Weird Frogfish behavior??

[Metal Mum]

So I've had my Frogfish for 3 months now (got him in July), and he's always done this. I'm just a worry wort and wonder what exactly is this behavior?
He eats very well, never regurgitated anything, uses his lure, shows healthy interest in food. No ammonia, nitrite, or excessive nitrates. Tank is well established and stable, no diseases have been introduced either (he just has his stars coming in).
Flow is also not super strong, but he seems to like it anyway??

This side of the tank also shows to the rest of my room where I usually sit.

Tank is a 40 gallon long, he's 2 inches. Plenty of hides for him and I feed him a day after he poops usually.


Is he just weird or am I missing something?

 

[Baldyreef]

So I've had my Frogfish for 3 months now (got him in July), and he's always done this. I'm just a worry wort and wonder what exactly is this behavior?
He eats very well, never regurgitated anything, uses his lure, shows healthy interest in food. No ammonia, nitrite, or excessive nitrates. Tank is well established and stable, no diseases have been introduced either (he just has his stars coming in).
Flow is also not super strong, but he seems to like it anyway??

This side of the tank also shows to the rest of my room where I usually sit.

Tank is a 40 gallon long, he's 2 inches. Plenty of hides for him and I feed him a day after he poops usually.


Is he just weird or am I missing something?

I have no experience with frogfish so I can’t really be of any help, is it a wartskin angler?

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I've had my Frogfish for 3 months now (got him in July), and he's always done this. I'm just a worry wort and wonder what exactly is this behavior?
He eats very well, never regurgitated anything, uses his lure, shows healthy interest in food. No ammonia, nitrite, or excessive nitrates. Tank is well established and stable, no diseases have been introduced either (he just has his stars coming in).
Flow is also not super strong, but he seems to like it anyway??

This side of the tank also shows to the rest of my room where I usually sit.

Tank is a 40 gallon long, he's 2 inches. Plenty of hides for him and I feed him a day after he poops usually.


Is he just weird or am I missing something?

Looks to be healthy and is glass surfing in video in which its chasing its own reflection

 

[Baldyreef]

Does it have a lot of places to hide and perch like some decorations or sponges/macro algae to hide by And caves to hide in?

 

[Metal Mum]

I have no experience with frogfish so I can’t really be of any help, is it a wartskin anglerfish?

Got confirmation that he was actually a Pictus/Painted Frogfish!

 

[Metal Mum]

Does it have a lot of places to hide and perch like some decorations or sponges/macro algae to hide by And caves to hide in?

He does! I actually tried to give him a similarly coloured sponge and he hated it unfortunately. Stressed him out and got to see his dominance display. I ended up moving it out of the tank to reduce stress

 

[Metal Mum]

Looks to be healthy and is glass surfing in video in which its chasing its own reflection

Thought that's what it was. Never seen a Frogfish do it before so I'd rather be safe than sorry (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

 

[Baldyreef]

Looks to be healthy and is glass surfing in video in which its chasing its own reflection

Thought that's what it was. Never seen a Frogfish do it before so I'd rather be safe than sorry (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

Usually reducing light intensity a bit can help with reflection if it continues

 

[Metal Mum]

Usually reducing light intensity a bit can help with reflection if it continues

Right now it's my normal room overhead lighting, but that does explain a lot since he usually does it when this light is on. Thank you!

 

[Metal Mum]

He has happily accepted a food offering. I guess he's just a little weird after all lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Right now it's my normal room overhead lighting, but that does explain a lot since he usually does it when this light is on. Thank you!

Lighting reduction wont change this. Adding black or white construction paper to glass would

 

[vetteguy53081]

Right now it's my normal room overhead lighting, but that does explain a lot since he usually does it when this light is on. Thank you!

Been dealing with surfing issues a few decades and rarely does light reduction change behavior

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I've had my Frogfish for 3 months now (got him in July), and he's always done this. I'm just a worry wort and wonder what exactly is this behavior?
He eats very well, never regurgitated anything, uses his lure, shows healthy interest in food. No ammonia, nitrite, or excessive nitrates. Tank is well established and stable, no diseases have been introduced either (he just has his stars coming in).
Flow is also not super strong, but he seems to like it anyway??

This side of the tank also shows to the rest of my room where I usually sit.

Tank is a 40 gallon long, he's 2 inches. Plenty of hides for him and I feed him a day after he poops usually.


Is he just weird or am I missing something?

I’ve only seen glass surfing in frogfish that were severely stressed, I’ve not seen it in one that is still feeding.

How often does it do this? 10% of the time, more? Any differences over the time of day? Does it do this when you aren’t in the room? (Need a video to check that).

The problem with this behavior is that it can damage the jaw and it burns calories that the fish may need for proper metabolism.

 

[Metal Mum]

I’ve only seen glass surfing in frogfish that were severely stressed, I’ve not seen it in one that is still feeding.

How often does it do this? 10% of the time, more? Any differences over the time of day? Does it do this when you aren’t in the room? (Need a video to check that).

The problem with this behavior is that it can damage the jaw and it burns calories that the fish may need for proper metabolism.

He does do it when I'm not in the room. Sometimes I'll come back in and he's in the middle of it (which is actually what that video was). Sometimes he starts it when I'm sitting there too. Think I have a video of him taking off somewhere?
He's a little off and on about it but I feel like on average it's one a day. Once in the afternoon, or at night like that video.

Was worried about his jaw too, but (for now) he seems to be okay. I made sure there's nothing sharp in there for him to cut himself on, even the algae scraper isn't accessible to him. He also doesn't full force bash into it, unlike fish that may in a panic.

But yeah, he still eats and fishes. I gave him food about 10 minutes after that video and he happily gulped it down.