Two anglers in one tank?

[Larry the Lobster]

hello I was wondering if it is posible to have two frohfish/anglerfish in the same 30 gal. They are both wart skin frogfish but they are different colors. Is that ok. How do I know if they are compatible? So far my plan is to pick up the first on at the store an put it in a qt with no copper. Then I will find another one in the future (I am willing to wait). When I find the other I will bring both to my tank and put a divider in the middle. After a month or two I will remove the border after a feeding. The frogfish are the color patterns in the picture below. They will be similar sizes.

 

[eatbreakfast]

My understanding is that they are capable of eating each other.

 

[cracker]

Too bad ! The colors are outrageous beautiful !

I'm curious , These fish develop these colors for camouflage . Would a keeper need to supply these same colors in the tank? Do they adapt & change color to suite the surroundings perhaps?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

hello I was wondering if it is posible to have two frohfish/anglerfish in the same 30 gal. They are both wart skin frogfish but they are different colors. Is that ok. How do I know if they are compatible? So far my plan is to pick up the first on at the store an put it in a qt with no copper. Then I will find another one in the future (I am willing to wait). When I find the other I will bring both to my tank and put a divider in the middle. After a month or two I will remove the border after a feeding. The frogfish are the color patterns in the picture below. They will be similar sizes.

I have NEVER seen these in my LFS's! Probably a good thing or I would be setting up a 4th tank! Outrageously beautiful fish in those pics!

 

[becca10]

I had one that went from red to bright yellow with red accents. Was beautiful.

 

[trevormass7]

I kept one for a year and a half, they change color based on environment. They'll be fine together as long as they're the same size

 

[lion king]

Most of these attempts end badly, they can eat something the same size as themselves and will even attempt to eat something larger than themselves. as much as try to manage their compatible size, they are insatiable, and you never know when one will turn on the other. Their instincts are nature, not like hey I won't eat my brother.

as far as maintaining color, yes you want to provide a colorful environment. They imprint the colors in the tank as to camouflage themselves to ambush their prey. in the wild they mostly live among sponges, that's why you see them mostly in reds, yellows, and oranges. If you tank is bare and dull they will fade to colors which will mimic the grey rocks, green algae, and such. Whether you create a live reef with colorful corals or use artificial corals; using reds, yellows, and oranges will promote a more vibrantly colored angler.

Here's my latest using Living Color fake corals, and a previous one with live coral; both of these guys a couple of years in the tank. The wartys tend to keep their colors better than the painteds, but regardless you will likely lose some color. In a plain rock only tank you will become pretty disappointed how drab these guys will become.