The Frogfish Files

[goblinsharkman]

So happy to find a forum for frogfish, dont have one but im gonna get one soon. Im setting up a 10 gal tank for Zoo propagation and am hoping of puttin a frogfish or sargassum fish in it. Im thinking of getthin some TBS liverock (im also setting up a mantis tank) if it has the blue spobge on it will the frogfish turn blue that would be cool. O yea i read most of this forum, allimar u posted about 2 months ago that u wanted to konw if you could get sargassum, u cant its a threatened species. Can u put snails and hermits in with one? Also im thinking of gettin one one liveaquaria.com or ordering one through my lfs which so u think is better?

Thanks so much

[Seth W]

I fellow member pointed me to this thread. I just picked up some sort of generic colored frogfish which I'm calling "spewey" I had been feeding him gold fish about every day to everyother day but it sound like I should be feeding him some frozen food as well as small shrimp and such.

He's been in my 55 refugium for about a week now and is doing well. I'm considering putting in a few electric scallops and maybe some star fish. I'm also thinking of putting in some mangrove trees in it as well but I'm wondering if this will be any sort of a issue for him?

[Genetics]

You probably won't have an issue with most crustaceans you place in the tank. However, if he is a A. pictus he will change colors to match what's in your tank. My black with blue spots is now yellow/orange/pink.

[JG1]

Originally posted by JG1
I have a 2.5" Wartskin Frog that I may be selling. He is white, with purple encrustation markings on him, along with the tips of his fins colored orange.

I'm finding myself craving more fish in the tank, and thats not possible with the Angler.

If anyone is interested lemme know. I paid $120 for him and would like to get close to that back.

thank

Crappy pic I took of my warty on my camera phone
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...postid=2557182

$100 takes him.

[Newflee]

UPDATE.
Just decided to let my frog live la vita loko. or however you spell/say it. He is now livin large in my reef. Lets see how it goes. I don't care (Much) who he eats but I hope he doesn't eat anything large enough to make him bloat.
Something in his expression makes me think that a tiny tv might be what he needs. Doesn't fit into the scientific approach though eh?


I'll report.


Lee

[Reefcherie]

Originally posted by goblinsharkman
Im setting up a 10 gal tank for Zoo propagation and am hoping of puttin a frogfish or sargassum fish in it. Im thinking of getthin some TBS liverock (im also setting up a mantis tank) if it has the blue spobge on it will the frogfish turn blue that would be cool. Can u put snails and hermits in with one?

Hi goblinsharkman - If you get a Sargassum frogfish (Histrio histrio), these get up to 7.5" and at least a 30-gallon tank is recommended by Scott Michael. An interesting caution with this one is to cover the tank! They are known to leap out of the water (to jump onto the top of a Sargassum bed to elude predators). I'll take a guess this type of frogfish would be less likely to change to a bright color, since it doesn't normally live among brightly colored sponges like some of the other varieties.

One of the smaller varieties like the Warty (Antennarius maculatus) might be your best bet for a 10-gallon tank, assuming you don' t want to move up to a larger tank later. These guys have been known to change colors to match their surroundings, though I've never heard of one going blue. They always seem to have some patches on their body that mimic coralline algae.

I have snails in with my frogfish, but have personally avoided hermit crabs.

Cheri

[Reefcherie]

Originally posted by Seth W
I fellow member pointed me to this thread. I just picked up some sort of generic colored frogfish which I'm calling "spewey" I had been feeding him gold fish about every day to everyother day but it sound like I should be feeding him some frozen food as well as small shrimp and such.

He's been in my 55 refugium for about a week now and is doing well. I'm considering putting in a few electric scallops and maybe some star fish. I'm also thinking of putting in some mangrove trees in it as well but I'm wondering if this will be any sort of a issue for him?

Hi Seth W! We'd love to see a picture of Spewey!

Regarding feeding - goldfish are a really poor long-term food source for frogfish, as the nutritional needs of a frogfish are best met with saltwater fish and crustaceans. For live food, best to stick to saltwater ghost shrimp, saltwater minnows (always quarantine before feeding to your frogfish though) or you could raise your own saltwater Mollies. Any of these can be gut-loaded with good quality marine food and will provide great nutrition for your frogfish. If you can get your frogfish to take frozen marine preparations like silversides or krill, that would save you oodles of hassle and give you the greatest variety to try. Whatever you feed, be sure to stick to things no more than 1/2 the length of your frogfish and feed only every 2-3 days (two days with growing juveniles seems to be OK).

