Red Dragonet and pods

[n2thesea]

Turns out the "red scooter blenny" I picked up at my LFS is actually a red dragonet. Grrr. Researched and went in looking for either a tailspot blenny or starry blenny to add to my well-established 2-year-old 28g JBJ nano. Of course, I now understand that without copious pod production I will either 1) starve my dragonet, 2) spend ridiculous amounts of cash seeding my tank with tisbe copepods, 3) train him to take mysis or pellets, 4) produce enough pods in my back-chamber refugium to keep him alive, or 5) return him.

I can't spot any pods with my naked eye, and don't yet have access to a red light to check my glass at night (next on my purchase list :). So, here's my question: If the red dragonet seems to be regularly grazing (pecking stuff off the rocks), can I assume I have pods and that I'm actually off to a good start with this little guy?

Should I continue to assume my small back-chamber fuge will produce enough pods for him, or plan to return him? And if I seed with new pods, should I pour into main tank at night when other fish aren't feeding, or into back fuge chamber?

System: JBJ 28 Gallon Intermediate LED Nano Cube running stock powerheads plus one Koralia 240gph, Tunze 9002 skimmer in middle chamber with modded skimmer cup, chaeto and LED sub light in chamber 2, purigen and chemipure in chamber 3, heather in chamber 4.

Livestock: 1 true perc clown, a yellow watchman goby / tiger pistol shrimp pair, 1 brittle star, two Mexican turbo snails, 5 nassarius, and a handful of hermits. Corals: pulsating xenia, candy cane, green torch coral, zoas.)

[SS_Sean]

We feed our scooter blenny (dragonet) roe eggs and he is fat and happy. Copepods are a bonus, but you can get the job done with the roe.

[Reefahholic]

Turns out the "red scooter blenny" I picked up at my LFS is actually a red dragonet. Grrr. Researched and went in looking for either a tailspot blenny or starry blenny to add to my well-established 2-year-old 28g JBJ nano. Of course, I now understand that without copious pod production I will either 1) starve my dragonet, 2) spend ridiculous amounts of cash seeding my tank with tisbe copepods, 3) train him to take mysis or pellets, 4) produce enough pods in my back-chamber refugium to keep him alive, or 5) return him.

I can't spot any pods with my naked eye, and don't yet have access to a red light to check my glass at night (next on my purchase list :). So, here's my question: If the red dragonet seems to be regularly grazing (pecking stuff off the rocks), can I assume I have pods and that I'm actually off to a good start with this little guy?

Should I continue to assume my small back-chamber fuge will produce enough pods for him, or plan to return him? And if I seed with new pods, should I pour into main tank at night when other fish aren't feeding, or into back fuge chamber?

System: JBJ 28 Gallon Intermediate LED Nano Cube running stock powerheads plus one Koralia 240gph, Tunze 9002 skimmer in middle chamber with modded skimmer cup, chaeto and LED sub light in chamber 2, purigen and chemipure in chamber 3, heather in chamber 4.

Livestock: 1 true perc clown, a yellow watchman goby / tiger pistol shrimp pair, 1 brittle star, two Mexican turbo snails, 5 nassarius, and a handful of hermits. Corals: pulsating xenia, candy cane, green torch coral, zoas.)

Isnt a red scooter blenny and red dragonet that same? A scooter blenny is a dragonet.

[n2thesea]

Yes, since buying this cool guy Sunday I've learned that some LFS's sell the red dragonet as a "blenny," even though it is not. I went in looking for a starry or tailspot blenny, but fell in love with this dragonet, thinking it was an easier-to-care-for blenny. My understanding is that, like a Mandarin, they can be difficult to feed and keep alive. I'm trying to figure out if my little nano fuge is going to be a suitable enough pod nursery to provide the nutrition the dragonet needs.

And thanks Sean for the tip on the roe. I will give that a shot.

[tattozabo88]

My scooter eats everything I'll be surprised they r a lot easier to adapt to other foods than a manderin in my opinon

[n2thesea]

We feed our scooter blenny (dragonet) roe eggs and he is fat and happy. Copepods are a bonus, but you can get the job done with the roe.

I saw ROE Oceanic Eggs. Is this the kind of stuff you use?

[SS_Sean]

I saw ROE Oceanic Eggs. Is this the kind of stuff you use?

Nutramar prawn roe from our LFS...

[clownishgambino]

I have a pair in my 34 gallon AIO and they are doing great. Got them a little less then a year ago and they've been growing, the male faster than the female. The tanks been up around two years and I have a section for chaeto in the back so I had a good amount of pods but they got thru them pretty fast. They ate nutramar ova right away, then pellets in a month or so and then mysis after that. I think the mysis were just too big for them at first but the pellets were just small enough, the kind I feed are like the size of crumbs with some larger ones mixed in. Now they prefer the ova and pellets (of course pods before those) but still not so much mysis unless I missed a feeding or something and even float up a couple inches to catch the food as they drop.

[Reefahholic]

The Scooter Blenny is also known as Scooter Dragonet or Ocellated Dragonet.

(Synchiropus Ocellatus)

Anyway, I feed my dragonets Pods...both Copepods and Amphipods.

