For those who have had success keeping anglers

[Treehrtsme]

This may be a shot in the dark, but I couldn't find any information about it. In a large enough tank would it be possible to keep a toad fish and a frogfish of relatively the same size? The only reason I would consider this is because of the toads fish nature to burrow keeping it away from the frogfish who I assume would be too lazy to try to hunt it down and it's burrow. On the flip side I don't the toad fish would necessarily go after the frogfish. I would never attempt this without any prior knowledge but just a thought as I recently picked up a toad fish of a relatively smaller size

 

[1979fishgeek]

This may be a shot in the dark, but I couldn't find any information about it. In a large enough tank would it be possible to keep a toad fish and a frogfish of relatively the same size? The only reason I would consider this is because of the toads fish nature to burrow keeping it away from the frogfish who I assume would be too lazy to try to hunt it down and it's burrow. On the flip side I don't the toad fish would necessarily go after the frogfish. I would never attempt this without any prior knowledge but just a thought as I recently picked up a toad fish of a relatively smaller size

I’ve never risked it, the Frogfish will at some point attempt to eat it’s tank mate.

I seen photos of people mixing them with Scorpion Leafish, Rhinopia and various lionfish and I think that’s a potentially deadly combo either from Frogfish over eating or getting stung.

I’ve seen photos of multiple Frogfish kept together and in most situations if one grows bigger than the other by outcompeting, being a larger species or just a female (which grow way bigger than males), the larger fish will try to eat the other one eventually. If you try to keep them well fed to stop them predating on each other you then run into the overfeeding issues.

I’ve also heard of them being kept with other large fish that end up picking at them, or even biting off their lures.

IMO it’s just not worth the risk. Fill the tank with interesting soft corals, gorgonians, shrooms, zoa, leathers, bright macro algae and large fan worms to give loads of interest and colour.

 

[danreef55]

In a commercial facility we had 15 Vlamings in a large system. We got in one of these beautiful beasts and figured it was safe to put it in with the tangs as they were 1-1/2 times its size. It left everything alone for 4 days and then...... One of the tangs was sticking out of its mouth. Yes, the frogfish lived and was sold to a reliable LFS which kept it as a display. It was in captivity for 5 years before the LFS sold it. Don't know how it faired after that. If I could have only one fish this would be it

 

[Treehrtsme]

In a commercial facility we had 15 Vlamings in a large system. We got in one of these beautiful beasts and figured it was safe to put it in with the tangs as they were 1-1/2 times its size. It left everything alone for 4 days and then...... One of the tangs was sticking out of its mouth. Yes, the frogfish lived and was sold to a reliable LFS which kept it as a display. It was in captivity for 5 years before the LFS sold it. Don't know how it faired after that. If I could have only one fish this would be it

Yeah I figured. I know people have success keeping all sorts of scorpions together but it seems like the angler is just the one predator that can't be satiated. I originally took interest into them after realizing that they're pretty much a species only tank but could work well in a display style refugium as part of a system. There's a fairly wide variety of colors and macro algae sponges gorgonians etc I agree that keeping the fish alone is plenty worth it. Plenty of people keep frag tanks or Coral only tanks with a couple of fish to deal with pests and algae, I can always just think of it like that. A nice colorful display tank with an angler hidden somewhere in there

 

[KrisReef]

In a commercial facility we had 15 Vlamings in a large system. We got in one of these beautiful beasts and figured it was safe to put it in with the tangs as they were 1-1/2 times its size. It left everything alone for 4 days and then...... One of the tangs was sticking out of its mouth. Yes, the frogfish lived and was sold to a reliable LFS which kept it as a display. It was in captivity for 5 years before the LFS sold it. Don't know how it faired after that. If I could have only one fish this would be it

I would love one too but it’s too expensive buying Vlamingii’s.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yes, the frogfish lived and was sold to a reliable LFS which kept it as a display. It was in captivity for 5 years before the LFS sold it

Any idea how it was kept to stay alive that long? Things like food and feeding schedule, water temp and parameters, etc.?

 

[danreef55]

Any idea how it was kept to stay alive that long? Things like food and feeding schedule, water temp and parameters, etc.?

We had it for about a month and fed it every two or three days. We fed damsels and ghost shrimp. Eventually we got it eating frozen shrimp. It is critical not to over feed as it can cause digestive issues. A dedicated tank would be great. Low to moderate flow. Plenty of caves and places to wait patiently before devour something. They output a significant bio load so best to have a skimmer. In terms of water parameters, they don't require anything special. Be mindful of high nitrates. They do not require lighting but hey we want to see them