Angler in reef?

[Purple Platapus]

I have a 29g and I love anglers and corals. I'm asking can I keep an Angler in a reef? Maybe a wartskin, sinice those are smaller? Does anyone have any experience with anglers with corals?

 

[KoleTang]

They don't care about corals, but they will eat whatever fish or shrimp can fit in their mouths.

They have to be fed manually like eels and may not eat frozen food at first.

There was an article in RHM that may be of interest:

A Scorpion in Your Reef Photos and Cover Photo
Reef Hobbyist Magazine, Volume 1, Fall 2007
Pages 6-8
Home | Reef Hobbyist Magazine - Your Coral, Reef, and Marine Fish Aquarium Magazine

 

[Reeferdude56]

I agree with koletang. Usually they don't immediately take to frozen food. One idea I have heard from people is to acclimate mollies to saltwatwr and breed them. Once they are breeding you can load them with nutrients and feed them to the angler. Then you could kill some and freshly feed them to the angler so they can acclimate to dead food. Once there they should be willing to accept frozen food. I would look on live aquaria to make sure you get the right angler because the giant angler full grown grows one foot. The smallest angler (it grows to 6 inches max) should be happy in a that tanks. Just a tip, it would look really cool if you could get some mature SPS colonies for the angler to perch on.

 

[mrjlopez731]

Hey if you want to keep one, sure you can but it needs to be very small because once it grows, all your small fish will start to become MIA. You'll see, try it.

 

[geckoejon]

it is possible... i had a warty and some corals in the same tank. it should be a species only tank... they can and will try eating just about everything that moves eventually, ime.

i would stay away from mollies. imo, they will not be a proper diet long term. go for salt water feeders. i went with shrimp, damsels, and the occasional clown. lol

i would be concerned with flow. in a reef tank you need good flow to all areas to keep it healthy. anglers are very.... very... poor swimmers. i didn't even keep a powerhead in with mine. i tried a nano ph and the frog was blown all over the place. lol

make sure you have very good filtration. you will need it.

if the tank is packed with rock / coral it's hit or miss how often you will see the warty. it might hide most of the time...

 

[Purple Platapus]

How come mollies aren't as good as shrimp or other fish? And thanks for the help, guys!

Oh also I am in Canada so I can't order from liveaquaria.com.

 

[geckoejon]

How come mollies aren't as good as shrimp or other fish? And thanks for the help, guys!

Oh also I am in Canada so I can't order from liveaquaria.com.

i've read a theory that i tend to agree with about mollies and anglers. mollies are a freshwater fish and anglers are salt. i believe that a varied diet of saltwater feeders is best nutritionally. this is the environment they came from, and probably more along the lines of what they would eat in the wild, imo.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The issues of feeding freshwater fish to saltwater fish is most frequently seen with goldfish being fed as they are cheap and easy to acquire. But goldfish contain the enzyme thhiaminase, which contributes to health issues in freshwater and saltwater tropicals. Feeding mollies, on the other hand is fine, as they do not contain thiaminase, but also in the wild can be found in saltwater environments. There are a number of species of mollies, some completely freshwater, others brackish, some in estuaries where salinity reaches full marine salinity. Most pet shop mollies are hybrids that can be fully acclimated to saltwater permanently and supplemented with a diet and additives more similar to fish that an angler would naturally encounter.