Histrio Histrio (Frogfish) overfeeding

ArowanaLover1902 · Dec 7, 2016

I was at the fish store two days ago and walking down the isle I saw one fish that just made me think "that is one of the least attractive things I've ever seen." It was a Sargassum Angler for $35. I purchased it (and 6 ghost shrimp). I fed him one of the shrimp when I was acclimating him. He climbed up the wall and leaped on it. Three days later, I added a ghost shrimp to the tank to show someone what he was like, he missed it. I added 3 more, one of which I think was eaten by my yellow prawn goby, another may have been killed by his partner, a tiger pistol shrimp. He seems to have eaten at least two, he is so fat. It was definitely a mistake. I can't wait for him to be big enough to add to a bigger tank (oh man, guess I'm going to need to set up that 55 gallon now, I really didn't want to [lies]). He has been doing great in the calpurna algae though, I have a ton in this 29 gallon. He shares the tank with a royal gramma, a yellow prawn goby (who ate my two clownfish), a tiger pistol shrimp (who is not nice, killed a cleaner wrasse) 3 hermits, and a margarita snail. The people at the pet store told me that the angler would instantly eat the pistol shrimp, I'm more worried for the angler, if anything, that shrimp is probably an inch longer than the angler. These are all fish that can look after themselves. Any advice on the sargassum is appreciated. Also, where can I purchase sargassum algae?

eatbreakfast · Dec 7, 2016

Be aware that an angler can eat fish and inverts up to 25% larger than themselves.

ArowanaLover1902 · Dec 7, 2016

I'm well aware of the dangers of the frogfish. I've already seen their violence concerning ghost shrimp. The only creatures in my tank are too big though. The shrimp is probably about as wide as thumb and as long as my middle finger. I wonder if their ability to inflate means that epithelial tissue in the area is a bit more elastic than more fish. Earlier today I could literally see the shrimp in him. It's really cool to see the illicium moving around. The few people who have seen him (besides myself) can never pick him out of algae, which is strange, he always seems to be in the middle of everything or right off to the side.

lion king · Dec 11, 2016

I keep anglers in a species tank, also for their own safety. If the angler doesn't make food of their tankmates, they may get picked on. Their esca is meant to look like food, and at the very least another fish will bite it off. I feed mine 2 to 3 times a week until I see a good bulge.

geckoejon · Dec 22, 2016

eatbreakfast said:
Be aware that an angler can eat fish and inverts up to 25% larger than themselves.

Not entirely true.... they can eat things as large as themselves :-o I had a 3" warty frog fish for almost a year. I got him a tank aye following advice like that, and it ended bad! I got a 3" fu Manchu lion fish that was the same size as my warty,... the frog fish ate it in only a couple days... the frog fish was so bloated for a week that it could only roll around. It's feet / bottom fins wouldn't even touch the bottom of the tank to allow it to stand / perch! Lol it lived for months after that...

Frog fish need to be in a species only tank...

eatbreakfast · Dec 22, 2016

geckoejon said:
Not entirely true.... they can eat things as large as themselves :-o I had a 3" warty frog fish for almost a year. I got him a tank aye following advice like that, and it ended bad! I got a 3" fu Manchu lion fish that was the same size as my warty,... the frog fish ate it in only a couple days... the frog fish was so bloated for a week that it could only roll around. It's feet / bottom fins wouldn't even touch the bottom of the tank to allow it to stand / perch! Lol it lived for months after that...

Frog fish need to be in a species only tank...

It's pretty well documented that frogfish can eat fish 25% larger than themselves. There's footage somewhere of a smaller frogfish eating a larger frogfish.