I GOT A WARTSKIN ANGLER!!!

[BloopFish]

Ide actually never heard of them until you mentioned them, beautiful little fish. I could also see maybe putting a scorpionfish?

Frogfishes will eat scorpionfishes like lionfishes with no care in the world, I've seen it myself

 

[Bleakborn]

A frogfish will try to eat anything that will fit in its mouth, and I would recommend having it by itself in a 20 gallon or 10 gallon with good filtration.

Some things to keep in mind;

1. DONT OVERFEED! They can and will die to overfeeding, they are fun to watch eat but you need to be careful on how often.
2. DONT LET THEM TOUCH THE AIR! They can gulp air and you will need to burp them if they do, there should be a bunch of videos on YouTube for that.
3. Be careful what you feed them. Live SW fish can have parasites, feeding them too much frozen isn't good for them and most FW fish aren't very healthy for them to eat. I recommend that you buy freshwater ghost shrimp and gut load the shrimp (feeding the shrimp a high quality saltwater fish food) before feeding them to the frogfish.
4. Do Your Research. I am sure your frantically getting ready for the fish but make sure you take some time and read and watch videos on taking care of one!

Good Luck!

 

[BloopFish]

Would big inverts be okay? Like arrow crabs or decorator crabs? Ide imagine same deal applies, they gotta be much bigger than the angler fish to avoid becoming a meal. If I can get my hands on a small snowflake moray or dwarf moray I might put him in with the angler.

Really don't think you should have tankmates in general for them besides perhaps damsels you are OK with being eaten, even if you technically could. The fish that are large enough to go with them can easily harass them, and an invert large enough to go with them would surely bother them. Arrow crabs are most definitely not large enough. They will eat anything that fits their mouths.Bleakhorn gave some good advice.

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

A frogfish will try to eat anything that will fit in its mouth, and I would recommend having it by itself in a 20 gallon or 10 gallon with good filtration.

Some things to keep in mind;

1. DONT OVERFEED! They can and will die to overfeeding, they are fun to watch eat but you need to be careful on how often.
2. DONT LET THEM TOUCH THE AIR! They can gulp air and you will need to burp them if they do, there should be a bunch of videos on YouTube for that.
3. Be careful what you feed them. Live SW fish can have parasites, feeding them too much frozen isn't good for them and most FW fish aren't very healthy for them to eat. I recommend that you buy freshwater ghost shrimp and gut load the shrimp (feeding the shrimp a high quality saltwater fish food) before feeding them to the frogfish.
4. Do Your Research. I am sure your frantically getting ready for the fish but make sure you take some time and read and watch videos on taking care of one!

Good Luck!

I saw that about not letting them out of the water, also not being able to use any products like vibrant or chemiclean. I ordered saltwater ghost shrimp and was planning on feeding them like spirulina, tdo chromaboost all soaked in selcon. I’ll take your advice and put him all on his lonesome. In terms of feeding, how often should I aim for and how much? I was thinking of feeding him maybe 2 shrimp every 3 days or so?
Thanks for all the fantastic advice!

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

Really don't think you should have tankmates in general for them besides perhaps damsels you are OK with being eaten, even if you technically could. The fish that are large enough to go with them can easily harass them, and an invert large enough to go with them would surely bother them. Arrow crabs are most definitely not large enough. They will eat anything that fits their mouths.Bleakhorn gave some good advice.

Understood, he will be living life with only corals as his friends

 

[lion king]

The frogfish is best a in species tank, they will actually eat anything up to their own size, so in a smaller tank, that task in itself is difficult. They will be fine with hard bodied inverts although I recommend against crabs(maybe hermits), just in case they nip at them(no emeralds, etc). I've found snails and hermits work fine, urchins as well but be mindful of the urchin getting enough to eat, especially difficult in a small tank unless you target feed. When they do eat something as larger as themselves, both die, so don't risk it.

