The Frogfish Files - Page 21

blackangler · #**501** 04/11/2004, 10:08 PM

i did now think clams could digest large food like that. i am pretty sure they are plankton only. the reason i asked is i was wondern if the angler would just get crushed. but i have a maxima in my reef and my lawnmower blenney sits in my mamixa some time

Newflee · #**502** 04/12/2004, 12:39 AM

T. clamms are planktonic feeders (phyto in fact), so I doubt that the situation described was anything but an accident. Tell your friend to remove the poor lodged fish before the clam dies too!
No problem what so ever housing clams with frogs except that frogs probably appreciate less lighting than clams require.

Lee

Reefcherie · #**503** 04/12/2004, 07:28 AM

I completely agree w/ Newflee - sounds like a freak accident. I keep Boss Hog in my clam tank. He does spend some time under a little live rock overhang, but every 3-4 hours changes his ambush position and is frequently completely out in the open under the 250W MH lighting. I often see him "stand" with some part of his body on the side and even the top of a clam and some of my clams are in the 4-5" category. The clams don't seem to mind - don't even close or flinch.

Cheri

Fishy1 · #**504** 04/12/2004, 08:11 AM

My friend does a "head count" every night before she goes to bed and so it had been about 24 hours since she last saw the angel. Maybe it was a freak thing but since it did happen to an angel with my luck it would happen to my frogfish too......I don't keep anything in with "Ollie" not even snails.....

Fishy1

RamPuppy · #**505** 04/12/2004, 09:52 AM

considering angels are prone to nipping clam mantles, I wouldn't be suprised if the angel was trying to have an evening snack and got more than it bargained for.

jamal-188 · #**506** 04/13/2004, 05:17 PM

GREAT NEW!!!

Well after my last little guy died after 6 days, even after eating a couple tiny ghost shrimp I decided to try again. I got a really cute likee white one this time. I acclimated him very slow last night and today just for fun I tried to give him a piece of krill on the end of a feeding stick and he took it right away!! I"m soooo happy he ate prepared food on the first attempt, he must have been very hungry

My only concern is he tried to eat the whole feeding stick and I have to kind of yank it from him, I"m worrid it may hurt his little insides. Any suggestions?

BTW, will post pics later tonight

Wee Man · #**507** 04/13/2004, 06:34 PM

yeah iwas first worried about this happening so what i did is i put a little piece of rubber (no idea where i foud it or what type i used) on the end of the stick above the sharpened part. you just need to mkae sure that the rubber is sterile.

glad to hear your frog is eating frozen, remember that now he has had frozen never ever under any circumstance give him live food. hopefully he will keep eting the frozen stuff.

Newflee · #**508** 04/13/2004, 06:40 PM

Try and feed the krill by just letting it sink in front of his face. Feeding sticks can be dangerous and the gulping action of the frog is so rapid you'll have no chance of controling the impact.
On a related note about live food, after several weeks of eating frozen, I have had to start feeding live again. I hope to move back to frozen soon.
It seems that he would eagerly take the frozen untill he realized it was actually dead food. I've put him back on ghost shrimp for a while untill I start developing the "automatic" feeding response again.

jamal-188 · #**509** 04/14/2004, 10:13 PM

Here is a pic, not very good but I'll try to get more tomorrow

Newflee · #**510** 04/14/2004, 10:31 PM

Looks like A. Hispidus.
See the description.

http://www.starfish.ch/frogfish/Genus.html

Short rod etc. Color is not what is listed but I'm sure that's variable.

blackangler · #**511** 04/14/2004, 10:32 PM

anybody know about freshwater anglers. my lfs was selling them. i may just have to get one for my fresh tank?

Newflee · #**512** 04/14/2004, 10:33 PM

I've seen them in the I.D. books and they look very similar. Would make providing live food easier...bait shop.

Lee

gumbybc · #**513** 04/15/2004, 12:57 AM

anyone have any pics of the freshwater ones?

