozen foods...but instead will only eat live copepods.
It is worth a try, you never know...but I would not count on that being a viable solution.
Stewart
 

jmick

Active Member
Originally Posted by crush4989
I have had a scotter bleny sence my tank was 1 month old and he is doing fine. I have 95lbs live rock in a 75gal tank. Mine will also eat brine shrimp everday when i feed the other fish.

Brine shrimp has zero nutritional value (think popcorn of the sea) unless it has hatched very recently or has been soaked in Selcon or similar product. Please do not rely on brine or you scooter will slowly starve to death.
 

crush4989

Member
I'm in the process of setting up a 29gal fug tank. it should be done by friday. all i have to do is stain the stan to match my other and join them. he is very active so i'm not worried.
 

vito525

Member
I have had a scooter in my tank for 8 months. I have a 30 gallon w/45 lbs LR and a CPR fuge w/10 lbs LR
 
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