Frogfish Compatibility With my Harlequin Shrimp

[SamKnaphus]

Hello everyone! A local fish store recently got a juvenile yellow frog fish in about the size of my thumbnail and I have been considering buying it for my new tank. My only concern is that once it gets bigger I am afraid it would eat my harlequin shrimp.

For some background, my harlequin shrimp is a full grown male. I’ve become rather attached with him since he cleaned out all the asterinas in another one of my tanks. It’s to the point he has his own tank and I buy him his own chocolate chip starfish every month cutting off an arm a week.

I think it would be really cool to have my harlequin shrimp and a frogfish as a focal point in my tank but I know frogfish tend to eat anything they can, so if anyone has any experience keeping frogfish with shrimp please let me know
Here’s a picture of the frogfish and my beloved Leonard

 

[SamKnaphus]

Looks like the video didn’t work :/

 

[SamKnaphus]

also considering getting Leonard a mate since they like to hunt in pairs. If anyone has any advice lmk! Thanks!

 

[littlefoxx]

They will eat everything. Including each other and fish/inverts WAY bigger than them and usually die. Best for tanks where thats the only animal in the tank. And it will 100% eat your shrimp. Or try to and possibly die in the process if the shrimp is bigger than it

 

[SamKnaphus]

They will eat everything. Including each other and fish/inverts WAY bigger than them and usually die. Best for tanks where thats the only animal in the tank

That’s a shame. Thank you! How big do they usually get? I will likely pass on the yellow one with this in mind though

 

[littlefoxx]

That’s a shame. Thank you! How big do they usually get? I will likely pass on the yellow one with this in mind though

Not sure honestly, they tend to not do better than a year in captivity

 

[littlefoxx]

Only person on here who has had “success” with these guys was lion king, he has a lot of info on his page about these guys and other predators

 

[SamKnaphus]

Not sure honestly, they tend to not do better than a year in captivity

That’s also quite the shame. Well, I appreciate the info

 

[SamKnaphus]

Only person on here who has had “success” with these guys was lion king, he has a lot of info on his page about these guys and other predators

Thanks! I will look into him for sure. They are funky little guys and I wish they could work in my tank, but alas

 

[littlefoxx]

That’s also quite the shame. Well, I appreciate the info

Yeah it is. I love these little guys. I tried one, didnt ship well and died. Havnt had the heart to try one again

 

[littlefoxx]

Thanks! I will look into him for sure. They are funky little guys and I wish they could work in my tank, but alas

Same! I think they are super cool!

 

[SamKnaphus]

Yeah it is. I love these little guys. I tried one, didnt ship well and died. Havnt had the heart to try one again

Yeah, I totally understand that

 

[GARRIGA]

Predators be predators once another fits mouth wise

 

[littlefoxx]

Predators be predators once another fits mouth wise

100%

 

[GARRIGA]

Tried a foolish experiment with Oscars and Gupoies. Added former to tank already having a small group of guppies. All got along until Oscars got big enough and then all hell broke loose

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

That’s a shame. Thank you! How big do they usually get? I will likely pass on the yellow one with this in mind though

The frogfish pictured seems to be a Wartskin Angler (Antennarius maculatus), so it's max size is ~6" but they reportedly typically get to ~3 1/2" to 4" full grown.

As mentioned, a shrimp kept with a frogfish is just waiting to be eaten.

For frogfish care:

Yeah - frogfish are super cool fish, but you definitely have to be very careful about any tankmates (which is why they're typically only recommended for species-only tanks).


For anyone wondering about care requirements, their needs are a bit murky at this point (they don't generally live long in our tanks), but it seems at least one of the main issues is somehow diet-related from what I can tell. A good, quality diet should go a long way to prolonging their lives.

These should be fed on a gorge/fast schedule, so they shouldn't be fed every day; they'll generally start walking around "hunting" if they're getting hungry (so you should be able to use that tell pretty accurately if they're hungry or not), but generally speaking they should be fed more often when young/small and less often when older/larger.

I would personally also strongly consider prophylactic treatment with Coppersafe/Copper Power or hyposalinity (though this may or may not be linked to buoyancy issues in frogfish; burping the frogfish may or may not help), Prazipro, and Metroplex.

For anyone hoping to keep a frogfish, I would suggest reading through the four links below (and the links I share in them), but - basically - the more natural the diet, the longer they seem to live; however, the natural diet of saltwater fish and shrimp is tough to provide, so alternatives/possible solutions (such as breeding food them) are discussed. For most people, ghost/grass shrimp, guppies, and mollies are probably going to be the best, realistic options at this point:

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And a link showing some decent results of the diet before (unfortunately) showing why I would try to prophylactically treat the fish:

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So you want a frog fish; I call them anglers

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[SamKnaphus]

The frogfish pictured seems to be a Wartskin Angler (Antennarius maculatus), so it's max size is ~6" but they reportedly typically get to ~3 1/2" to 4" full grown.

As mentioned, a shrimp kept with a frogfish is just waiting to be eaten.

For frogfish care:

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

Thanks for the resources! I will pass on the purchase, but I remain interested

 

[Stomatopods17]

Harlequin shrimp shouldn't be kept with any predatory or semi-predatory fish.

They can surprisingly hold their own against other invertebrates, but fish will either swallow them whole or nip at them over time. Full grown harlequins should be fine with gobys, clowns, cardinals, medium sized tangs, smaller blennies, but smaller harlequins should be isolated from everything besides maybe a clown goby and other nano shrimp.

Frogfish will absolutely devour a harlequin, it isn't even a mouth sizing issue, frogfish will swallow and crush prey the same size as them as well. Even if the harlequin is barely sized up on the frogfish, it absolutely will attempt it, crush it, and spit it out.

Frogfish get pretty big, idk if there was species variation since their camo makes IDs hard, but I've seen them a foot in length. I've even seen them eat lionfish before, their tankmates have to be massive.