FishProfiles.com Message Forums

well the cycle is completely done, and I added a yellow tailed damsel, then just friday added a blue hermit, scooter blenny, and spotted pajama cardinal fish, well...the LFS diddnt tell me that the scooter blenny needed an established system with coepods and so ya...I am running around franticly trying to find something he will eat till I can get some, and I have to take the damsel back as he is a lill nastey bogger oh well, I hope to get another one eventually, and my cardinal is NOT coming out, he is hidding ( I know they are nocturnal but....) so ya...and I am getting a new light soon to!

29gall-2 bolivian rams, 6 neon tetra, 4 lemon tetra, 2 lamp eye tetra, 6 black skirt tetra(which are rescues...long story, but finding good home soon), 4 zebra danio 10gall, pretty much nothing but plants....2gall-female betta
1gall-female betta

Whoa ... steady boy!

I know it's tempting to rush out and stock the tank, but pause for a moment.

You've already made two questionable choices (and discovered the hard way that your LFS isn't an infallible fount of wisdom on the subject either, but that's a subject for another thread, such as this one).

Damsels are nice, hardy fishes. Trouble is, they're territorial. Remember that the Damselfishes and the Cichlids share a common evolutionary ancestor, and that some of the Damselfishes behave like bad boy Cichlids! For that reason I'd steer clear of Humbug Damsels and other members of the Genus Dascyllus unless you WANT a feisty fish. Likewise, I'd exercise care with Pomacentrus species (some of which are also industrual scale substrate diggers - I've seen an Electric Blue in action rearranging an unbelievable amount of substrate to suit its own preferences!) and go for something a little less troublesome in a setup as small as yours. A Damselfish may well decide that the whole of your 29 is its territory, and that's when the sparks fly!

The "Scooter Blenny" isn't a Blenny at all. It's called that by people who don't know (or who should know better) because it looks somewhat like a Blenny to the untrained eye. It is, in reality, a Dragonet - Family Callionymidae - and is a close relative of the Mandarin Fish. It's listed here as Synchiropus ocellatus, and yes, it needs Amphipods/copepods in its diet or it's destined for a short life.

This page is a good place to start - but watch out for the details. Such as the fact that it states that Scooter Blennies should be supplied with organisms from a refugium.

By the way, there's an error on that page. Labroides dimidiatus IS the Cleaner Wrasse, and the False Cleaners (mimetic Blennies that pretend to be cleaners then take a bite out of other fishes) are in fact Blennies belonging to the Genus Aspidontus. Pays to check your sources!

I'd stick to gobies, true Blennies (as opposed to Dragonets that are sold as Blennies!) and similar fare. They'll cause few headaches.

As for your Pyjama Cardinal, it'll be a nice hardy fish, but won't move much. You can eventually train it to swim about and feed in the daytime, but it takes time and patience. Also helps if you have a Brine Shrimp hatchery.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002