Frogfish

[Fin-up reefing]

Hey all!!! So about 4-5 years ago I had a frogfish (my profile pic!) and he did great for me for a good while. Unfortunately I had to give him to a friend not long after I got him due to my college journey beginning and I learned he had passed a few months later. I’ve heard they can just randomly die? Is this still true? I can’t remember what he ate but I’m pretty sure I had him on frozen. Anyways… the reason I am bringing this up is because I would like to know if anyone has had success keeping a frogfish longer than 1-2 years? I have one at my LFS that eats frozen clam, mysis, and nori… is it worth the shot? Thank you!!!

 

[lion king]

IME frogfish do not live that long on a dead only diet, if you want them to live years, then including live food is a must. 3-5 years is an attainable goal, but beyond that would be an outlier.

So you want a frog fish; I call them anglers

I've kept a few, my first going back 25 years. These are very difficult fish to keep and I am still very frustrated as to the success in keeping these guys long term. I do have some information I would like to share for those interested. Be forewarned, they are not for everyone and do take...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fin-up reefing]

IME frogfish do not live that long on a dead only diet, if you want them to live years, then including live food is a must. 3-5 years is an attainable goal, but beyond that would be an outlier.

So you want a frog fish; I call them anglers

I've kept a few, my first going back 25 years. These are very difficult fish to keep and I am still very frustrated as to the success in keeping these guys long term. I do have some information I would like to share for those interested. Be forewarned, they are not for everyone and do take...

www.reef2reef.com

What kind live food do you recommend?

 

[Reef By Steele]

What kind live food do you recommend?

I fed mine live grass shrimp from rusalty

 

[Fin-up reefing]

I fed mine live grass shrimp from rusalty

How long did you have yours for?

 

[Reef By Steele]

I can’t tell you exactly. I started by feeding it the live shrimp from rusalty. I eventually got it to taking frozen krill. I want to say close to a year. I always stayed pretty consistent with feeding every 3-4 days, but my wife complained that I wasn’t taking food enough care of him so I started feeding daily (I knew better, but at the time forgot) and so I believe I killed him with too much food according to @lionking who is the renowned authority on lion, scorpion and frog fish. I haven’t replaced him as they seem to really need their own home so I’m waiting for now.

 

[Fin-up reefing]

I can’t tell you exactly. I started by feeding it the live shrimp from rusalty. I eventually got it to taking frozen krill. I want to say close to a year. I always stayed pretty consistent with feeding every 3-4 days, but my wife complained that I wasn’t taking food enough care of him so I started feeding daily (I knew better, but at the time forgot) and so I believe I killed him with too much food according to @lionking who is the renowned authority on lion, scorpion and frog fish. I haven’t replaced him as they seem to really need their own home so I’m waiting for now.

They’re such unique fish and I’ve spent nearly my whole life keeping all sorts of saltwater fish. I mean I’ve successfully kept moorish idols, ribbon eels, and even walking batfish in the past which I know all can pretty tough but for some reason I’m so hesitant to get a frog fish again. I’ve been seeing him at the store for around 4 months now and I mean it will literally eat anything handed to him lol. I guess I’d just feel bad if he died under my care ya know? I wonder if anyone has ever tried a variety of fresh frozen seafood like Bonita chunks, uncured shrimp, and nori. I know they don’t graze on algae but the fish they eat in the wild would more than likely have it in their system.

 

[Reef By Steele]

They’re such unique fish and I’ve spent nearly my whole life keeping all sorts of saltwater fish. I mean I’ve successfully kept moorish idols, ribbon eels, and even walking batfish in the past which I know all can pretty tough but for some reason I’m so hesitant to get a frog fish again. I’ve been seeing him at the store for around 4 months now and I mean it will literally eat anything handed to him lol. I guess I’d just feel bad if he died under my care ya know? I wonder if anyone has ever tried a variety of fresh frozen seafood like Bonita chunks, uncured shrimp, and nori. I know they don’t graze on algae but the fish they eat in the wild would more than likely have it in their system.

I think if you can get them eating frozen that a variety would work best. I always fed frozen raw shrimp and krill, but have been told it doesn’t give all the fish what they need, so I now visit the oriental market when I go to Omaha and buy a wide variety of food and chop it up and mix it to freeze. Now I feed squid, shrimp, smelt, scallops, tuna and salmon.

 

[Fin-up reefing]

I think if you can get them eating frozen that a variety would work best. I always fed frozen raw shrimp and krill, but have been told it doesn’t give all the fish what they need, so I now visit the oriental market when I go to Omaha and buy a wide variety of food and chop it up and mix it to freeze. Now I feed squid, shrimp, smelt, scallops, tuna and salmon.

I will keep that in mind! Thanks man!

 

[lion king]

They’re such unique fish and I’ve spent nearly my whole life keeping all sorts of saltwater fish. I mean I’ve successfully kept moorish idols, ribbon eels, and even walking batfish in the past which I know all can pretty tough but for some reason I’m so hesitant to get a frog fish again. I’ve been seeing him at the store for around 4 months now and I mean it will literally eat anything handed to him lol. I guess I’d just feel bad if he died under my care ya know? I wonder if anyone has ever tried a variety of fresh frozen seafood like Bonita chunks, uncured shrimp, and nori. I know they don’t graze on algae but the fish they eat in the wild would more than likely have it in their system.

Here's the problem, they should only eat occasionally, so every meal must mean something, nutritionally. A dead diet, unless very carefully designed, does not give them the nutrition they need. It can take just a few to several months to take it's toll. Usually fed dead diets will contain too much thiaminese and not enough proper fats. Read some of my other threads for in depth explanations and live food recommendations. Even with the best dead food diet you could design, missing the live gut flora could also be an important factor. That frogfish being at that store for so long eating a dead diet could actually be a detriment, find out they have been feeding. Chances are they have been feeding an inadequate diet and it will start taking it's toll. Also, many times a move can restart the appetite back to live food, and if already nutritionally starved, can trigger a hunger strike, even towards live food. These fish are not like humans, they will start to refuse food when it is of no nutritional value to them. When people tell you they have had frogfish for years eating foods like krill, silversides, and shrimp; to put it bluntly, they are liars.