Scooter Bleny Question

[jasdavis09]

I have a scooter bleny in my 46 gal tank with a bi-color angel I would like to know if I could ad a mandrain goby, I know taht the bleny and the goby both eat pods. Can I keep 2 in one tank, the lfs said no problem I just wanted to check what they where telling me before I ad the goby. Thanks for the help

 

[Avi]

Well, both the Scooter Blenny and the Mandarin do eat the pods. I have one of each in my reef, but its got 140 or so pounds of likve rock, a refugium and it's been set up for a long time, while yours apparently isn't very old. Your problem isn't so much that they wouldn't tolerate one another but moreso that you wouldn't have sufficient food to supply them. How much live rock is there in your reef?

 

[ste6168]

uhh... i would wait at least a year to put in a manderin and make sure you have a good population of pods in a good refugium

 

[Amphiprion]

It would be best if you did not. With either species, it is important to minimize competition for a particular food source. This is not necessarily the rule, just a guideline. Avi is one exception, though it may not always work out properly. IMHO, it is not worth an animal starving just to find out.

 

[Avi]

I don't know if my experience is an exception for the kind of configuration that I have or if it's because I have the kind of configuration that I have that the two of them are able to thrive. I also have a Leopard Wrasse which is a fish that's reputed to consume pods. It takes other foods very aggressively like flake, Cyclopeeze, chopped Mysis, etc. but the Mandarin and the Scooter Blenny don't. So, as far as they are concerned, there has to be a sufficient supply of pods. Oh, and by the way, I have two Sand-sifting Starfish in the tank. They're also reputed to consume pods but, I have to say, that despite the popular wisdom, I don't believe that they do.

 

[JENnKerry]

Another vote against the two in a 40. :thumbdown

 

[jasdavis09]

thanx everyone, and Im sorry I forgot to mention how much live rock is in the tank, as of now there is 50 pounds of fiji rock.

 

[joe90usa]

I'd vote "no" on tank size alone, but mandarins also require a well-established tank (over a year). Welcome to a world where "upgrade" is said in every other sentence.