Feeding my very active frogfish

[Rodan]

Ok so I have a very active frogfish he swims around the tank more then average frogfish. Will he be burning a lot more energy since he is swimming and should I feed him more? Right now I feed him like 2 pretty small ghost shrimp a day or 1 medium but I never see a bulge in his belly if anyone has experience with a active frogfish please give your opinion.

 

[fishguy242]

@lion king ?

 

[lion king]

Feeding too often is very detrimental, they should be on a gorge/fast feeding cycle. If itty bitty, like an inch or so, you can start out on every other day. As they grow and mature it will be best to work towards a week, a larger species even as long as 10 days. You feed them very well on feeding day, you want to see a nice bulge in their belly. You are likely not feeding him enough so he is always hungry. This is how they eat in the wild and is based on their natural metabolism. Overfeeding, in the form of feeding too often, is likely their #1 killer in captivity. When feeding too often, the food starts to sorta rot in their guts and forms gases they can not expel. it will prove deadly in the end.

If you are interested

So you want a frog fish; I call them anglers

I've kept a few, my first going back 25 years. These are very difficult fish to keep and I am still very frustrated as to the success in keeping these guys long term. I do have some information I would like to share for those interested. Be forewarned, they are not for everyone and do take...

www.reef2reef.com

Here's a beast I had some years ago, he would take this little swim most evenings after the whites went out.

 

[Rodan]

Feeding too often is very detrimental, they should be on a gorge/fast feeding cycle. If itty bitty, like an inch or so, you can start out on every other day. As they grow and mature it will be best to work towards a week, a larger species even as long as 10 days. You feed them very well on feeding day, you want to see a nice bulge in their belly. You are likely not feeding him enough so he is always hungry. This is how they eat in the wild and is based on their natural metabolism. Overfeeding, in the form of feeding too often, is likely their #1 killer in captivity. When feeding too often, the food starts to sorta rot in their guts and forms gases they can not expel. it will prove deadly in the end.

If you are interested

So you want a frog fish; I call them anglers

I've kept a few, my first going back 25 years. These are very difficult fish to keep and I am still very frustrated as to the success in keeping these guys long term. I do have some information I would like to share for those interested. Be forewarned, they are not for everyone and do take...

www.reef2reef.com

Here's a beast I had some years ago, he would take this little swim most evenings after the whites went out.

Wow ok thanks for the info and yours looks very similar to mine I love these fish so much I wouldn't get any other fish haha

 

[Rodan]

@lion king maybe once a day he like gets out of the cave and goes to the top of the tank and like gulps should i be concerned? It looks like he gulps air when he does it

 

[lion king]

@lion king maybe once a day he like gets out of the cave and goes to the top of the tank and like gulps should i be concerned? It looks like he gulps air when he does it

Let's back up, how long have you had him and what are you feeding him. Make sure all tank parameters check out. Did you release him under water, they will gulp air and that is bad, as they have a hard time expelling it. Him returning to the top may be him trying to release air, rather than gulp it. Does his stomach look spongy and/or does it seem like he is somewhat buoyant. If this may be the case, you can try and burp him.

A bit more complicated and serious response. Anglers are still very much a mystery, and many times long term success is more luck than not. They don't respond or indicate how other species would. Him gulping air is not normal and gulping air in itself would cause a problem. This type of activity in some other species could indicate parasites such as flukes. Treatment of any kind usually doesn't end well. If you've fed him well and he's still overactive, this could also point to flukes. Because it mostly ends badly, I am very reluctant to offer treatment advice. For now, as long his tank parameters check out and he is eating, I would let it ride.

 

[Rodan]

Let's back up, how long have you had him and what are you feeding him. Make sure all tank parameters check out. Did you release him under water, they will gulp air and that is bad, as they have a hard time expelling it. Him returning to the top may be him trying to release air, rather than gulp it. Does his stomach look spongy and/or does it seem like he is somewhat buoyant. If this may be the case, you can try and burp him.

A bit more complicated and serious response. Anglers are still very much a mystery, and many times long term success is more luck than not. They don't respond or indicate how other species would. Him gulping air is not normal and gulping air in itself would cause a problem. This type of activity in some other species could indicate parasites such as flukes. Treatment of any kind usually doesn't end well. If you've fed him well and he's still overactive, this could also point to flukes. Because it mostly ends badly, I am very reluctant to offer treatment advice. For now, as long his tank parameters check out and he is eating, I would let it ride.

Ok so I have had him for around 5 days The parameters are fine when he was released he was released underwater and acclimated well. When you say burp do you mean like stick that tool that people use when they catch a deep sea fish to get rid of the air. I am feeding him ghost shrimp and he does seem a little bit buoyant but that could be cause he wants to swim cuz at times he will sit for like 6 hours in one spot so I'm not sure. I'm going to try out the fast feed diet you were taking about though since I wasn't doing that.

 

[lion king]

Ok so I have had him for around 5 days The parameters are fine when he was released he was released underwater and acclimated well. When you say burp do you mean like stick that tool that people use when they catch a deep sea fish to get rid of the air. I am feeding him ghost shrimp and he does seem a little bit buoyant but that could be cause he wants to swim cuz at times he will sit for like 6 hours in one spot so I'm not sure. I'm going to try out the fast feed diet you were taking about though since I wasn't doing that.

Initially buoyancy is likely attributed to gulping air, it could also happen in the transport bag. Burping can sometimes be accomplished by gently handling him with a massage on the belly and tilting down and then up a couple of times. Very gently. As I mentioned in my 1st response feeding too often can cause a build up of digestive gases, this also causes that buoyancy. This is generally solved by not feeding until the spongy belly goes down and he is walking and actively hunting, trying a burp may also help in this situation. He could be going to surface to try and expel the air or gases. Do not feed until he has stabilized.