Wee Man · #**514** 04/15/2004, 03:57 PM

oh yes there anglers are called the twinspot, or brackishwater frogfish, latin name Antennarius biocellatus, not to be confused with antennarius multiocceltus, which is a saltwater species. the twinspot IS a freshwater frogfish but can be kept in salt or brackish water, my only concern is that you better have a whole day acclimating him to freshwater( if he isnt already and visa versa)

Newflee · #**515** 04/15/2004, 04:33 PM

Brackish species by definition usually acclimate to either quite rapidly. It would probably be wise to maintain them in brackish water so that a relatively quick transfer could be made to either full salt or freshwater in case of a system failure etc.

Wouldn't it be neat to have one of those deep water species with the glowing lure? I magine recreating the darkness would be a non issue as they are probably blind anyway. Collecting them would be an expensive if not impossible proposition. Of course feeding them their prefered deep water victim would be a problem too....never mind.

blackangler · #**516** 04/21/2004, 11:10 PM

does anyone have a picture of the freshwater frog?

Newflee · #**517** 04/21/2004, 11:40 PM

I know I have seen one somewhere but can't remember where. I spent a while googling the other night for a pic with no positive results.
I imagine that the animal itself is even harder to find so it becomes a non issue.

Lee

ps. If I'm wrong and they are available just ask the seller to provide you with the info.

JoshLangerman · #**518** 04/21/2004, 11:49 PM

This is a great thread! I think I might get one one day.

Newflee · #**519** 04/21/2004, 11:57 PM

Just an update on the co-existance of Meatball and the cleaner wrasse...all goes well so far. If I recall it's been a while now.
There doesn't seem to be any symbiotic relationship but the cleaner is quite agile and the frog can't be bothered. He (cleaner) also finds a great tight spot to sleep as all cleaners do...or else he would be toast I suspect. Works for me.

Reefcherie · #**520** 04/22/2004, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JoshLangerman
This is a great thread! I think I might get one one day.

JoshLangerman,

To Reef Central

and to The Frogfish Files! If you decide to get one of these fascinating creatures, hopefully this thread will help you with your research and help you to succeed. Other great sources of information are WetWebMedia's archives, the links shown in various posts in this thread and Scott Michael's Reef Fishes Vol. 1 which has an entire chapter on Anglers - lots of great pictures, info and practical advice.

Cheri

Wee Man · #**521** 04/22/2004, 05:43 PM

in reef fishes volume one there is a picture of one, this frog looks rather dull but scott michael says the dull ones cost alot less than the brighter orange ones (like most frogs)

gumbybc · #**522** 04/22/2004, 05:46 PM

Can the dull ones change colors to become bright?

Newflee · #**523** 04/22/2004, 06:21 PM

The more and more I see these guys in the wild makes me think they are mostly color keyed to sponges. Unfortunately colorfull sponge are difficult to keep in our home aquaria...at least in a predator tank.
My bet is that if you get your frog as anything other than colorfull he will likely turn the brown color of rock and even the colorfull ones eventually do as well in the absence of a sponge.
Much more reaserch needs to be done on this but besides us it seems no experiments are being done.

Lee

Wee Man · #**524** 04/24/2004, 12:23 PM

yes the dull ones will change to suite there environment so if the environment is orange the frog will turn orange. i dont believe keeping sponges will be that hard if you have a species only ank with just the frog, as far as i know thats the best way of keeping them in the first place. however it owld probably be easier to buy some fake rock coral or some red amcroalgae and see what happens.

Newflee · #**525** 04/24/2004, 12:38 PM

Well I just have to say that I dissagree based on my experience with my frog. He is living in a tank that is wall to wall red mushrooms and presently turning spotted brown. Obviously they do change color to suit their environment in the wild but I have seen no evidence of that in captivity based on what has been written on the thread.
Also frogs aren't like octopus that can change their colors rapidly. It takes time and in the wild it would seem that a frog would likely just move to a color location that best suits him rather than stay put and change his color.
In our tanks our frogs become very aware that we mean a meal. They don't need the super stealth camo which may account for most of them ending up brown.
If you can show me a single case of a frog changing red or any other bright color in captivity for a long term I could change my tune. That's going to be tough as long term captive care has not yet been shown. At least on this thread.

Lee

ps. Anglers are like a box of chocolates...you never know what your gonna get.