Show off your ANGLER FISH!

[cubereefer]

What are you guys doing to get your anglers on frozen? I have a wartskin that seems like he couldn’t care less about the silversides I’ve offered him.

i just soak them in a cup of saltwater for a few mins and then i feed it to him with tongs .

 

[Adamantium]

i just soak them in a cup of saltwater for a few mins and then i feed it to him with tongs .

Do you have to hold it there for long?

 

[borillion]

How fast do these grow? Looks like they can be found in the 1 to 2" range to start with. Will they be big enough to eat a clownfish 3" in a year?

 

[BZOFIQ]

These are absolutely awesome, I hope to house one starting 2021

 

[cubereefer]

Do you have to hold it there for long?

sometimes i hold it there for 5 mins . i will wave it in front of him tap him with it etc lol

 

[cubereefer]

How fast do these grow? Looks like they can be found in the 1 to 2" range to start with. Will they be big enough to eat a clownfish 3" in a year?

if it can fit in its mouth it will eat it. i have a 2 inch little wartskin and he ate a 4 inch Spanish hogfish and a 4 inch yellow tang. prefer to be a 1 fish only

 

[lion king]

What are you guys doing to get your anglers on frozen? I have a wartskin that seems like he couldn’t care less about the silversides I’ve offered him.

Get them on frozen plan their death. These guys will not live long on a frozen only diet. If ou want to keep these guys more than a few months, they need a live diet.

 

[cubereefer]

Get them on frozen plan their death. These guys will not live long on a frozen only diet. If ou want to keep these guys more than a few months, they need a live diet.

i have had my wartskin on frozen for 2 years and no issues with him. i also broadcast frozen foods and he eats the mysis and such as well... if you keep them on a live diet they will always expect live foods and will never eat frozen or anything else. give him some live mollies and they will always expect live feeder fish

 

[lion king]

i have had my wartskin on frozen for 2 years and no issues with him. i also broadcast frozen foods and he eats the mysis and such as well... if you keep them on a live diet they will always expect live foods and will never eat frozen or anything else. give him some live mollies and they will always expect live feeder fish

You are the only one I have ever heard of that have kept an angler more than several months on a dead only diet. I have never met anyone in person and have known many try. Not only are they temperamental about taking dead food to begin with, they usually lose interest quickly. Their nutritional needs would be very challenging to meet for long term success with a dead only diet. An angler could never survive eating bits of mysis as such in broadcast feedings, could you share what you are feeding him and post some pics.

 

[cubereefer]

You are the only one I have ever heard of that have kept an angler more than several months on a dead only diet. I have never met anyone in person and have known many try. Not only are they temperamental about taking dead food to begin with, they usually lose interest quickly. Their nutritional needs would be very challenging to meet for long term success with a dead only diet. An angler could never survive eating bits of mysis as such in broadcast feedings, could you share what you are feeding him and post some pics.

i broadcast feed mysis brine mega marine and he will take pieces of it when fed. he also will take frozen krill or silversides . i soak them in a solo cup of saltwater and feed with tongs. have not had any issues with keeping him or feeding it.

 

[lion king]

What are you guys doing to get your anglers on frozen? I have a wartskin that seems like he couldn’t care less about the silversides I’ve offered him.

If you are set on feeding your angler a frozen only diet I would love to see some documemtation. Pkease post a pic of your angler today and come back in a year and give an update. It will be a very rare thing if an angler lives a year on dead silversides and dead krill. Most silversides are rainbow smelt which contains a good amount of thiaminese, and krill contains a huge amount. This alone will bind vitamin B1 and cause a premature death. The lack of viable efa's among other nutrients will also prove problematic. Selcon is mostly useless as most of it comes off in the water column, especially when needing encouragement, and the viability of the efa's left behind is of little use.

 

[Adamantium]

If you are set on feeding your angler a frozen only diet I would love to see some documemtation. Pkease post a pic of your angler today and come back in a year and give an update. It will be a very rare thing if an angler lives a year on dead silversides and dead krill. Most silversides are rainbow smelt which contains a good amount of thiaminese, and krill contains a huge amount. This alone will bind vitamin B1 and cause a premature death. The lack of viable efa's among other nutrients will also prove problematic. Selcon is mostly useless as most of it comes off in the water column, especially when needing encouragement, and the viability of the efa's left behind is of little use.

Well, first I’d have to get him onto frozen. That alone is proving quite difficult. Unfortunately, I’m also having trouble sourcing saltwater feeders right now, so I dropped a Molly in the tank 2 days ago. He has yet to get to it, but thankfully it’s still alive.

If I can get him onto frozen, which is sounding ill advised, I’ll do this.

 

[Jax15]

Lion king, were you an angler in a past life?

 

[lion king]

Lion king, were you an angler in a past life?

