Purchase Mistake

Hello all,

I think I may have made a mistake in a livestock purchase. I purchased a scooter blenny thinking it was a lawnmower blenny.

The LHS marked it as a lawnmower and when I got home found it to be a scooter.

Tank is almost two months old, a lot of transfer rock from a torn down 29 gallon. Its a 75g with 40g breeder sump. My refuge is full of all sorts of pods and other critters and the glass on the DT is typically covered with them when the lights go out.

The scooter for the last couple of days, makes a couple of rounds around the tank picking at the rock and sand. When it isn't picking it is perched on a rock looking around. At night (checked several times through out last night) it is buried in the sand so only its head is sticking out.

I am worried that the pod population will drop and he will starve. Any ideas on increasing the pod population besides buying more.

The refuge has live rock and cheato. Tank mates are two clowns, one fire fish and one chromis along with some corals.

 

I don't think one would deplete the pod population in a 75g, especially with having a pod farm/fuge. They usually will also eat finely chopped meaty fares.

Personally, I would consider the scooter to be a bit easier than the lawnmower, which requires a lot of algae to graze on, and may or may not accept nori or other processed offerings.

 

They are a dragonet, not a Benny. Lore has it that LFSs decided to call them bennies in hopes of selling more, as "Benny" sounds easier than "dragonet. How difficult though probably depends on what it will eat. Evidence I've seen is that it is unlikely even large established tanks have enough live food for dragonets. The ones that survive are probably eating other stuff too. So, if you feed frequently and it is eating what you feed, it may be fine. An actual Benny is going to be easier though for sure.

 

Try feeding pellets. I got lucky with my mandarin and scooter, they love pellets.

 

I disagree- I have one in my 55 for 2 years now and he isn't eating prepared foods

 

of course there area always exceptions, but the general rule is it is tough to keep dragonet's that won't accept prepared foods

 

I agree with the comment on the Lawnmower Blenny being tough to feed. Mine starved in my 55 after it consumed all of the hair algae Never touched any prepared foods at all, including all kinds of foods/algae for herbivores.