New Pred tank!

[PicassoClown04]

Two common reasons you don't see some species in captivity are; disease prone and/or feeding difficulties. With that eel I wouldn't be surprised if they don't commonly come in with internal parasites and/or have feeding difficulties. Offering appropriate live food is first, I have a rule, if my preds don't eat after 24 hrs, I immediately treat with general cure.

Anglers are pure ambush predators, so initial feeding can have some nuances. You must make sure the prey actually gets to a place where the angler can catch them, so ghosties are usually the easiest. You can use a clear feeding stick to herd the prey into a position where the angler can catch them. While anglers can eat items as large as themselves, a small one may be more intimidated to attempt a larger item, so make sure the prey is not too large. A healthy angler should be using your lure pretty quickly to attract food and moving around the tank to hunt for food.

All preds are usually starved so it really shouldn't take long for them to respond to live food if they are healthy.

Thank you so much. I have general cure on the way for the eel. The angler was fed with forceps for the live and dead food and just ran away from everything which was a big surprise for me. The lion just had some white poop, would it be appropriate to treat him too even though he’s eating? Thanks!

 

[lion king]

Thank you so much. I have general cure on the way for the eel. The angler was fed with forceps for the live and dead food and just ran away from everything which was a big surprise for me. The lion just had some white poop, would it be appropriate to treat him too even though he’s eating? Thanks!

Yes you should treat the lion as well. They can come in eating and even seem fine for a few weeks but still have parasites.

 

[PicassoClown04]

@lion king Hey Lion King! I actually have two anglers, one is in a different tank. They’re both having some difficulty taking food for me but I saw both eating fine at the fish store. The fish store said they were eating 6 goldfish every day, I’ve had them for a week now and neither has eaten any of the food I’ve given. What treatment protocol would you give? Should I put them in general cure with the fuzzy and eel? Also, what feeding schedule would you recommend? I plan on switching them to live ghosties. Thanks so much!

 

[lion king]

@lion king Hey Lion King! I actually have two anglers, one is in a different tank. They’re both having some difficulty taking food for me but I saw both eating fine at the fish store. The fish store said they were eating 6 goldfish every day, I’ve had them for a week now and neither has eaten any of the food I’ve given. What treatment protocol would you give? Should I put them in general cure with the fuzzy and eel? Also, what feeding schedule would you recommend? I plan on switching them to live ghosties. Thanks so much!

I would start the lion and eel on gc asap, full dose as directed.

Wow, first off 6 goldfish every day sounds like ridiculous bs, most lfs lie, lie, lie when it comes to predator's eating anyway. Most times they are probably not eating at all. But 1st I have to unpack 6 goldfish, maybe a 4" plus painted angler may eat 6 small goldfish at a sitting, BUT everyday, after a few days that angler would be dead. Please do not offer goldfish or rosies, and if those anglers were eating that amount everyday, that's trouble right there.

How long have you had these anglers, if you actually saw them eat yourself, I would give it some time depending on when you saw them eat. If they had been feeding them multiple goldfish everyday, possibly just giving them times to digest and clear their system may be all they need. DID you make sure to release them under water and not allow them to gulp air. Is there any signs of buoyancy.

If possible I would not treat the anglers unless you have definitive evidence they may have internal parasites. Them not eating week to two weeks since you saw them eat would be of no concern. If they refuse food after about 10 days, then I would consider treatment, and use the 3rds method I mentioned earlier.

Here is a thread I wrote with alot of info on caring for anglers.

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

 

[PicassoClown04]

I would start the lion and eel on gc asap, full dose as directed.

Wow, first off 6 goldfish every day sounds like ridiculous bs, most lfs lie, lie, lie when it comes to predator's eating anyway. Most times they are probably not eating at all. But 1st I have to unpack 6 goldfish, maybe a 4" plus painted angler may eat 6 small goldfish at a sitting, BUT everyday, after a few days that angler would be dead. Please do not offer goldfish or rosies, and if those anglers were eating that amount everyday, that's trouble right there.

How long have you had these anglers, if you actually saw them eat yourself, I would give it some time depending on when you saw them eat. If they had been feeding them multiple goldfish everyday, possibly just giving them times to digest and clear their system may be all they need. DID you make sure to release them under water and not allow them to gulp air. Is there any signs of buoyancy.

If possible I would not treat the anglers unless you have definitive evidence they may have internal parasites. Them not eating week to two weeks since you saw them eat would be of no concern. If they refuse food after about 10 days, then I would consider treatment, and use the 3rds method I mentioned earlier.

Here is a thread I wrote with alot of info on caring for anglers.

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

Thank you so so much. I’ve had them both since Tuesday, neither have eaten or shown interest in eating. Definitively saw them eat 3 goldfish each on Tuesday before buying. My black angler threw up at least 6 half digested goldfish during acclimation and does tend to go to the top of the tank if he isn’t holding a rock and seems to have lots of difficulty getting back down to the bottom. I do not plan on continuing the goldfish at all, I know they’re really bad nutritionally and anglers are not built to eat them. I will separate them into their own tank (they shared a tank at the LFS) and let them rest for a week before trying live ghosties again.

