View Full Version : Somebody dropped a Gummy Bear in my tank!!! (or actually, Frogfish advice needed!)
Well, that how it looks from a distance! :mrgreen:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee139/bunglie/Fish_Tank/froggy_02.jpg
This little guy is about an inch long.
Does any one have any tips to get him feeding?
How long does it take to get them eating?
What are you feeding yours?
I feel like an idiot waving a piece of silverside on a wooden skewer & him ignoring me! :redface:
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Jason McK
01-06-2009, 12:15 AM
Took mine nearly 3 weeks before it ate. I just feed it silversides. Try just the heads and make it wiggle like a fish LOL. They are so much fun
J
feed mine silversides too. but 1 inch is probably to small for silversides. It probably eats pods.
Delphinus
01-06-2009, 12:35 AM
Oh man gorgeous. Where did you pick him up from? I'd love to pick one of those up.
I've been bugging Ian to send me a picture of the one he has (had?) for sale for nearly a month now. PLEASE TELL ME IT'S NOT THE SAME ONE?? :lol:
Jason - I remember you telling me to wiggle the silversides like it's still alive so I tried it but he's stubbornly ignoring me (my g/f thinks weird trying to re-animate a dead fish! :mrgreen:)
Maybe I need to buck up my animation skills...
"be the fish... be the fish..."
Machete - you might be right about his size making him not want the silversides.
Trouble is my tank has very little pods as I've set up my QT especially for him and there's little in the way of LR.
Tony - I got him from Big Al's in Burnaby. I don't normally go in there but came away from there yesterday having spent about $100.
I've been wanting one for ages & this one was way too nice to resist!
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hmm well maybe just keep trying everyday... my first froggy took me about 2 and a half weeks... then he ate like a pig, the one i have now ate within 2 days.
michika
01-06-2009, 03:45 AM
It looks tangerine flavored, maybe with a bit of mango thrown in!
Nice addition though!
Trigger Man
01-06-2009, 04:07 AM
Nice, I saw a orange and white one at Golds a while back, probably a inch and a bit. For feedings they would feed it small live minnows. They would hook the tail and let the minnow swim infront of it's mouth.
My Long Nose Butterfly obviously has a taste for tangerine/mango flavoured gummy bears :(
Keeps sticking his beak in the LR where the Frogfish hides and nipping at him.
I might set up a tank especially for the gummy bear.
What's the smallest sized tank I could get away with?
10g? 15g? 20g? bigger?
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to entice the little dude with silverside but he's still not interested.
Maybe he'll feel more up to eating once there's no Long Nose bugging him.
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Delphinus
01-06-2009, 06:21 PM
A butterfly of all things :neutral:
I don't see why a smaller tank like a 10g or 20g couldn't work for the time being. I think the max size of these guys are around 10-15cm, so eventually he'd probably need to move on up, but if your guy is only 1" it seems to me he'd fit fine in a nano for the time being. (It will be easier to target feed him in a nano too...)
it depends on what type he is.
http://www.frogfish.ch/frogfish.html
looks like a Painted frogfish to me.. but you will probably have more to look at then just one picture.
I think Frogfish are fascinating! Sorry I can't help you with feeding it, but I'm interested to see if it changes colors at all. I would really like a brightly colored one, but would be disappointed if it turned into a drab color.
Machete - Thanks for the link.
It certainly looks like a painted frogfish.
Most of the stuff I found also points to this.
I did however, find a pic of a Warty that looks like it too.
So I guess I'll have to wait until he's a bit bigger to see for sure.
http://www.frogfish.ch/image/thumbnail/frogfish-Anglerfisch/Antennarius-maculatus/Antennarius-maculatus-baby3.jpg
Tony - I've moved him out of the QT tank so he wont be hassled by the Butterfly. I've put him in a 10g for now. Hopefully I can find a more permanent home for him to grow.
Myka - I'm crossing my fingers that he morphs into something a little less drab than brown. Maybe if I can give him a home with lots of bright pink coralline covered rocks & colourful sponges or corals he'll morph into those colours instead.
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my first frogfish went from brown to a army green... it ended up being a bit to big for my tank though. it was a painted frogfish.
my first frogfish went from brown to a army green... it ended up being a bit to big for my tank though. it was a painted frogfish.
How big did it get?
How long before my 1" froggy becomes too big for a 10g (assuming he is a painted)?
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it was 4 or 5" i had the intention of making a 30G just for it but then i lost my job and money so i sold it. then i bought this new one for the intent of putting in my reef.
Myka - I'm crossing my fingers that he morphs into something a little less drab than brown. Maybe if I can give him a home with lots of bright pink coralline covered rocks & colourful sponges or corals he'll morph into those colours instead.
Ya, that would be so disappointing to watch it go from that brilliant red color to drab grey or brown!! Is he eating yet? Have you tried raw shrimp? Maybe even larger Mysis shrimp?
Rippin
01-08-2009, 12:05 AM
I really like frogfishes and the fact that they can "walk" across the ocean terrain. I'm definitley considering one once the new tank is set up. I'm not much of a fish guy (prefer corals), but I'd bend for one of these.
