The Frogfish Files - Page 2

blackwagon · #26 06/25/2005, 04:55 PM

Went around looking for xenia today... went to stores I usually stay away from because of pricing and the service. Found a pictus for 20 bucks!! Thats a 1/10th of what I paid for my other one, this one seems to swim around more, and his spines seem to have more shape. And I was there during "happy hour" too so I got the frogfish and a feeder for 19 and some change.

Reefcherie · #27 06/26/2005, 05:08 AM

IMO, an angler (especially at that price) is WAY better than Xenia - that reef weed!

Best of luck w/ him/her!

Mr. Ugly · #28 06/26/2005, 10:02 AM

Cute fish! In a frogfish kinda way of course

clsund · #29 06/26/2005, 03:34 PM

Great find.

uberfugu · #30 06/27/2005, 08:34 AM

So I thought I'd post a pic of one of my wartskins. I was able to wean over to defrosted frozen, first impaled on a stick to the point now where I just drop a chunk in the tank and he will pursue and eat. About as easy as feeding goldfish. It took about three months to get to this point.

Absint Reefer · #31 07/10/2005, 10:13 PM

can any of you experts I.D. this guy for me

uberfugu · #32 07/10/2005, 11:14 PM

Looks like Antennarius nummifer, Coinbearing Frogfish. It could be A. coccineus but seems to have a caudal peduncle. I vote nummifer. Nice fish Carson.

Absint Reefer · #33 07/10/2005, 11:31 PM

thanks I picked it up for $20 can you tell me anything else about them.

uberfugu · #34 07/10/2005, 11:49 PM

They have a wide range, Indo-pacific to Hawaii to the European Atlantic and are somewhat common throughout that range. I see fair amount come in through West Coast wholesalers. They get to about 5" max (according to fishbase).

They've been one of the easiest of frogfish to acclimate to defrosted foods. I currently have a small one (1-1/2") that will eat a chunk of silverside. He(she) will actually chase the feeding stick. Kinda takes the fun out it

I had a brilliant greenish-yellow one that I bought at about 3/4" long. Unfortunately, like many anglers, he turned brownish grey to match the live-rock

ReefGeekster · #35 07/11/2005, 03:14 AM

What kinda of frogfish is this? Has a bit of ick and have it in Hypo at 1.008 now and he/she is eatting, anyway of telling what sex it is?

uberfugu · #36 07/11/2005, 07:49 AM

Interesting fish ReefGeekster. It has some characteristics that are shown by a couple of species. I'll have to do some research. But great color! Did you get him locally?

As for gender, anglers, as far as I know, aren't sexually dimorphic. Females tend to be a bit larger but if you only have one ...

Absint Reefer · #37 07/11/2005, 08:04 AM

thanks guys, I don't no about easily going to frozen food so far only live I got my sargassum angler eating squid and krill the first day

ReefGeekster · #38 07/11/2005, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by uberfugu
Interesting fish ReefGeekster. It has some characteristics that are shown by a couple of species. I'll have to do some research. But great color! Did you get him locally?

As for gender, anglers, as far as I know, aren't sexually dimorphic. Females tend to be a bit larger but if you only have one ...

I did get him locally at a pet store called
Pet Country Grange Co-op for $20 he's about 2.5" and housed in a 7.5 gallon bow for right now, doesn't swim around alot unless I put ghost shrimp or a guppy in. The only thing in the tank is the red/pink fake coral and he huddles against that, I'm hoping he'll maintain that color.

Casshern · #39 07/12/2005, 09:56 PM

hey fugu, its me your coworker. I heard you were reducing tank sizes

If you're looking to unload any froggers, let me know

I feel better about getting yours than from the store. PS did you see the new one that just came in? one of the two macs has TWO lures. I tried to call you but you weren't home. Maybe I'll catch you tomorrow.

hgrub · #40 07/13/2005, 04:17 AM

Can anyone tell me what kind of frog this one is? The shop owner told me it's painted frogfish.
Anyway, here's Mr.Pink

cheers,

uberfugu · #41 07/13/2005, 09:01 AM

Looks like a pictus ... could be a commerson. Commerson's illiciums aren't usually that long but they are variable. Pictus is most likely in your area (Asia). Wartskin will have a very different 2nd spine.