It helps to have a Pod tank.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/JaredJHarms/Mobile%20Uploads/73F97DBA-9816-4F4F-933B-D815C6D81539.jpg (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/JaredJHarms/media/Mobile%20Uploads/73F97DBA-9816-4F4F-933B-D815C6D81539.jpg.html)

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/JaredJHarms/Mobile%20Uploads/3A71E940-444A-4770-833D-F45624B1DD0A.jpg (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/JaredJHarms/media/Mobile%20Uploads/3A71E940-444A-4770-833D-F45624B1DD0A.jpg.html)

[SS_Sean]

Sophomore question, I'm sure, but how are you getting the pods from the pod-tank to the DT? I've considered a pod-tank, myself, since this is one of the best foods around for many, many fish!

[stems]

depends on how you set up pod tank. There's only pods and phyto in mine. So, I bought a 53 micron sieve and scoop them up to transfer to DT.

[Reefahholic]

Sophomore question, I'm sure, but how are you getting the pods from the pod-tank to the DT? I've considered a pod-tank, myself, since this is one of the best foods around for many, many fish!

Scoop or siphion into sieve.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/JaredJHarms/Mobile%20Uploads/E0E031C7-351F-4883-A1BB-49398E01B167.jpg (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/JaredJHarms/media/Mobile%20Uploads/E0E031C7-351F-4883-A1BB-49398E01B167.jpg.html)

[n2thesea]

The Scooter Blenny is also known as Scooter Dragonet or Ocellated Dragonet.

(Synchiropus Ocellatus)

Anyway, I feed my dragonets Pods...both Copepods and Amphipods.

It helps to have a Pod tank.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/JaredJHarms/Mobile%20Uploads/73F97DBA-9816-4F4F-933B-D815C6D81539.jpg (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/JaredJHarms/media/Mobile%20Uploads/73F97DBA-9816-4F4F-933B-D815C6D81539.jpg.html)

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/JaredJHarms/Mobile%20Uploads/3A71E940-444A-4770-833D-F45624B1DD0A.jpg (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/JaredJHarms/media/Mobile%20Uploads/3A71E940-444A-4770-833D-F45624B1DD0A.jpg.html)

Very nice pod tank. What do you use for filtration?

And just to clarify, mine is the red dragonet/scooter blenny (Synchiropus stellatus), which is a bit different than the oscillated dragonet/scooter blenny (Synchiropus Ocellatus).

[SS_Sean]

Source for the screens?

[Every1jockzjay]

Its alot of work keepin a mandarin in a small tank , mine just started to accept live brine after 7months...hes currently fattening up in my sump that i had to leave off all nite so he can feast on brine... He got skinny and demolished my pod pop in a 36 gal with 60 total lbs of liverock...im guna have to try tisbe bottle pods for the first time and populate the display again while hes in my sump, then when i put him back in display i will use some tisbe pods on my sump to try to repopulate them there...overall he hasnt accepted any other source of food besides pods... I cant even be 100% sure hes eating the brine but when it was in the sump he was picking at the rock every second instead of every 10 or 15...overall its alot of work and if he gets skinny again i have a new home for him bc i dont want him to die...

[Every1jockzjay]

Also i have alot of amphipods, some 1/4" and he doent seem to go for those loll tisbe pod seeding atleast once is a good idea...i used to see 1000s of pods now i only see big ones once im a while, he demolished most copedpods.... If i had to do it again i mayyy not have bought him, i love the fish but its alot more work to keep him happy then i thought, dont count on training it may take a long time all depends on the fish

[Reefahholic]

Very nice pod tank. What do you use for filtration?

And just to clarify, mine is the red dragonet/scooter blenny (Synchiropus stellatus), which is a bit different than the oscillated dragonet/scooter blenny (Synchiropus Ocellatus).

Just the live rock and WC's. Have an aquaclear HOB filter with all the inserts taken out.

It just circulates the water and keeps it oxygenated.

[Reefahholic]

Source for the screens?

Brineshrimpdirect.com

[Reefahholic]

Also i have alot of amphipods, some 1/4" and he doent seem to go for those loll tisbe pod seeding atleast once is a good idea...i used to see 1000s of pods now i only see big ones once im a while, he demolished most copedpods.... If i had to do it again i mayyy not have bought him, i love the fish but its alot more work to keep him happy then i thought, dont count on training it may take a long time all depends on the fish

I trained mine. They ate pellets and PE Mysis, but took a while. They wouldn't at first. They are almost like two dogs.

[Every1jockzjay]

How long did it take? Im thinkin while my mandarin is in my sump it maybe easier to train. Do i think its ok to leave my sump intake and return turned off all nite while he fattens up on brine? 7 Months in and mine is prettttyyy picky, but definately more brave then when i first tried to trian him...hoping he will learn to eat something not like eventually is there still hope lol?

[Every1jockzjay]

Hopi he will learn to eat something not alive i meant sry

[Reefahholic]

Go to brine shrimp direct . Com and get the pellets.... They have one that's super tiny. My two love it. They peck it off the bottom like crazy. The food is really good for them too. It's a great new food that brine shrimp direct has.

[Every1jockzjay]

Yeaaa ill def try it... It sinks or it needs the little device to be held down?

[Every1jockzjay]

The .6 ones?

[Reefahholic]

The .6 ones?

Yeah they sink perfect.

.6 I believe.

[Joe0813]

those screens are nice to have

[FishBo]

I have had a Green Mandarin in my 39g for over a year who is nice & fat. The tank was almost 3 years old when I added him & I still see pods all over the sides of the glass. I also have a 10g pod tank in the basement that has Tisbe pods in it. I siphon out about 1/3 of them into a 53 micron once a week & add them to the tank at night after lights are out. I turn off the pumps for 10 minutes or so as well so they can get into the rock work instead of being blown around by the powerhead. It's actually very easy!