Angler Changes his Mind

Feet4Fish · Jan 29, 2021

So I have had this angler for about a month now and he is doing well. Feeding him has been a bit of a journey. He won’t take live fish. He initially gulps them up but ultimately spits them out. Have tried with post feeder guppies and mollies of different sizes (I inadvertently breed them now). Despite the fish he will spit it out. Now he loves ghost shrimp so I am not worried. Not sure if the fish thrashing around irritate him or perhaps tickles him??? Any thoughts? @lion king ??

lion king · Jan 29, 2021

They are strange creatures, you know, sometimes who knows what's going on. The size of the molly seems appropriate and at his size and mollies would be the preferred food. I usually see them go the other way at that size, meaning becoming disinterested in ghosties and only eating mollies.

How often are you feeding him, a guy that size would do best no more than once a week to 10 days. Make sure your mg is at least reef level, I like mine at 1400ppm. Mg may help with digestion, if you are feeding him too often he may still have undigested food. Normally that molly would be straight into his belly, so he may not really be hungry. Make sure he is good and hungry before you feed him again. Why Mg | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

Feet4Fish · Jan 29, 2021

lion king said:
They are strange creatures, you know, sometimes who knows what's going on. The size of the molly seems appropriate and at his size and mollies would be the preferred food. I usually see them go the other way at that size, meaning becoming disinterested in ghosties and only eating mollies.

How often are you feeding him, a guy that size would do best no more than once a week to 10 days. Make sure your mg is at least reef level, I like mine at 1400ppm. Mg may help with digestion, if you are feeding him too often he may still have undigested food. Normally that molly would be straight into his belly, so he may not really be hungry. Make sure he is good and hungry before you feed him again. Why Mg | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

Will check Mg right now! Thanks!

docsky729 · Jan 29, 2021

I have keep one for almost 3 years until some spray Lysol took him out. It is now banned from our house. I feed mine twice a week with a frozen krill that was stuffed with nls pellets into once thawed. I found the thickest fishing line I could get and tied it to a acrylic rod. I would spear the krill on the fishing line then dangle it in the tank. My angler would swim right up and eat it off the line. I never breed my own Mollies so I was always worried about where they came from and what type of condition they were in. That was the main reason I keep my guy on the frozen krill pellet combo. Good luck with your guy. They are very neat fish.

lion king · Jan 30, 2021

So how often have you been feeding. You can tell if he is regular by easily seeing a pile of poo, literally like a dog. This gives you a little sign if you are feeding too frequently. Because of tgeir sedentary nature they don't digset food as fast. Frequent small feedings don't work as well as a gorge/fast feeding cycle, it's how they live in the wild. Seeing the frequentcy of the poo gives you an idea to prescribe hiis feeding cycle.