I am also concerned about its eating habits (would prefer to know that it's accepting dead food before I bought it) and the change of colourization over time in captivity.
Best of luck with your new frogfish. It's a beaut.
it was 4 or 5" i had the intention of making a 30G just for it but then i lost my job and money so i sold it. then i bought this new one for the intent of putting in my reef.
How's your new one doing? is it another painted?
My one has gone from a QT tank to a 10g with a couple of live rocks & mushrooms & seems to be settling in ok.
But he's not eating still.
I'll keep at it with the silversides & larger brineshrimp for now.
I might set up a bigger tank for him in the meantime. Maybe a 25-30g breeder tank.
Myka - he's ignoring mysis & I've tried chopped frozen tiger prawns but not whole smaller prawns.
Rippin - I've been looking at getting one of these for a long time & the ones that show up with amazing colours are few & expensive.
I've not seen one that had been weened onto dead foods at a LFS.
It's much easier for them to just throw in a few feeder fish or ghost shrimp than to take the time to ween them over.
Having said that, they'd make my like a LOT easier right now if they did!
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my new frogs a worrty and hes doin great.
i wouldnt worry about the food thing till 3ish weeks, maybe try not feeding it for 4 days then try.. also if you dont have one you can buy a clear plastic fish feeding stick thing at most pet stores.
and a picture of my froggy
named it kurby
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k329/LeeRoz_2008/reef/DSC_0047.jpg
my new frogs a worrty and hes doin great.
i wouldnt worry about the food thing till 3ish weeks, maybe try not feeding it for 4 days then try.. also if you dont have one you can buy a clear plastic fish feeding stick thing at most pet stores.
and a picture of my froggy
named it kurby
Wow - he's gorgeous. Where did you get him?
I had a break-though tonight. He bit onto the head of the silverside & stuck on for a few moments. I couldn't get the silverside off the skewer & when I tried to twist the skewer off, he let go :twised:
oh well!
Now I've seen him with his mouth open, I think the silverside was actually too big for him. Might have to trim it down a bit next time round.
I'll give it a couple of days & try again.
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Excellent maybe try again tomorrow. if hes showing interest that means hes hungry enough to try eating anything.
I got it from Ian at Oceanic corals.
moldrik
01-10-2009, 05:42 PM
What other creatures in your tank do you have? Anything that you're concerned about getting killed?
Nice looking fish you guys have.
From the backgrounds look they're in reefs, had any problems (either the cause or receptiant)?
In my tank i have a starry blennie, sexy shrimp, and a pepperment shrimp... the froggy doesnt show the least bit of intreset in anything other then pods and the silversides i feed it every 4 or so days.
moldrik - I have nothing in the tank apart from a gorg & some LPS corals.
mark - No problems so far other than difficulty feeding but then, it's only been 5/6 days since I got him.
machette - peppermint & sexy shrimps eh... How big are your sexy's? How long have been in the tank together?
I'd love to put my Sexy's into the Froggy's tank.
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the sexys been in there forever and its a full grown sexy, with my old froggy i watched the sexy walk across the frogfish.
moldrik
01-11-2009, 02:06 AM
Maybe if I add something like that last in the tank might be the best way to go about it. Once everything else grows out of "edible" size.
the sexys been in there forever and its a full grown sexy, with my old froggy i watched the sexy walk across the frogfish.
I might chance it with some sexy's once he's trained on dead foods.
Meanwhile, I'm giving him a few days break before I try feeding again. This time I'll use an acrylic feeding stick.
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did the frogfish eat yet?
mine decided to eat my starry blenny last night:sad: didnt think it was possably as it was 2x the size..
did the frogfish eat yet?
mine decided to eat my starry blenny last night:sad: didnt think it was possably as it was 2x the size..
oh no! That sucks :sad:
At least he's eating though... mine still hasn't eaten anything yet.
He's changed colour slightly though. From bright orange to a reddish colour.
I've tried brine shrimp, mysis, silversides, shrimp & even dace fish paste.
I've tried acrylic rods, skewers, by hand, free floating...
I've tried everyday something new, every day same thing & skipped a few days in between feeding attempts.
So far nothing has worked.
Any other suggestions for me to try & get him to eat?
How long do you need to wiggle food for before he bites?
He's possibly the most frustrating fish I've ever owned!
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oh no! That sucks :sad:
At least he's eating though... mine still hasn't eaten anything yet.
He's changed colour slightly though. From bright orange to a reddish colour.
I've tried brine shrimp, mysis, silversides, shrimp & even dace fish paste.
I've tried acrylic rods, skewers, by hand, free floating...
I've tried everyday something new, every day same thing & skipped a few days in between feeding attempts.
So far nothing has worked.
Any other suggestions for me to try & get him to eat?
How long do you need to wiggle food for before he bites?
He's possibly the most frustrating fish I've ever owned!
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try fresh scallop...or blenny
Delphinus
01-19-2009, 06:19 PM
You're going through what I went through with my golden dwarf eel. Man I feel for you, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to entice something that's on hunger strike.
