Any angler fish experts?

[Paul_N]

I am seriously considering getting a couple angler fish for a 220 gallon tank. Anyone have experience with these in a mixed reef. I was also wondering what the difference was that makes the Striated angler peaceful and the others semi-aggressive? I am really going to try for several out of the ordinary fish or inhabitants that I normally don't see in a reef tank.

Thanks for any input or help on this,

Paul

 

[acanman]

i have a 4 inch wartskin in my fowlr. only thing is they will try to eat anything that will fit in its mouth.mine tried to eat my red sea sailfin tang. i had to intervene or he woulda been gone. the only thing i can get mine to eat is like cromis,damsels,shrimp

 

[Paul_N]

i have a 4 inch wartskin in my fowlr. only thing is they will try to eat anything that will fit in its mouth.mine tried to eat my red sea sailfin tang. i had to intervene or he woulda been gone. the only thing i can get mine to eat is like cromis,damsels,shrimp

What color is yours? Interesting. I have no problem with buying some chromis for him...:xd:

 

[BayCorals]

I had a red angler few years back. It was about 3/4". Ate one of my damsels bigger than him and died.:sad:

 

[Paul_N]

I had a red angler few years back. It was about 3/4". Ate one of my damsels bigger than him and died.:sad:

Eating the damsel killed it? On a side note, I think we are onto something when people are posting about how to get a mean damsel out of there tank..:xd:

 

[inactive]

It's rare that a angler will catch a chromis/damsel. Most food end up being annoying tank mates.

 

[Paul_N]

I really only have a small high fin banded goby living with the pistol shrimp in the sand and a barnacle blenny that I never see cause he took up residence in a hole on the back side of the rock. He never swims just darts out to grab food withing a 3 inch radius.

 

[BayCorals]

Eating the damsel killed it? On a side note, I think we are onto something when people are posting about how to get a mean damsel out of there tank..:xd:

Yeah, damsel was too big for it. Sat there like a balloon for a day or so and just died.

It's rare that a angler will catch a chromis/damsel. Most food end up being annoying tank mates.

At the time, I didn't know what to feed it. I heard they were slow eaters. So I bought the smallest damsel I could find. I heard they only eat live food and I didn't want to throw guppies in my tank and let them die. Took him 2 days, but he caught the damsel.

I really only have a small high fin banded goby living with the pistol shrimp in the sand and a barnacle blenny that I never see cause he took up residence in a hole on the back side of the rock. He never swims just darts out to grab food withing a 3 inch radius.

The angler will probably eat them all. As long as they fit in his mouth, they will be gone.

 

[Diamondsinthereef]

I feed all of mine live ghost shrimp. They love them. I have all sorts of different anglers. I also have a lot of them eating frozen silversides. They are awesome fish and so fun to look at and watch. All the anglers that I have in reef systems are either on their own or with fish at least 3 times their size. Good luck with yours.

 

[ShakyJay]

I was so glad to see this thread...angler's don't get much attention these days. I love them and am getting ready to add one to my tank/fuge. I have researched them and researched them and from what I have heard Damsels are the most nutritous thing for them, besides a frozen variety. But putting it in a reef tank makes me leary as they will eat anything that will fit in their huge mouths.

 

[Paul_N]

Thanks for the feedback. Truly appreciate it....:bigsmile: It looks like I will have to give some serious thought to starting over on livestock when I start the 220. I have already decided to get rid of my purple tang and fox face, so I may just go with a clean slate. I was considering the anglers, fu-manchu lion fish, a dwarf golden moray eel. It will either be that route or wrasses, blennys and gobies. I am really torn. Or I could talk the wife into letting me set up a FOWLR also....:xd: Ya that will never happen. It was a PIA to get her to let me go from a 75 to 220.

 

[acanman]

What color is yours? Interesting. I have no problem with buying some chromis for him...:xd:

mines a yellow wartskin.

 

[acanman]

It's rare that a angler will catch a chromis/damsel. Most food end up being annoying tank mates.

dude your crazy and aparently dont know anything about anglers.. they just flick out the oll fishing lure and the damsels come in and there gone. fastest bite outta any fish.. the key is to put the damsels in the tank that the angler is already in and they wont make it long

 

[acanman]

I feed all of mine live ghost shrimp. They love them. I have all sorts of different anglers. I also have a lot of them eating frozen silversides. They are awesome fish and so fun to look at and watch. All the anglers that I have in reef systems are either on their own or with fish at least 3 times their size. Good luck with yours.

