Ocellated Dragonet/Scooter Dragonet/Synchiropus ocellatus

[Serioussnaps]

Does anyone own this fish? I just got one yesterday...I like how he stays on the substrate and how he "scoots" around and stirs the sand(this helps keep uneaten food and deitrus in suspension). Supposedly they are very challenging to get eating. Judging by the looks of her structure...and the latin name they are closely related to the mandarin...Thus you need well established tank and fauna population.

What are your experiences with this particular fish? Success? What did yours eat/take a liking to?How long have you had yours?

----You dont see many people that say they have this fish...so i decided to give it a whirl(better me than most people i see at the LFS) even though they are supposedly challenging. Maybe my
Copperband will tell him to suck it up and start eating.

 

[Serioussnaps]

anyone??

 

[IanInDC]

I am a proud owner of synchiropus oscellatus, who has defied conventional wisdom by owning a male-female pair in a 29 gallon tank and kept them alive.

You do it through several means...

1) you MUST have a fuge
2) you spot feed the scooters using a syringe, net, or baster, and you'll greatly increase your success
3) believe it or not I tried fortified bloodworms soaked in garlic and it really got them eating. Worked like a charm.
4) I've heard, though never seen, you can get them to nibble on fish eggs. I've never tried it, and my cyclop-eeze experiements didn't really yield the best results.
5) what's your tank size? I wouldn't recommend even one in a 29 for a beginner... but it *can* be done...

 

[Serioussnaps]

I have a 55g with a fuge...i had him for about a week...he wouldnt take cyclopeeze or mysis both well enriched with zoe, garlic and selcon....he was scotting around eating off the sand all day and some one the rock ...went out of town this weekend and came home to a floater????so now he is dead....i dont think i am going to try this fish again...i wanted something to keep the substrate stirred up well but evidently i am going to try another route

 

[Sk8r]

They eat pods like a mandarin. If he seems to go off his feed, order some online from reefnutrition.com. With phyto. Feeding phyto is a good idea to help keep the pod population high while you have a dragonet. I've had them with great success.

 

[Amphiprion]

Copepods (and to a much lesser extent, foraminiferans) are important to this fish's diet. Many specimens will take prepared foods, such as brine shrimp but will absolutely need smaller fare like copepods to do well in the long term. Oh, and yes, they are very closely related to mandarins. They are in the same family (Callionymidae), and in this case, even the same genus.