Warty Frog ate a small dottyback: should I be concerned?

[Tmm87]

As the title says, my small frog ate a dottyback that decided to carpet surf. I leaned down next to the tank to grab something, scared the dottyback, saw him bolt for the only opening in my screen lid and heard the plop. By the time I turned around to get him out of the tank all I saw was a purple tail going down his throat.

The warty is a little over an inch long, the dottyback was very slender but about 1.25-1.5". The frog now has a huge belly but other than that he seems ok. Not breathing heavy, he's actually moving around some.

Last meal was a small gut loaded guppy fry on Sunday.

Should I prepare for the worst or will he be ok?

 

[Old Fritz]

He'll be fine. As for the dottyback though cant say the same. Sorry that happened

 

[Tmm87]

He'll be fine. As for the dottyback though cant say the same. Sorry that happened

I'm a little sad that the dotty is...but if we're comparing cost...I'd rather feed him a $28 dinner than lose a $150 frog.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[lion king]

Told you, even at that size. Yeah there is cause for concern, that's how I lost my 1st painted angler 20 years ago. For some reason in captivity, when they eat something that large it can be deadly. There is nothing you can do, if he makes it about 3 days, he'll usually be fine.

 

[Tmm87]

Told you, even at that size. Yeah there is cause for concern, that's how I lost my 1st painted angler 20 years ago. For some reason in captivity, when they eat something that large it can be deadly. There is nothing you can do, if he makes it about 3 days, he'll usually be fine.

I've been trying to be careful. Apparently not careful enough. He had it in his mouth in seconds from splashdown.

 

[Old Fritz]

Had plenty of frogfish in my store. Kids from time to time would throw in feeder minnows twice as long as them. Never had a problem, except for the kids

 

[lion king]

How's he doing

 

[DSC reef]

Told you, even at that size. Yeah there is cause for concern, that's how I lost my 1st painted angler 20 years ago. For some reason in captivity, when they eat something that large it can be deadly. There is nothing you can do, if he makes it about 3 days, he'll usually be fine.

I agree and had this happen as well years ago. Thought there was no way a frog fish can eat a maroon clown double his size. Didn't do my due diligence and the frog ate the maroon and lost both fish. Hope this fish makes it.

 

[Tmm87]

How's he doing

Currently still kicking. He seems ok, belly is less bloated and he's active. He was fishing earlier. Haven't seen him pass anything yet though.

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[andrewkw]

So the dottyback jumped into the frogfish tank only to be eaten that fast?
Probably a better meal then guppies. Freshwater fish are generally not good to feed marine fish.

 

[Tmm87]

So the dottyback jumped into the frogfish tank only to be eaten that fast?
Probably a better meal then guppies. Freshwater fish are generally not good to feed marine fish.

Correct. He splashed down right in front of the frog.

 

[lion king]

Currently still kicking. He seems ok, belly is less bloated and he's active. He was fishing earlier. Haven't seen him pass anything yet though.

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That's good, if he's moving around and fishing he's likely going to be fine. I'd give it a good week to 10 days before I fed him anything, no matter how much he begs. It's best to feed him 2-3 little items rather than one large one. I'm glad he's doing well, in all honestly I've seen several do the same thing, and none of them made it. I think the difference is the dottyback was a slender body fish, where all of the casualties I've seen it was with broader bodied fish. You'll actually see a turd, an encased piece of poop you can actually just scoop up like dog poop.

 

[Tmm87]

That's good, if he's moving around and fishing he's likely going to be fine. I'd give it a good week to 10 days before I fed him anything, no matter how much he begs. It's best to feed him 2-3 little items rather than one large one. I'm glad he's doing well, in all honestly I've seen several do the same thing, and none of them made it. I think the difference is the dottyback was a slender body fish, where all of the casualties I've seen it was with broader bodied fish. You'll actually see a turd, an encased piece of poop you can actually just scoop up like dog poop.

Good to know. The dottyback was tiny...slightly longer than him and smaller around than his mouth when he "yawns". I surprised the damsel that was originally in the tank at 1am and moved him over to the cube. He'd actually hang out near the frog and the frog had no interest in him, but it's only a matter of time. I'm not going through this again.

I plan on trying to find some grass shrimp that won't cost an arm and a leg to ship after Christmas and start feeding him those. The LiveBrine site quoted me almost $70 to ship to my house.

 

[Tmm87]

He's still kicking. Going to hold off until after Christmas to feed him again. I appreciate the support and advice.

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[KrisReef]

Advice: Get a pair of breeding Clownfish, or maybe Cardinal fish so that you can grow your own food. Much cheaper and more fun to keep than buying feeder shrimp or feeder Dottybacks, which are pretty pricey but more readily available perhaps?
That aside,
Nice photographs of the Frogfish. That is a beautiful specimen and I hope you can keep it for many years to come.

 

[Tmm87]

Advice: Get a pair of breeding Clownfish, or maybe Cardinal fish so that you can grow your own food. Much cheaper and more fun to keep than buying feeder shrimp or feeder Dottybacks, which are pretty pricey but more readily available perhaps?
That aside,
Nice photographs of the Frogfish. That is a beautiful specimen and I hope you can keep it for many years to come.

I've thought about that but not sure I really have the space available to do that right now. I have a bonded pair of clowns in my DT right now, but no eggs. They're still somewhat young. There are also too many places in my DT for a cardinal to hide, so catching it would be difficult.