Angler fish?

[umbrellacorp]

Has anyone had one of these before? The LFS has one. I watched him feed it yesterday, its very cool. I know they are very aggressive, but do they need anything special? My tank is empty except for snails/hermits, and a couple peppermint shrimp. I went ahead and payed for it but didn't bring it home yet. I wanted to get opinions on them first. If for some reason it's not a good idea i can just use the credit and get something else. Any experiences anyone can share?

 

[falos]

Very cool fish usuly stay in 1 spot and don't move much they are coral,snail,hermit safe shrimp and eny fish not 2 times there size will probably end up as food.
They are extremely poisonous very painful stings sum can kill always leapt a eye on them wen working in the tank and don't use your hand to shoe them away
Feeding is easy most will take frozen shrimp/fish sum you may have to git live food for or use a toothpick with a shrimp on the end and wave it near them

 

[umbrellacorp]

They are poisonous? He didnt tell me that.. I wonder if he even knows. Hmm i dunno if i want a fish that never moves lol, even though they are really cool. Thanks for the advice!


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[cr500_af]

Keep in mind that they are voracious predators. Their jaw is distendible (meaning they can eat a fish nearly their own size, and they will). If it isn't larger than the angler it is probably dinner.

 

[rtirado]

What specific type of Angler is it? There are quite a few when you search for them, I have not read anything about any of the species being poisonous. But can confirm that they will try to eat fish DOUBLE their size.

 

[cr500_af]

The only reference I've seen to venom is the Striated Anglerfish. One dorsal spine for defense, likened to a wasp sting.

 

[patrick]

If it is a true anglerfish.....with an esca.....the lure thingy off their head....they are not venomous. Toadfish are, but they are completely different and I seriously doubt that is what you are talking about.

They are great fish. But, it may eat any tank mate that it can fit in its mouth and IT WILL ABSOLUTLEY GUARANTEED eat those peppermint shrimp. Other than that they make great fish. You can seriously diminish its tankmate predation by feeding it regularly. Keep the fish in there bigger than it is and you'll be fine.

 

[umbrellacorp]

ok.. i did some reading its not poisonous. It is a true angler fish. When he fed it the goldfish it popped out a little antena and made it jingle around to look like food. Then he just ate the goldfish is one big gulp. It was amazing. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[schwaggs]

I had one for over year, very cool fish. They do move, just not very fast unless they are swimming. I trained mine to eat thawed silversides. A couple notes, mine never used his lure again once he was trained to eat silversides, he only used it when eating live food. They are appear pretty smart. Check out the cool video in this thread....

 

[patrick]

Whatever you do.....DO NOT feed your angler freshwater fish. It will not kill them outright, but as they develop a fatty liver, it will cause them health problems. Live ghost shrimp if you have to go live food only for awhile.....and train it to eat silversides or some other marine fare. Kelly Jednicki has published quite a few articles on the dangers of feeding marine fish freshwater fish. It is really bad for them.

 

[umbrellacorp]

Patrick;740246 wrote: Whatever you do.....DO NOT feed your angler freshwater fish. It will not kill them outright, but as they develop a fatty liver, it will cause them health problems. Live ghost shrimp if you have to go live food only for awhile.....and train it to eat silversides or some other marine fare. Kelly Jednicki has published quite a few articles on the dangers of feeding marine fish freshwater fish. It is really bad for them.

thanks for letting me know.. they were feeding him goldfish at the store. Im just going to try to feed him krill with a feeding stick. I tried yesterday but he wouldnt eat. Ill try it again soon. If he wont eat off a feeding stick i dunno what ill do. Hopefully he will learn to. So far he is doing well, he hasnt eaten any of the peppermint shrimp, although they are very curious about him and get really close to check him out.. but he doesnt even try to eat them.. he just tries to get away from them.

 

[schwaggs]

I fed mine Mollys until it got used to eating Silversides. You might have better luck with Silversides because they..... well.... look like fish. Try and wiggle it to look like a live fish.

They do not need to eat every day, I fed mine every 2-3 days or so and it seemed to work OK. Also keep in mind that they are pigs and will eat too much if it is offered to them...

 

[patrick]

I would second the silversides. Too much krill is not good for any fish either as it is high in fat......but its still better than freshwater fish.

 

[umbrellacorp]

okay thanks guys. ill pick up some tomorrow. he doesnt seem to be doing very well. he keeps getting stuck to the filter and i have to push him off hopefully he will make it

 

[umbrellacorp]

yep i bought some frozen silver sides yesterday, thawed some out, then put one a feeding stick. He immediately started to notice it while i was waving it around and then he ate it up. Thanks for the help.

 

[schwaggs]

Ecellent news!

 

[KrisDeitz]

Pictures!

 

[umbrellacorp]

Video of him eating a silverside

<div class="gc_ifarem_title">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99_7ZS96nnY</div>

 

[schwaggs]

UmbrellaCorp;740621 wrote: he keeps getting stuck to the filter and i have to push him off

Neat video... does he actually swim to the food? Mine wouldn't move that quickly towards the food. I would have to get the food close and he would snap it up...

Also forgot to mention that I had to eliminate almost all of the circulation in the tank mine was in or he would get blown around by the current. That may be why he is getting stuck to the filter.

 

[umbrellacorp]

Schwaggs;742317 wrote: Neat video... does he actually swim to the food? Mine wouldn't move that quickly towards the food. I would have to get the food close and he would snap it up...

Also forgot to mention that I had to eliminate almost all of the circulation in the tank mine was in or he would get blown around by the current. That may be why he is getting stuck to the filter.

yeah.. he does get blown around if he swims up to the top. He stays on the bottom most of the time and he's fine. He will move to the food