Apples to oranges, but for what it's worth, the first food I got my eel to eat was squid (from the fish store, little squares of the stuff that was way softer than the squid I had from the grocery store). After that he would eat oysters and mussels and other clam meat. Don't know how interested a frogfish would be but it's worth a shot. Scallops seems like a good suggestion too.
Good luck.
And Machete, sorry to hear about the blenny. That guy was a beaut! :(
try getting a few really small green chromis to swim around. maybe the action of live fish will get his stomach grumbling... or in my case maybe it will just eat the fish thats alot larger then it.
RIP blenny
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k329/LeeRoz_2008/reef/DSC_0023-1.jpg:sad:
Moogled
01-19-2009, 09:09 PM
Aw, these things are so cool.
How much do they cost on average?
You're going through what I went through with my golden dwarf eel. Man I feel for you, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to entice something that's on hunger strike.
Apples to oranges, but for what it's worth, the first food I got my eel to eat was squid (from the fish store, little squares of the stuff that was way softer than the squid I had from the grocery store). After that he would eat oysters and mussels and other clam meat. Don't know how interested a frogfish would be but it's worth a shot. Scallops seems like a good suggestion too.
Good luck.
And Machete, sorry to hear about the blenny. That guy was a beaut! :(
Scallop was what it took for my eel...now he eats other things sparingly...but always scallop, with any vitamin supplement i choose to put on.
aw, these things are so cool.
How much do they cost on average?
$30 - $100+
Thanks guys.
I tried fresh scallops tonight but he didn't even flinch.
I've put my big bully false perc in there to hopefully stimulate the Froggy's appetite.
The clown is pretty fully grown & very fiesty so hopefully, he doesn't become dinner himself.
well, fingers crossed! I don't want to have to sacrifice a blenny!
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I don't want to have to sacrifice a blenny!
:sad: im still sad about my blenny, and worried about the frog fish as its friggin huge with that blenny in it.
anyways found this over on RC thought it might be of some use.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=613227&perpage=25&highlight=Antennarius&pagenumber=1
Wow - thanks for that link.
VERY good reading.
My froggy still hasn't eaten & has now changed into the colour of deep red coralline. He's been out fishing a lot during the day but when I try & feed him he's not interested at all. He seems annoyed even.
He just turns & walks away from the food I'm dangling in front of him.
I'm at a loss as I'll find it very hard to start using feeder fish :(
Anyone know where to get cheap Ghost shrimp feeders that the US guys are using?
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Sebae again
01-23-2009, 06:08 AM
Check with the people on B.C.Aquaria. Lots of fresh water people on there.Maybe you could set up a small tank and acclimate Mollys and then leave a couple in the tank with the frog then he can eat when he wants to.The problem with a lot of frog fish is they would rather starve then eat non live food.
I've been watching my frogfish hunt and eat copopods even though hes still fill of blenny.. i have a feeling thats probably what your frogs been eating?
http://www.reefcorner.com/images/Pod1.jpg
list time i was at big al's they had lots of ghost shrimp
KevinFJB
01-23-2009, 05:38 PM
I’ve had a pictus for almost a year and it was ~ 1” long when I first acquired it (him?). You may try getting some live ghost shrimp which you can hold by the tail so the head is facing the frogfish and so it can move a little and attract attention. Use some large forceps to hold the shrimp by a very small piece of its tail so when the frogfish strikes, it will grab the shrimp from the forceps and swallow it. If you hang on too tight, it may only get half of the shrimp and let go or spit it out. After doing this for a week or two (I feed 2-3 times per week) you can try substituting krill or large mysis (Piscine Extreme brand are large) that was formerly frozen in the same way. It seems the frogfish is built to strike at food with full force, so you want to ensure whatever you are feeding is held by a very small amount and the force of the frogfish sucking the water in will pull the food from the forceps and it can swallow the whole thing. Once it is used to associating the forceps with food after a couple of weeks you can substitute other food items (I’ve fed silversides, pieces of squid, cuttle fish and octopus). I would not suggest starting to feed it by letting some live food items loose in the tank, thinking it may take even longer to get it to eat from your hand or forceps/feeding stick, but after while I like buying a chromis or peppermint shrimp on occasion so it can hunt.
You mentioned about putting it in its own tank which is a good idea. They are utterly defenceless, relying complete on camouflage and will definitely eat your smaller fish and inverts. I have min in the refugium section of my 40g sump with lots of live rock and macro algae. You have a really nice frogfish, outstanding colour. There is a great thread on RC dedicated to these guys with lots of good info called the Frogfish Files you may want to check out.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d57/KevinFJB/Picture053a-1.jpg
That's great info! Many thanks.
He's now in his own tank.
I've set up a 2 ft breeder tank with a couple of clams, some LPS & gorgs.
He shares the space with 2 pom pom crabs, a cleaner shrimp & a large false perc.
I don't see that many copepods in there, maybe he's been eating them or maybe there just wasn't many to begin with.
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