I have no experience with the potential companions you've mentioned. I have had a frogfish in with tridacnid clams w/ no problem. I don't see why a starfish (unless it is a fish predatory one) or mangrove tree would be a problem.

Best of luck with Spewey!

Cheri

[kidzatheart]

Hello everyone. I havent posted in a while. I have been trying to turn my frogfish blue. I have blue reef sand in the bottom of his tank, blue background on the back of the tank and a blue dead coral that i purchased from a lfs. He has not turned blue yet. He looks more greyish. He has also gotten a patch on each side of his head that matches some algea patches in his tank. I am now thinking about trying to change him to orange instead because i dont care for they greyish color. In a SMALL way it looks like a blue/grey but not the blue i was looking for. I wanted a dark blue.

[Frogfish_In_Ohio]

I have just found this forum, was directed here from another. My wife and I have a fasination with Frogfish. We take scuba trips where they are common and have some great pictures that I will scan and post at some point. My wife has her car liscense plate say "FRGFSH"

We have tried three times to keep Frogfish. The first one was our first foray into SW tanks. I bought a 20 gallon long tank and once it was up and running for a while, added the frogfish. We fed him freeze dried Krill and ghost shrimp. After about 6 weeks it appeared as if he had a stroke. He would only swim (if you can call it that) with one side of his body. A few days later he was dead. I don't really remember the details about the second but he too didn't last very long. Both of these were the only inhabitants in the tank. After that we gave up for a while, until the LFS got a Sargassum. This we put into our 110 FOWLR with a snowflake eel, a panther grouper and a niger trigger. There were no compatibility issues that we ever saw. The Sargassum had her favorite perch and only left it for food. Twice we even saw what can only be described as egg sacks that she let off. Unfortunately, about 8 weeks after we got her she was dead on her perch. After that we decided that maybe Frogfish are best left in the wild.

After reading this 14 page post I am alternating back and forth between trying again. However, this time I am much more knowledgable in fishkeeping. I have noted the Reef Fishes book and will get or borrow that to read. However, I do have some questions

For the smaller species, is a 20 gallong tank large enough?

What water quality parameters are required for these fish?

Does the lighting make a difference (I doubt it)?

How long has everyone had these fish survive?

Is freeze dried krill soaked in ZOE nutricious enough?

Thats it for now!!! I still am not sure if Iam going to try them again, but no matter what they are awsome fish. You have to love something that is so ugly that it is cute.

[Reefcherie]

Frogfish_in_Ohio,


To Reef Central

and welcome to the Frogfish Files! How lucky you are to have done diving where they live! Where have you gone? Please DO post pictures. I'm sure everyone following this thread would love to see them!!

I'll try to answer your questions and probably some other folks will chime in too.

1. For A. maculatus or A. pictus, a 20-gallon tank should be fine

2. I don't think the water quality for these fish is any different than any other saltwater fish. A temp in the range of 78-82 (F), pH is the 8.0-8.2 range, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, low nitrate, dKH 8-10, CA 350-450

3. I don't think lighting makes any difference

4. I don't know - this is my sixth month with Fuggly

5. I've never tried that kind of diet w/ frogfish, but I do think offering more of a variety is a good idea. If your frogfish is taking thawed frozen food, I'd see if I could get a package of frozen silversides and alternate between those, the krill and maybe some live ghost shrimp for a change.

If you've read this whole post, you can see our recommendations about size of food to feed and frequency. That is very important to keeping a frogfish healthy.

Cheri

[Newflee]

Well "meatball is back in his smaller coral/himself tank again. I just loved his ability to "hunt" in the reef but he's quite clumbsy and things were getting damaged.

He really seems to have settled in with me even with the tank changes etc. When I'm in the room he watches me to see when the meal will be added.

I'm not a sick fish expert but my experrience with all fish tells me that stress (physical) is much larger of a player in the overall factors. I personally have never seen another saltwater fish that is more laid back thjen a frogfish. Mine avereges 1 breath per 2 seconds even if I'm handling him. This type of breathing I would consider to be comatose for most fish.


