Wartskin angler acclimation help

xxkenny90xx · Sep 19, 2020

This is my first fish I've ever ordered online so I'm not sure how out of it it should be after shipping but it's just kind of floating around (sometimes upside down). In the shipping bag it was also floating upside down. I do have it in my refugium (maybe a 16g section of my 40g sump) so there is some flow but not super fast...
It did get a moment of air exposure (apparently I missed that bit in my research). I tried holding it mouth up for a moment to release air bubbles. I've also read about feeding it a pea(??) which I doubt it'd eat or squeezing it's belly but I really don't think I should be bothering it anymore.
Fwiw it has grabbed onto some chaeto now but I'm still concerned.

Got any tips for me guys?

@lion king @1979fishgeek @jasonrusso

fishguy242 · Sep 19, 2020

@Jay Hemdal @lion king

lion king · Sep 19, 2020

Sounds like he inhaled air, this is not good for an angler. Sounds silly, but you can actually burp them. Gently cradle him and gently massage his stomach to help him expel the air. They willl sometimes expel the air on their own, sometimes not and it can prove deadly.

xxkenny90xx · Sep 19, 2020

lion king said:
Sounds like he inhaled air, this is not good for an angler. Sounds silly, but you can actually burp them. Gently cradle him and gently massage his stomach to help him expel the air. They willl sometimes expel the air on their own, sometimes not and it can prove deadly.

Thanks for the tip. Tbh I really don't want to bother him... I'm thinking I'll go grab him some live ghost shrimp or mollies at the store (any food suggestions?) and if he doesn't eat ill try burping. Does that sound okay or should I just do it now?

Jay Hemdal · Sep 19, 2020

The feeding of a pea is only for fancy goldfish with constipation/swim bladder issues. If you try burping it, obviously keep it submerged at all times, and keep it head up. I’ve done that many times with puffers, never an angler though.
Jay

fishguy242 · Sep 19, 2020

hi,i would do both ,try burping immed,get food,if still not right burp again,then try food,just winging it bud

but what i would do,keep us posted

lion king · Sep 19, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
Thanks for the tip. Tbh I really don't want to bother him... I'm thinking I'll go grab him some live ghost shrimp or mollies at the store (any food suggestions?) and if he doesn't eat ill try burping. Does that sound okay or should I just do it now?

How big is he? Mollies and ghosties are the best food choices, but 2 or 3 smaller food items beats a larger item. So if you can't find mollies small enough, guppies are also a good choice. If he eats he's likely not in danger, as the trapped air can actually kill them. If his buoyancy doesn't level out, I would at least give the burp a try before lights out.

xxkenny90xx · Sep 19, 2020

lion king said:
How big is he? Mollies and ghosties are the best food choices, but 2 or 3 smaller food items beats a larger item. So if you can't find mollies small enough, guppies are also a good choice. If he eats he's likely not in danger, as the trapped air can actually kill them. If his buoyancy doesn't level out, I would at least give the burp a try before lights out.

He's pretty good sized, maybe 3.5 or 4" long. I bought the ghosties and mollies so I'll give those a try in a bit. He's in the fuge so the lights don't come on for another hour or so

xxkenny90xx · Sep 19, 2020

fishguy242 said:
hi,i would do both ,try burping immed,get food,if still not right burp again,then try food,just winging it budbut what i would do,keep us posted

Will do! I've been busy working on my bronco all day but I'll try food in an hr when his lights come on and then do the burp after. I'm all about winging it!

xxkenny90xx · Sep 22, 2020

Ok quick update, the angler didn't make it. That was my dream fish so I'm pretty bummed about it. I stuck it in the freezer for now (any reason I can't feed it to my giant hermit?). Today I ordered another one and I'm really hoping this one works out, I'm not gonna just keep getting new ones and killing them.. Anyways I'll update you guys when it shows up!

lion king · Sep 22, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
Ok quick update, the angler didn't make it. That was my dream fish so I'm pretty bummed about it. I stuck it in the freezer for now (any reason I can't feed it to my giant hermit?). Today I ordered another one and I'm really hoping this one works out, I'm not gonna just keep getting new ones and killing them.. Anyways I'll update you guys when it shows up!

Sounded like you were putting him into a refuge connected to another system. . You do want to introduce him submerged, you do not even transport him from bag to tank exposed to air. A healthy angler will eat right away, have some live ghosties waiting for him. Test sg in the bag, sg must match or take as long as 2 hours if you are going up as much as .0002 or more, going lower is fine. Acclimate for an hour either way to equalize ph.