I have kept a few more succesfully than most but have done alot of research. There was a time here that anglers were all the rage, I have a number of friends in the lfs and maintenance business. I also had a friend that kept at least a dozen or more, as well as other hobbyist I know. Over time I was able to study dozens, mostly wartys and painted. They are a very difficult fish to keep, most succumb very quickly and a dead diet is definitely ill advised.

 

[lion king]

Well, first I’d have to get him onto frozen. That alone is proving quite difficult. Unfortunately, I’m also having trouble sourcing saltwater feeders right now, so I dropped a Molly in the tank 2 days ago. He has yet to get to it, but thankfully it’s still alive.

If I can get him onto frozen, which is sounding ill advised, I’ll do this.

Saltwater feeders are unnecessary; ghost shrimp are also a good choice. Appropriate sized mollies are good but feeder guppies if you need something small, if too large until he gets confidence he may not go for it. Some anglers aren't so aggressive as to chase them down, and just as thier nature, just wait and ambush. My current angler will not eat on demand, sometimes a molly lives with him a couple of days before finally deciding to eat it.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Bump for more anglers!! Another fish I've always wanted to keep but never have!

 

[megrim]

My work-from-home buddy. This is Gog-Agog, The Great Devourer, Bearer of the Word 'Beast'.

Going on 4 years with me, but was already grown when she came home, so unsure of actual age.

She was typical wartskin white-maroon when I got her, but has changed colour scheme with each tank. Dark spot on her lip is a scar from a run in with metal feeding tongs a few years ago. She also has a permanently yellowish spot behind one eye that's always been there.

She's fed once per week with a variety of things from frozen white fish, to shrimp, to thawed freshwater feeders, with a live molly or two every now and then as a treat.

Has lived in several different tanks over the years, currently at home as the sole inhabitant of a Waterbox Peninsula 25 and a random assortment of corals and algae.

 

[Karen00]

My work-from-home buddy. This is Gog-Agog, The Great Devourer, Bearer of the Word 'Beast'.

Going on 4 years with me, but was already grown when she came home, so unsure of actual age.

She was typical wartskin white-maroon when I got her, but has changed colour scheme with each tank. Dark spot on her lip is a scar from a run in with metal feeding tongs a few years ago. She also has a permanently yellowish spot behind one eye that's always been there.

She's fed once per week with a variety of things from frozen white fish, to shrimp, to thawed freshwater feeders, with a live molly or two every now and then as a treat.

Has lived in several different tanks over the years, currently at home as the sole inhabitant of a Waterbox Peninsula 25 and a random assortment of corals and algae.

Wow!! She is beautiful!! I have never seen one with a colour like that before! I wish I had the tank for one of these. I would need one that doesn't get more than an inch or two for my current tank (5g) and that's if they would be OK in a tank that size even if he/she was that small. I had the chance to see a couple of these in my LFS. They're awesome. :-) post a video when you have time. :-)

 

[jasonrusso]

Wow!! She is beautiful!! I have never seen one with a colour like that before! I wish I had the tank for one of these. I would need one that doesn't get more than an inch or two for my current tank (5g) and that's if they would be OK in a tank that size even if he/she was that small. I had the chance to see a couple of these in my LFS. They're awesome. :) post a video when you have time. :)

Honestly, they would probably be fine in that tank if they are fed. They go for swims more than people think, but they don't require too much space. They only get like 4."

My work-from-home buddy. This is Gog-Agog, The Great Devourer, Bearer of the Word 'Beast'.

Going on 4 years with me, but was already grown when she came home, so unsure of actual age.

She was typical wartskin white-maroon when I got her, but has changed colour scheme with each tank. Dark spot on her lip is a scar from a run in with metal feeding tongs a few years ago. She also has a permanently yellowish spot behind one eye that's always been there.

She's fed once per week with a variety of things from frozen white fish, to shrimp, to thawed freshwater feeders, with a live molly or two every now and then as a treat.

Has lived in several different tanks over the years, currently at home as the sole inhabitant of a Waterbox Peninsula 25 and a random assortment of corals and algae.

Congrats on the 4 years. The longest I've kept one is 3 years. I have a question about the feedings. You said you feed whitefish (grocery store fish?) , shrimp (what kind of shrimp? Like cocktail shrimp?), thawed freshwater feeders (you buy live feeders and freeze them?). I want to learn for the next one.

I have always loved my anglers. High maintenance feeding them in a community tank, but it's worth it.

 

[Karen00]

Honestly, they would probably be fine in that tank if they are fed. They go for swims more than people think, but they don't require too much space. They only get like 4."

Thanks for this! 4" is good. That might just work. They are amazing fish so I'm definitely going to give this some thought. I was contemplating a separate tank. I too am curious as to how @megrim feeds his girl. :-) She eats better than me. LOL