1+ live ghost shrimp is there favs. i but them at a freshwater store and feed them marine flakes for a day or so and then throw them in. they seem to live in saltwater for awhile

 

[650-IS350]

angler's will swallong a fish 1/2 their size and will try to eat a fish up to 3/4th their size I believe.

I've always wanted an angler, but have tooo many small wrasses that it would make a meal off.

 

[Hammmerhead]

Post pictures of the Anglers guys!

 

[acanman]

sometimes i feed mine goldfish. but i put them in a freshwater tank and feed them marine food for a week before i give them to the angler.. goldfish are alot cheaper than buying damsels

 

[acanman]

heres mine after a meal..:wink:

 

[brahm]

Guess I'll chime in. I've had a many anglers over the years. I used to sell them when I had a small side biz (don't have tanks anymore but when I get back in I will setup an angler reef setup first)

So where to start. Yes you can put them in a reef but not if you care about any of your current fish. They can, and will attempt to eat anything that they can...or sometimes can't fit into there mouth. The "if it's bigger then them" doesn't hold water. A few years back I sold an angler to a guy who put it in a tank with a dwarf angle the angler tried to eat the angle, it was to big and they both died. I found the best thing to feed them is blue green chromis (damsels may be cheaper but can injure your angler due to the spines on there backs), or "gut loaded" ghost shrimp (basically feed your shrimp pellets, cylcops ect, right before you feed them to the angler).

SPS tanks.. don't really work to well for anglers, if the flow is to high (ie you have giant tunzees it can be problematic as you don't want your angler get blasted into the side of the tank, rocks or into a grove of staghorns

Another thing that you can do if you don't want to feed them live food is train them to eat freeze dried krill. I've done this with a number of anglers before I sold them. You will need to mix at first, but basically dip your freeze dried krill in cylcops solution and maybe some of that fatty stuff (been awhile don't remember the name) spear it with something that won't injure the angler.. and well.. Go fishing. It can be a lot of fun, and after a while the angler will learn to nab the krill out o the water column.

When it comes to putting a angler in a reef.. Remember to use caution in terms of what else is in the reef. Can it harm the angler (carpet anemones (other very stick anenomes), really large aggressive fish, eels, mantis shrimp ect..)

Other things to be careful of 1) Don't let them get out of water.. EVER. While I have had some get out of water and be ok. It's always a possibility they will get an air bubble stuck in them and die. If this does happen you can try to gentle squeeze the bubble out you will notice them floating.. by the surface.. with an obvious "bubble" protruding there skin.

When it comes to 2 Anglers.. It's very hit or miss. You always risk the possibility of one trying to eat the other so please be weary.

When it comes to bigger tanks.. anglers are stalkers most aren't very active. I have had a few with some "personalities" but if your tank is to big you risk not seeing it very often.

On a final note.. DO NOT DANGLE YOUR FINGER ABOVE THE WATER LINE! A friend of mine thought it was funny that my angler "Fat Tony" was dangling his angler, he wiggled his finger above him and "Fat Tony" swallowed his finger.. Luckily he let go, and nobody was hurt.. but My buddy freaked out flailed his hand and the fish flew across the room and almost hit his girl friend.. .How "fat tony" made it threw it unscathed was beyond me.

Anyways enough with my ramblings.. here are some photos

This was my favorite warty. Had a ton of personality "would jet around the tank" and do little dances when i would feed him His name was "Little Vinnie"

stalking

mid dance

Dangling his Angler

Here are a few I had sold over the years

A random "impressive" Angler I saw at a lfs in fountain valley (Fat Tony looked just like this one)

A warty from Birch (I think)

 

[Thjhiggins]

I am seriously considering getting a couple angler fish for a 220 gallon tank. Anyone have experience with these in a mixed reef. I was also wondering what the difference was that makes the Striated angler peaceful and the others semi-aggressive? I am really going to try for several out of the ordinary fish or inhabitants that I normally don't see in a reef tank.

Hi,
I have a 1 1/2" Black Angler in my 30 gallon Nano reef. I already had a tiny yellow watchman goby and tons of inverts. I knew the danger going in but bought him anyway. He started eating redhats (small minnows) day one! I feed him 2 every other day and it has been 3 month now. He sits alongside the yellow goby who isn't even a half inch and looks similar to his food but the angler has shown no aggression towards the goby or any of his tank mates! I even tried a small damsel and he didn't want anything to do with him! I am not sure if I just got lucky however as long as I keep him fed I can say that atleast my angler is completely reef safe. He moves all around the tank, interacts with me and is m fav. Fish after 20 years of reef and Fowlr tank keeping from 5 gallon to 150 gallons.