Somebody dropped a Gummy Bear in my tank!!! (or actually, Frogfish advice needed!)

[Sebae again]

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.

[LeeR]

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]

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.

[VFX]

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.

.