The 6 Gallon Frogfish Tank

[ReeferHD]

Tank is doing great for a year in!

Appreciate it! a few ups and downs but overall It's been doing well. Rocks look a little bland at the moment. I'm sure I will find something cool for them.

 

[ReeferHD]

guys.
I have found an inhabitant for this tank that would be a perfect fit, stay tuned for updates!
any guesses on what it is?

 

[ReeferHD]

Acclimating him now

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

There are captive-bred frogfish, but not from the genus Antennarius. Long story short, frogfish have two different reproduction methods: spawning and brooding. Brooding species (like the marble-mouth frogfish) are easier to raise and have been captive-bred (in Germany), but - to my knowledge - of the spawning species only Antennarius pictus (the painted frogfish) has been reared in captivity before (and it was larvicultured, not aquacultured - meaning the eggs were collected already spawned and fertilized from the wild).

Unless I’m mistaken, it was only reared one time, and it was noted that it was difficult to raise the larvae through flexion:

Painted Frogfish Culture - Fish Culture Research

Frogfish larvae were raised on ciliates, copepods, rotifers and artemia. The larval duration was 80 days. First record of frogfish larval culture.

www.frankbaensch.com

I remember seeing that website, amazing how many species can be raised like that

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Acclimating him now

Barnicle blenny?

 

[ReeferHD]

Here he is.. a rare species of barnacle blenny rarely sold in the hobby..

Just kidding it’s another frogfish, but this one is a wartskin!
he was eating ghost shrimp at the LFS, let's see how long it takes till he eats frozen.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Here he is.. a rare species of barnacle blenny rarely sold in the hobby..

Just kidding it’s another frogfish, but this one is a wartskin!
he was eating ghost shrimp at the LFS, let's see how long it takes till he eats frozen.

Wow! That guy's a beauty! Though don't the females grow 10+ inches?

 

[ReeferHD]

Wow! That guy's a beauty! Though don't the females grow 10+ inches?

Wartskin Anglers will only reach 3 - 4" maybe less in captivity.

You're probably thinking about the Commerson's Angler, which can grow up to 14"
Liveaquaria sometimes has Commerson's, would be cool to see one in a reef full grown!

 

[ReeferHD]

Here’s a better pic after lights out

 

[ReeferHD]

@lion king
how often do you think I should feed him? he's almost exactly 1.5"
I have some small ghost shrimp at the moment and he ate at the LFS on the same day I got him (yesterday) I'm going to wait another day to feed regardless because I want to make sure he's settled in.

I don't want to underfeed him because I have a feeling that is what caused the demise of my other frogfish, he never really grew in the 1.5 years I had him, I was feeding him exclusively LRS frozen food every other day, sometimes every 3 days.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@lion king
how often do you think I should feed him? he's almost exactly 1.5"
I have some small ghost shrimp at the moment and he ate at the LFS on the same day I got him (yesterday) I'm going to wait another day to feed regardless because I want to make sure he's settled in.

I don't want to underfeed him because I have a feeling that is what caused the demise of my other frogfish, he never really grew in the 1.5 years I had him, I was feeding him exclusively LRS frozen food every other day, sometimes every 3 days.

Sadly, lion king hasn't posted in a while, but here's a couple of pertinent quotes taken from his thread below:

I've raised wartys as small as an inch, it's ok to feed every other day. As they row you want to spread their feeding times further and further apart. Once mature a weekly schedule is good, while I have seen every 10 days work. You want to manage their feeding and not just dump a bunch of food in all at once. Feed them until you see a nice bulge in their belly. Feel out their schedule by allowing them to get active, going into hunting mode, before you feed them again. They also poop like dogs, you can literally see the turd on the substrate, paying attention to this also helps you get into their feeding schedule.

Feeding, your biggest challenge, never think that you are 100% convert these guys to a dead food only diet. Many just will not accept it from the get go, no matter how you plead. If you do them them to take dead food, they will usually suffer from nutritional deficiencies and be dead within a year. They will never accept the dead foods necessary to provide them with proper nutrition, and supplementation will not help, they likely need the live gut flora and other elements found in live food. Any one telling you are keeping these guys for multiple years feeding them krill and silversides just are not being honest. If they do take dead food it is usually not enough and just wither away, literally starving to death right under your eyes. Some may take dead food for a while, but it is always inevitable, one day they will just stop. Sometimes you can jumpstart them back onto live but most times, if it's been a while, not.

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

 

[ReeferHD]

Sadly, lion king hasn't posted in a while, but here's a couple of pertinent quotes taken from his thread below:

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

Thanks!
I also had a question about creating a stable supply of food for him. My LFS sells high quality freshwater shrimp but they're quite pricey, so I would like to breed them myself. My question is, would it be easier to breed Cherry shrimp Instead of Ghost shrimp? why are Ghost shrimp more popular as a feeder?
do Neocaridina just stay too small? or are they high in Thiaminase?

I read Peppermint shrimp are difficult to get through the larval stage so I see why they aren't commonly used as a feeder.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

My question is, would it be easier to breed Cherry shrimp Instead of Ghost shrimp? why are Ghost shrimp more popular as a feeder?
do Neocaridina just stay too small? or are they high in Thiaminase?

I read Peppermint shrimp are difficult to get through the larval stage so I see why they aren't commonly used as a feeder.

It would probably be about the same honestly. Ghost/Grass Shrimp are typically brackish species kept in either fresh or saltwater (though a few are true freshwater species) - because they're actually brackish, their nutritional profile is closer to what marine predators need/get in the wild.

Not sure on the thiaminase or how Neocaridinia would compre nutritionally different though.

Peppermint shrimp aren't too bad to rear from what I've seen, but IIRC they do have a longer pelagic stage.

For some good info on feeding predators generally and some specific info on breeding ghost shrimp to feed, see my post in the link below:

2 new lionfish

I went and bought ghost shrimp a krill. The guy said to mix the krill and ghost shrimp together. The seemed to only eat the ghost shrimp. Only had tge lionfish fir a couple of days. I assume no reason to worry? Krill is okay but not all the time. Neither one of my lions likes krill actually...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ReeferHD]

I gave him a ghost shrimp earlier and it got away, I walked back over to the tank a little later and he was right in front of it. I had to quickly grab my phone to take a video so the quality isn’t the best but here it is!

 

[ReeferHD]

snapped this pic right after he ate another shrimp today!

 

[Rodan]

Man frogfish are so cool