Did you see this one on dd today, I;ve never seen one of these for sale. Made me think about getting it for myself.

https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/product/524992/marble-mouthed-frogfish

xxkenny90xx · Sep 22, 2020

lion king said:
Sounded like you were putting him into a refuge connected to another system. . You do want to introduce him submerged, you do not even transport him from bag to tank exposed to air. A healthy angler will eat right away, have some live ghosties waiting for him. Test sg in the bag, sg must match or take as long as 2 hours if you are going up as much as .0002 or more, going lower is fine. Acclimate for an hour either way to equalize ph.

Did you see this one on dd today, I;ve never seen one of these for sale. Made me think about getting it for myself.

https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/product/524992/marble-mouthed-frogfish

Wooow that is cool! I've never seen one like that before. I just tried to convince the wife that we should try to switch our order to that one instead but no go, she really likes the wartskin colors.

Ya the fuge is connected to my 10yr old 112g reef.

I appreciate the info, I'll grab some more shrimp before it arrives and will prolong my acclimation and avoid air at all costs this time.

You know I have kept a couple of puffers before and know all about the no air exposure thing, just never knew that about anglers. It was already lethargic and floating upside down in the shipping bag and my dumb mistake certainly didn't help.

ichthyogeek · Sep 23, 2020

Should be noted that the frozen pea trick is also supposed to work for bettas (but I'd personally do daphnia instead...).

If you buy from DD, it might be worth you asking them to put it into a breather bag (they somehow allow gas exchange while keeping air out of the transport bag). Regardless, if the fish came floating upside down, it might be worth filing a claim to get your money back...

I can attest that burping can be incredibly stressful for both fishkeeper and fish. Bought a toby puffer about a year back, and silly me took the dang fish out into the air where it proceeded to inflate. I spent about a half hour gently palpitating it mouth up to get it to release all of the air.

lion king · Sep 23, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
Wooow that is cool! I've never seen one like that before. I just tried to convince the wife that we should try to switch our order to that one instead but no go, she really likes the wartskin colors.

Ya the fuge is connected to my 10yr old 112g reef.

I appreciate the info, I'll grab some more shrimp before it arrives and will prolong my acclimation and avoid air at all costs this time.

You know I have kept a couple of puffers before and know all about the no air exposure thing, just never knew that about anglers. It was already lethargic and floating upside down in the shipping bag and my dumb mistake certainly didn't help.

I cant recall the shipping method used for fish like this, but if they do ship badly. If they were tumbled around during transport, that's your cause right there.

xxkenny90xx · Sep 24, 2020

ichthyogeek said:
Should be noted that the frozen pea trick is also supposed to work for bettas (but I'd personally do daphnia instead...).

If you buy from DD, it might be worth you asking them to put it into a breather bag (they somehow allow gas exchange while keeping air out of the transport bag). Regardless, if the fish came floating upside down, it might be worth filing a claim to get your money back...

I can attest that burping can be incredibly stressful for both fishkeeper and fish. Bought a toby puffer about a year back, and silly me took the dang fish out into the air where it proceeded to inflate. I spent about a half hour gently palpitating it mouth up to get it to release all of the air.

Ya that doesn't sound like fun at all! Thanks for the tip, I went ahead and asked for a replacement and they're supposed to give me my money back on the second one I ordered.

xxkenny90xx · Sep 24, 2020

Well my wife received the new angler today while I was at work. It immediately looked better and was using its hands/fin things to hold itself in place in the bag. She acclimated it for an hour from 1.020 to 1.025 and scooped it up with a cup and added it to the tank (no air exposure)!

I just got home with a couple of mollies (ghost shrimp are out of stock of course). He didn't really show any interest other than moving his head a tiny bit so I injured one Molly and pinned it to the sand about an inch away from the angler (figured I'd make it easy for him since he's had a long trip in the mail). Went and took a shower, came back and no more Molly! And the angler is being slightly more active!

Here a crappy sideways pic through my sump baffle!

lion king · Sep 24, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
Well my wife received the new angler today while I was at work. It immediately looked better and was using its hands/fin things to hold itself in place in the bag. She acclimated it for an hour from 1.020 to 1.025 and scooped it up with a cup and added it to the tank (no air exposure)!

I just got home with a couple of mollies (ghost shrimp are out of stock of course). He didn't really show any interest other than moving his head a tiny bit so I injured one Molly and pinned it to the sand about an inch away from the angler (figured I'd make it easy for him since he's had a long trip in the mail). Went and took a shower, came back and no more Molly! And the angler is being slightly more active!

Here a crappy sideways pic through my sump baffle!