Spawning Scooter Blennies (Synchripos ocellatus)

Here's an excerpt from the 2nd page, 2nd post on that page, that details how I did it (I've now repeated the process on 8 total fish and it has worked EVERY TIME, but you have to start with healthy fish).

One last tidbit for the evening - training these wild caught mandarins to accept frozen food. It was actually not "that" difficult. I had come across the "mandarin diner" article that's out there and it got me thinking, so I actually started by simply placing a jar of frozen brine into the tank each day.

Along the way, the male and female had a pretty bitter disagreement and she got the brunt of the battle wounds, so I separated her into a "breeder net". I continued the "mandarin diner" training but it only went SO-SO...she "kinda" got it but also freaked out in the jar sometimes (couldn't figure out how to get back out). All the while I was also offering enriched LIVE BRINE to the fish in general, and both Mandarins would take this with relative gusto.

Well, weeks went by and I got lazy with the jar. I continued to add live brine...it would get pulled into the sides of the breeder net by the current, and the mandarin would simply pick 'em off. At the same time I started adding frozen brine WHEN feeding live brine...this too got sucked onto the sides of the breeder net. I'd add some brine when feeding the main tank everyday, and slowly added live brine less frequently.

So, basically, all it really took was to first get the mandarin to accept the live version of the food. Then, adding in the frozen version while feeding the live version, and by having it "settled" and "act" much like the live version, the difference in "presentation" was minimal. Once you start seeing the mandarin accepting the frozen alternative, you can cut back on the live and eventually they're just on the frozen...at that point all it takes is to just make sure they're getting enough nutrition from the food and the conversion is done!

The big key, at least for me, was the isolation in the little pen - no competition for food, the food doesn't get blown away, and there's all the time in the world for the mandarin to examine the food and make a decision. In the case of the female, she really took to it and started to recognize food the moment I swirled it in the water with my fingers...she'll take it right out of the water column. Our male is a bit less aggressive about it, but he too now does feed from the water column as long as he can "look" at the food long enough first. Both will now occasionally take mysis that's put in for the seahorses, but they still prefer the various types of enriched frozen brine.

Since I wrote that, I've refined the technique just a touch (but nothing worth mentioning). The 4 Synchiropus I currently have all take EVERYTHING at this point, including Formula 1 pellets . Along the way I lost my initial mandarin pair due to a "conflict" with medication, lost my initial Red Scooter female due to aggression, lost my intial RSB male due to JUMPING, lost another male mandarin to jumping, but have lost NONE due to starvation.

You should also check out Melev's Mandarin Dinner (google it Wink

) and look into "feeding stations" for seahorses, as I utilize the "feeding station" technique to help target feed the various Synchiropus within a community of fish. It also helps to monitor feeding response of the Synchiropus, and reduces "waste" associated with just scattering food within the entire tank.