Bottom feeder suggestions

[Dkuhlmann]

I'm in the process of :reading: looking for a bottom dweller for my 40b. My tank is very mature at a year and a half with thousands of pods of several types. I've been thinking of adding a scooter blenny either red or the black and white. I've also been looking at the Yellow Watchman goby or the Gold head sleeper goby.

If I get a sand sifting fish I don't want one that will constantly be covering my corals with sand, my Royal Gramma does this quite a bit for me lately so no major reconstruction of my sandbed would be nice. I guess there is a trade off though if you want the sand sifted to be kept clean then you will have some sandbed changing construction going on.

OR get the scooter blenny or similar that will both eat prepared foods as well as pods. I've read the ORA scooter blennies have been raised on pellets but will also eat pods, so they should do really well in my tank.

Soooo what are your choices for bottom dwellers and what do you suggest?

I had a Hector's goby that was an awesome fish but I guess it died because one day it didn't come out of its den as it always was the first fish awake after lights on, and haven't seen it since. I'm not sure how old it was when I got it but it was a mature fish.

Thanks in advance for your answers :beer:

 

[scooter31707]

I think the Goby would be the better option.

 

[jraker]

Do you have room for a large refugium? That would help sustain the pod population, because a dragonet would deplete the pods in your tank pretty quickly.

 

[nereefpat]

I like the scooter blenny idea. Yellow watchman don't cause too much trouble with sand, IME

I might suggest a starry blenny as well. Not necessarily a bottom feeder, but you could consider them benthic.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Here are my current fish

Cherub Angel
Midas Blenny
Pair Mocha Ocellaris clowns
Yellow Candy Hog Fish
McCosker's wrasse
Royal Gramma
Matted File Fish

Jraker, I have a 20 gal sump that's full of them too With the ORA scooter Blenny they will eat frozen as well as pellets as that's what they were raised on. I feed both frozen and pellets twice a day

So with my current list I'm thinking the Scooter Blenny is going to be my best choice. I see the red ones stay smaller than the black and white ones. What's up with that? Well according to ORA's website anyway. I just found that odd. I'm thinking of getting the red one to add some more red to my tank.

I would think I might have some issues if I got a Starry blenny with my Midas blenny.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Actually the red scooter and the regular are way different. The regular looks pretty cool

Gets to 5"

Gets to 3"

 

[Fiver]

Yellow watchman goby with a pistol shrimp. The pairing is amazing to watch. It adds a lot of character and natural wonder to the tank. It really feels like you're peeking into a pocket of the ocean in a way that watching other fish swim around the tank can't replicate.

 

[jraker]

I would just do the scooter blenny then.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I would just do the scooter blenny then.

LOL which one?

I kinds like the fins of the black and white one.

I don't want any shrimp in my tank as my Yellow Candy Hog Fish will probably eat them.

 

[jraker]

I think either one would do fine, if it is captive-bred, and eats frozen or pellets. I personally like the ruby dragonet better, but it is your decision on which one you want.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

What is it you like more about the red one? I like the other one for the fins, other than that they look similar.

 

[BigBlueTang]

Hey Dave, glad to hear you're still around hope the tank is doing okay..

I would highly reccomend the Yellow Watchman Goby. He's my favorite fish in my tank. Amazing personality, although if you're looking for a sand sifter/pecker probably not the best one. I see him sift occasionally but not too often. If that's what you're looking for, hands down get one.. I am not sure how it'll do with your midas blenny though, since they look similar...

Please tell me if I'm completely wrong. I would not be getting a dragonet. They seem like a fish better kept in the ocean, or only in the largest of tanks...
However if you are set on one, getting one eating frozen would be preferable, and even though you don't QT, setting up a 10 gal to get it eating and fattening it up would be my advice.

Also Jraker, I agree with you. The ruby is much better looking IMO..

 

[Dkuhlmann]

These dragonettes are from ORA and have been raised on pellets and frozen so that's not an issue getting them to eat. I do have plenty of pods between my DT and sump, especially since it will also eat other foods. I wouldn't even consider one if it was a wild caught.

I'm still thinking on the YWG I do like them but my concern there is like you said very similar to the Midas.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Well I was at Petco today and they had a small scooter blenny so I picked him up for $9 and I picked up 3 medium sized nassarius snails. They are between the small ones that I have and the huge Tonga nassarius snails I have.

The SB is kinda skinny and is a wild caught. I figured he has a better chance in my tank than in their tanks or even someone that might buy him that doesn't have any pods for it to eat. Cute little guy about an inch or inch and a quarter. He hit the floor of the tank picking at pods as he went.

 

[BigBlueTang]

Well I was at Petco today and they had a small scooter blenny so I picked him up for $9 and I picked up 3 medium sized nassarius snails. They are between the small ones that I have and the huge Tonga nassarius snails I have.

The SB is kinda skinny and is a wild caught. I figured he has a better chance in my tank than in their tanks or even someone that might buy him that doesn't have any pods for it to eat. Cute little guy about an inch or inch and a quarter. He hit the floor of the tank picking at pods as he went.

Good luck. I wish you all the best!

May want to look into culturing pods too, once he clears your current population.. Just a thought! They are cute lil guys

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I hear ya about pods, but I can assure you that my tank has thousands of several different types. At night it's crazy the amount of pods in my DT as well as my sump which is loaded with LR, chaeto and GHA. I also recently put a dragons flame algae in my DT. Beautiful plant for sure.

The scooter blenny is a lot of fun to watch as he scoots around hunting and pecking all over the place. My Royal Gramma found it yesterday and had to threaten it by opening his mouth WIDE and saying I"m big and bad, stay away from my home or I'll eat you with my BIG bad mouth :lmao:

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Just an update on my scooter blenny, he's getting fat and doing well in my tank. All fish leave him alone, which I was surprised that the Cherub Angel didn't bother him at all even when first added.

 

[xCry0x]

Yellow watchman goby with a pistol shrimp. The pairing is amazing to watch. It adds a lot of character and natural wonder to the tank. It really feels like you're peeking into a pocket of the ocean in a way that watching other fish swim around the tank can't replicate.

Second that. It is really an interesting dynamic to watch.

It isn't an eye catching fish as far as swimming all over - they don't really swim at all. But it is really interesting to watch the shrimp build a home for the pair.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

xCry0x I don't think a shrimp stands a chance of living in my tank due to the fact that I've got a Yellow Candy Hogfish. I'm pretty sure it will eat any shrimp that is added. I might get two peppermint shrimp to see if they survive before buying a $30 shrimp. If and when I do buy a $30 shrimp I'm probably going to get a skunk cleaner shrimp. Petco has told me that they have sales on them every few months for 50% off or $15, which I'm waiting for that sale before buying one.

 

[scubadan206]

Two spot goby, sand sifter and bottom dweller.
They do need to be target fed sometimes.