Best differentiation between pictus and commerson will be fin-ray counts:

Anal fin: pictus - 6-7; commerson - 8
pectoral fin: pictus - usually 10; commerson - usually 11
dorsal fin: pictus - usually 12; usually 13

the commerson will also grow to three time the size of the pictus

Nevertheless, cool fish

Drewcipher · #42 09/27/2005, 05:04 PM

All of a sudden it dies. 6 months and a couple days after we got our histrio histrio. Even after reading that this happens it surprised me. He was eating, and would always come out and swim with my cleaning magnet. When I do a water change he would often come and perch on my hand. Then...no more. We are very sad, he was really a great fish. Hope everyone else is doing ok. I really wish I could have revived this thread with pictures of him hanging around and not bad news. I wish I could educate or warn you what might have happened, to my water or whatever, but it was a complete surprise to me. Not sure what to think or do.

Reefcherie · #43 09/27/2005, 05:11 PM

I'm sorry to hear about your loss Drewcipher.... loss of a seemingly healthy angler after 6 months, 9 months or even a year is not that uncommon. I suspect if we had someone who was an expert in angler physiology do a dissection each time perhaps we'd get a clue as to what is going on...

I'll ask my standard questions, just to gather data - what were you feeding your frogfish? What size? How often? Were there any recent behavioral or physical changes that you noticed?

Drewcipher · #44 09/27/2005, 05:22 PM

Damsels are my food of choice, but when he couldn't catch one for a while I would throw in a molly. Always made sure he ate at least once per week, but usually got something about every 5 days or so. Generally the size was about 3/4 his length. No changes in behavior. He was always funny because he was not a patient fish. Rarely did he sit and ambush his prey. Since day 1 he would chase his prey around the tank, which was rather funny to watch. He had grown quite a bit in the 6 months and seemed fine. I am thinking I want to try again, but might want to make some tank changes first. Another point of interest is that he was never the least bit interested in eating shrimp. There have been 2 peppermints in there from day 1 (had some aiptasia at startup) He was plenty big enough to eat them, and came face to face with them regularly, but no desire to feed.

Reefcherie · #45 09/27/2005, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Drewcipher
Another point of interest is that he was never the least bit interested in eating shrimp. There have been 2 peppermints in there from day 1 (had some aiptasia at startup) He was plenty big enough to eat them, and came face to face with them regularly, but no desire to feed.

That sort of makes sense to me. A Sargassum angler would spend its life in the column in and on top of the Sargassum macro algae. I don't know how many shrimp hang out up there. My A. pictus is just the opposite. He will only eat fish if desperate. He loves shrimp. Interestingly enough, the motion of his lure does attract the shrimp I give him, whereas when he lures for the marine feeders I get, they quickly swim away in fear of it.

OoVWoO · #46 09/27/2005, 05:30 PM

On a slightly related note (as I dont yet have experience with frogfishes), would one fare well with a small Scorpion Leaffish? Right now I've got this little 1" Leaffish in an Eclipse six while waiting on my 24g Nanocube to come in. I figured I'd either order another 1 or 2 Leaf's to complete the tank, or keep him in there with a FrogFish, if compatable. Any suggestions?

Mr. Ugly · #47 09/27/2005, 05:41 PM

Wow, bummer. Sorry for your loss

uberfugu · #48 09/27/2005, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OoVWoO
On a slightly related note (as I dont yet have experience with frogfishes), would one fare well with a small Scorpion Leaffish? Right now I've got this little 1" Leaffish in an Eclipse six while waiting on my 24g Nanocube to come in. I figured I'd either order another 1 or 2 Leaf's to complete the tank, or keep him in there with a FrogFish, if compatable. Any suggestions?

I think there'd be little danger of an angler eating a leaf scorpion as long as the scorpion was bigger than the froggie. There is the possibility of envenomation by the scorpion. Although many seem to think that anglers are passive, I've seen very strong displays of aggression towards other fishes including other anglers. I've even had an angler kill a smaller angler by head-butting him around the tank.

I'm still in favor of a species-only for frogfishes. With the variety of leaf scorpionfish colors and patterns available, I think a leaf scorpion species-only tank would be quite spectacular.

smoke15 · #49 09/29/2005, 12:47 AM

I had a brilliant greenish-yellow one that I bought at about 3/4" long. Unfortunately, like many anglers, he turned brownish grey to match the live-rock
Anyway to "reverse" the brownish gray color change?

Newflee · #50 09/29/2005, 01:07 AM

Some have suggested that adding a sponge of your color chice might help but I have had no luck.
My "meatball" died recently from drying out after a tank rupture. He was a pictus and I never had any problem with him eating the head half of a frozen sardine. I had him for over a year...maybe close to two, and would have been for many more years I'm sure if not for the dryout.

Seems the key is a tall, species only tank with large bi-weekly feedings.