Don't fall into the "train your frogfish" trap, these guys do not live long on a dead only diet. Their nutritional needs are never met with a dead only diet(maybe 1 in a 1000, I just haven;t met anyone). Ghosties will likely be your staple, but an appropriate sized guppy or molly will also be a good idea. The live gut flora in the fish is very beneficial. Little guys can be ok to feed every 2-3 days at first then eventually work into 7-10 days. They are rather sedentary creatures and will get more active when hungry, eventually you'll learn his schedule for feeding. These guys live on a gorge/fast feeding routine, so feed them their full then give time in between for digestion. Infrequent big meals(not big items) is better than frequent small meals. Feed until you see a little bulge in his belly. Maintaining reef level of mg helps with digestion.

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

The frogfish is best a in species tank, they will actually eat anything up to their own size, so in a smaller tank, that task in itself is difficult. They will be fine with hard bodied inverts although I recommend against crabs(maybe hermits), just in case they nip at them(no emeralds, etc). I've found snails and hermits work fine, urchins as well but be mindful of the urchin getting enough to eat, especially difficult in a small tank unless you target feed. When they do eat something as larger as themselves, both die, so don't risk it.

Don't fall into the "train your frogfish" trap, these guys do not live long on a dead only diet. Their nutritional needs are never met with a dead only diet(maybe 1 in a 1000, I just haven;t met anyone). Ghosties will likely be your staple, but an appropriate sized guppy or molly will also be a good idea. The live gut flora in the fish is very beneficial. Little guys can be ok to feed every 2-3 days at first then eventually work into 7-10 days. They are rather sedentary creatures and will get more active when hungry, eventually you'll learn his schedule for feeding. These guys live on a gorge/fast feeding routine, so feed them their full then give time in between for digestion. Infrequent big meals(not big items) is better than frequent small meals. Feed until you see a little bulge in his belly. Maintaining reef level of mg helps with digestion.

Thank you so much! I’ll do exactly what you recommend! How often should I feed the wartskin mollies or guppies?

 

[Quicklynx]

If it's going in a tank by itself, that is great.

If you have any Eels, you need to be careful. The Eels are predators of frogfish.

Thank you so much! I’ll do exactly what you recommend! How often should I feed the wartskin mollies or guppies?

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

If it's going in a tank by itself, that is great.

If you have any Eels, you need to be careful. The Eels are predators of frogfish.

No eels! Wartskin is so tiny I don’t think he should be kept with anything anyway.

 

[lion king]

Thank you so much! I’ll do exactly what you recommend! How often should I feed the wartskin mollies or guppies?

I like to include fish often, at least every few feedings.

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

I like to include fish often, at least every few feedings.

Thank you!

 

[Bleakborn]

I saw that about not letting them out of the water, also not being able to use any products like vibrant or chemiclean. I ordered saltwater ghost shrimp and was planning on feeding them like spirulina, tdo chromaboost all soaked in selcon. I’ll take your advice and put him all on his lonesome. In terms of feeding, how often should I aim for and how much? I was thinking of feeding him maybe 2 shrimp every 3 days or so?
Thanks for all the fantastic advice!

When they were young I fed them a little more often with smaller food sources but now I feed them every couple days, I usually wait till I cant see any bulge in the stomach anymore but I would say probably every 2-3 days I will feed them a shrimp or 2 and if I feed a larger food source like a molly I wait for the bulge to disappear around 4-6 days. But you will get the hang of it and it is probably better to under feed it then chance over feeding it.

My first Wartskin was so small when I got it I had to feed it cherry shrimp for a bit until it got big enough to handle ghost shrimp. Mine also lets me know when he is hungry by waving his lure at me when I pass by his tank.

One of the hardest things is getting a reliable food source, so always order/get extra!

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

Update-got him in today, seemed happy. Put him in his little 10 gallon alone, he swam to the surface and all around the tank so I was a little worried that he had air in him. Eventually he went down to the bottom and doesn’t look bloated by air at all so I think he was fine, just confused. Worried that all the feeder shrimp I got are too big to feed him, he is about the Size of a dollar coin. I’m gonna try tempting him with some selcon mysis on a skewer. I’ll also try and get some small minnows or guppies if he doesn’t like the mysis, which I bet he won’t. He is already
Putting out his lure, coolest fish I have ever had, hope he survives!