I think you just gota love these guys or not. Personally I don't see meatball as a fish most of the time because he moves as a terrestrial animal . I can only attribute his movements to a domestic cat

Lee

[kidzatheart]

Hello everyone. I have sad news to report. When i got up today i found my rocky dead. We had him a few months and he didnt even show signs of being sick. Just the other day he ate well. He ate his normal 4 ghost shrimp. I went to the LFS where we bought him to see if they had anymore. They have the frogfish on special for $49.99, so needless to say, they were all gone. The guy at the LFS said he should have more in on tuesday or wednesday and that he will keep them on special. We will be going up there on wednesday to get a new frogfish. I will post pics when i get him. I just hoping that by the time we get there on wednesday that they will still have some. The LFS is just over an hour from where i live.

[Fishy1]

Sorry to hear of your loss.......I lost my first two rather quickly and then got one that lived for a long time. Hope the next one will live a long time for you. Nice that the LFS has them on special too. They can sometimes be quite pricey.

Janey

[Newflee]

I sure wish that there was more to go on with these deaths.
Seems like frogfish SIDS.
The over feeding looks to be the main culprit but I'm sure all of us who have read about others misfortunes are not over feeding.
Any other details that you can report?

Lee

[Thales]

Heck, are these guys being caught with cyanide?

[Newflee]

I doubt it, They have to be the easiest fish to catch. You wouldn't even need a net.

[Fishy1]

So far, my giant "Ollie" is doing well. I've had him for about 3 months now and he is growing I feed him small amounts every other day.......keeps him happy. Here's a pic, black ones are not too photogenic so you'll have to strain your eyes to see his face!

[spanker]

Originally posted by Lefty
Heck, are these guys being caught with cyanide?

I've seen one caught by a divemaster while SCUBA diving. They are NOT hard to catch to say the least, rather they are slow clumsy swimmers that don't stand a chance at outswimming a diver with fins. Least the one I saw was this way. To watch it try to swim away from us divers was almost comical.

[Newflee]

When I do manage to urge Meatball to swim he seems to use his breathing to give him a little boost. He's learned to get into the powerhead blast when he needs/wants to cover ground faster. Other than that he spends his time "walking" rather than swimming.

[Thales]

I agree that they are easy to catch, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't use cyanide anyhow. Prolly they don't, but there are just too many healthy looking anglers that die after a few months. Something is going on, anyone have any other ideas?

[goblinsharkman]

Hi all i just set up a 10g for my frogfish today, im probably gonna special order a warty from my lfs, heres my question, my friend has a house up here on the chesapeake bay and hes a real big fishermen, in the summer they have about twenty minnow traps hanging off their dock they catch tons, he said icould bring back some to feed to my frogfish, can i do that, i mean do they have dieases or anything and they are from brackish water will they have less neutrions? thanks

[spanker]

Originally posted by Lefty
I agree that they are easy to catch, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't use cyanide anyhow............

This would be truly sad considering how easy they are to catch. I'll agree with you that there is something going on that we're not seeing that is causing their short lives, but perhaps it is just stress.

[Thales]

It would be totally sad spanker, but it really wouldn't suprise me all that much.

The two I have lost were doing just fine for 3 months or so, then bam. Very perplexing.

[Reefcherie]

Originally posted by goblinsharkman
Hi all i just set up a 10g for my frogfish today, im probably gonna special order a warty from my lfs, heres my question, my friend has a house up here on the chesapeake bay and hes a real big fishermen, in the summer they have about twenty minnow traps hanging off their dock they catch tons, he said icould bring back some to feed to my frogfish, can i do that, i mean do they have dieases or anything and they are from brackish water will they have less neutrions? thanks

I use saltwater minnows and yes, they can have diseases and/or parasites. I quarantine my minnows for at least two weeks before I use them to feed Fuggly. During their quarantine and after, I'm feeding them the same high quality marine fish food that I feed the saltwater fish in my other tanks. When you gut load them like that, I see no reason why they wouldn't be nutritious.

When people lose frogfish w/o overfeeding, having fed the wrong foods or exposing them to air, my best guess is that they don't get enough variety in the food we feed them and are missing some essential amino acid or something - causing a slow, degeneration of a vital organ. If we could find some folks that have kept them for much longer and compare notes, that would be really helpful.

Cheri

[diverrad]

Well I finally got my first frog fish a white wartskin, but I am a bit concerned I tryed feeding him a silverside a small one about an inch long and he took a good shot at it and then spit it back out, I trued witha krill and he didnt even look at it, should I go and get a few mollys ? or wait a day or 2 and try again ?