I will definitely give that article a good read. It sounds like exactly what I need to hear. Thank you again for your patience while I learn how to take care of these beauties

 

[lion king]

Thank you so so much. I’ve had them both since Tuesday, neither have eaten or shown interest in eating. Definitively saw them eat 3 goldfish each on Tuesday before buying. My black angler threw up at least 6 half digested goldfish during acclimation and does tend to go to the top of the tank if he isn’t holding a rock and seems to have lots of difficulty getting back down to the bottom. I do not plan on continuing the goldfish at all, I know they’re really bad nutritionally and anglers are not built to eat them. I will separate them into their own tank (they shared a tank at the LFS) and let them rest for a week before trying live ghosties again.

I will definitely give that article a good read. It sounds like exactly what I need to hear. Thank you again for your patience while I learn how to take care of these beauties

You said the one has a hard time getting back down the tank. Buoyancy can be caused by two things. One if they were exposed to air while transferring and gulped air, this can be deadly. Sometimes they will expelled it themselves and all is well, this could happen fast or take a few days. You can also "burp" them, you gently cradle them in your hand and gently massage their belly, you tilt their head then back to center, slowly. Two, overfeeding/too frequent feeding, digestive gases form in the gut, the remedy is to just not feed them for a week. Seriously, you may have got them just in time, they are probably suffering from overfeeding.

Since Tues means no reason to panic, yet. Don't even attempt to feed until at least Tues, a week since. No reason to consider any treatment.

 

[PicassoClown04]

You said the one has a hard time getting back down the tank. Buoyancy can be caused by two things. One if they were exposed to air while transferring and gulped air, this can be deadly. Sometimes they will expelled it themselves and all is well, this could happen fast or take a few days. You can also "burp" them, you gently cradle them in your hand and gently massage their belly, you tilt their head then back to center, slowly. Two, overfeeding/too frequent feeding, digestive gases form in the gut, the remedy is to just not feed them for a week. Seriously, you may have got them just in time, they are probably suffering from overfeeding.

Since Tues means no reason to panic, yet. Don't even attempt to feed until at least Tues, a week since. No reason to consider any treatment.

White angler ate today, 3 mollies and at least 2 ghost shrimp. Black showed no signs of interest but maybe I will try again with him on Friday. Lionfish is still doing very well, hunting ghost shrimp and endlers like crazy. Eel is not so good. He shows no interest in the frozen shrimp (that’s what’s in the video)

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I think I will start general cure for the eel today because of the poor feeding response

 

[lion king]

White angler ate today, 3 mollies and at least 2 ghost shrimp. Black showed no signs of interest but maybe I will try again with him on Friday. Lionfish is still doing very well, hunting ghost shrimp and endlers like crazy. Eel is not so good. He shows no interest in the frozen shrimp (that’s what’s in the video)

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I think I will start general cure for the eel today because of the poor feeding response

Because of their rarity in captivity, I will go out on a limb and say the eel will likely need to be fed something live. Have you seen any live food disappear overnight, some eels take a while to eat during the light hours or with humans around. Have you started the gc treatment, eels many times come in with internal parasites and this eel I would highly suspect. Frequently coming in with internal parasites and not being treated is another likely reason this eel isn't seen in captivity often. When you attempt to feed them dead, I would cut the food into more like slices about the width of the space between their eyes and use a feeding stick or tongs to wiggle it around and taunt them into responding.

Is the black angler the one that had the issue returning to the bottom of the tank, If so has their buoyance issue resolved,

 

[PicassoClown04]

Because of their rarity in captivity, I will go out on a limb and say the eel will likely need to be fed something live. Have you seen any live food disappear overnight, some eels take a while to eat during the light hours or with humans around. Have you started the gc treatment, eels many times come in with internal parasites and this eel I would highly suspect. Frequently coming in with internal parasites and not being treated is another likely reason this eel isn't seen in captivity often. When you attempt to feed them dead, I would cut the food into more like slices about the width of the space between their eyes and use a feeding stick or tongs to wiggle it around and taunt them into responding.

Is the black angler the one that had the issue returning to the bottom of the tank, If so has their buoyance issue resolved,

Yes. I think the buoyancy issue is fine now, just digestive gases. I fed the whole tank about 20 live ghosties and 5 or 6 mollies, I am sure there are still some shrimp running around. I hope he eats some but showed no interest when they walked in front of his face and even on his head. I’m starting general cure tonight

 

[PicassoClown04]

Hey @lion king I just wanted to update you to thank you so much for all of your help with these guys! The geometric is doing great with the general cure and has finally started to eat some frozen shrimp, I will start varying his diet very soon when he becomes a more aggressive eater. The anglers are both eating live ghost shrimp and endlers and I am working on also breeding brackish or saltwater mollies to help boost their variety as well. I also went ahead and treated the fuzzy lion and he is still doing amazing. You’re the best, thanks for everything!