I will post photos tomorrow when the light turn back on.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

The only reason i didnt get the freckled frogfish from the divers den or the leaffish from reef beauties or something was cuz i didnt want them to eat all my other fish. Predators usually hunt at night. When my other more semi aggressive fish sleep. Lol. Gulp!
D

 

[lion king]

While they can eat something as large as themselves, smaller items are safer and better for digestion. It can be hard to find smaller items when they are tiny. You did mean guppies right, you don't want to feed minnows. Minnows have a high amount of thiaminese which binds vit B1 and can be deadly.

In the beginning smaller items are less intimidating, once they gain some confidence, you'll see them get much bolder in their hunting.

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

While they can eat something as large as themselves, smaller items are safer and better for digestion. It can be hard to find smaller items when they are tiny. You did mean guppies right, you don't want to feed minnows. Minnows have a high amount of thiaminese which binds vit B1 and can be deadly.

In the beginning smaller items are less intimidating, once they gain some confidence, you'll see them get much bolder in their hunting.

Didn’t know that about the minnows, thanks for the tip. Ill try some more feeder shrimp tmrw, just find the smallest one I can.

 

[lion king]

Didn’t know that about the minnows, thanks for the tip. Ill try some more feeder shrimp tmrw, just find the smallest one I can.

Minnows also can bind in the gut causing bloat, which lead to death. My case study on this has to do in regards with lionfish, but I imagine any species could be susceptible.

 

[Bleakborn]

Update-got him in today, seemed happy. Put him in his little 10 gallon alone, he swam to the surface and all around the tank so I was a little worried that he had air in him. Eventually he went down to the bottom and doesn’t look bloated by air at all so I think he was fine, just confused. Worried that all the feeder shrimp I got are too big to feed him, he is about the Size of a dollar coin. I’m gonna try tempting him with some selcon mysis on a skewer. I’ll also try and get some small minnows or guppies if he doesn’t like the mysis, which I bet he won’t. He is already
Putting out his lure, coolest fish I have ever had, hope he survives!

I will post photos tomorrow when the light turn back on.

Shipping is usually the hardest part for this fish, so at least one hurdle is out of the way.

Mine came in about that size as well, hence why I ended up feeding it some of my cherry shrimp, depending on what fish stores you live near, you might be able to get some Neocaradina shrimp or maybe small ghost shrimp as well if he is too small for the ones you got.

While they can eat something as large as themselves, smaller items are safer and better for digestion. It can be hard to find smaller items when they are tiny. You did mean guppies right, you don't want to feed minnows. Minnows have a high amount of thiaminese which binds vit B1 and can be deadly.

In the beginning smaller items are less intimidating, once they gain some confidence, you'll see them get much bolder in their hunting.

Also like Lion King said lots of minnows, goldfish and most other freshwater fish are not great for feeding, but any fish that can go from saltwater to freshwater like guppies, mollies and some rice fish are the best choices for feeders IMO.

Please post a picture of you new little guy when you get a chance!

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

Shipping is usually the hardest part for this fish, so at least one hurdle is out of the way.

Mine came in about that size as well, hence why I ended up feeding it some of my cherry shrimp, depending on what fish stores you live near, you might be able to get some Neocaradina shrimp or maybe small ghost shrimp as well if he is too small for the ones you got.



Also like Lion King said lots of minnows, goldfish and most other freshwater fish are not great for feeding, but any fish that can go from saltwater to freshwater like guppies, mollies and some rice fish are the best choices for feeders IMO.

Please post a picture of you new little guy when you get a chance!

Here he is, bonus pic is of a pair of Picasso x black storm clown pair I thought was cool. Put them together last night a bit afraid that the big percula would mess up the little black storm ocellaris. Thankfully I woke up this morning to no frayed fins and they seem paired up!

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

Most of my feeder shrimp arrived dead or are too big. So I think I’m gonna get like a 100 count of freshwater ghost shrimp and a couple guppies and set up a freshwater tank for feeders.