Getting an angler soon

R

Radix

New member
Ok so my tank is almost cycled, and after waiting a bit after that I'm going to get an angler.

What else should I get along with him? Feeding tongs?
What other inverts etc can be kept with him safely? I know there is little but I've heard some success stories.
What's the best way to acclimate him?

Also, what food should I grab? Should I get a bunch of each?

And should I get a smaller one (1-2") or the larger one
 
What species of angler are ytou looking at?

Generally, speaking, the tiny (<2") anglers are cute, but can be difficult to feed if you've never done it before, so I'd recommend getting afish that's at least 3".

Additionally, I wouldn't use feeding tongs. We've had overzealous fish (including anglers) accidentally grab onto sticks or tongs and become "stick shy", which means they need to be weaned all over again, and it's harder the second time around.

If you take a look in Tools of the Trade: Equipment & Techniques to Convert your Fish onto Frozen. and scroll down to "Renee's Handy Dandy Super Stealth Stick", that's what we came up with to use for all of our preds from tiny 1" to 12" volitans lions.

You have the right idea on foods tho...mix it up. We get small amounts of "people food" from the grocer's seafood counter or local fish market, and it's actually cheaper to buy our food there. SW fish flesh (salmon, tuna, snapper, etc.), table shrimp (uncooked), scallops, squid, etc.

With an angler, you want to be sure not to feed too much, too often (2x or 3x a week is plenty), or large pieces of food. Too large a food item can actually begin to decompose in the angler's GI tract before it's digested, which can kill the angler.

About all you can keep with an angler in terms of a CUC are snails. Corals are fine if you want to keep them.
 
Warties are great, and do well in smaller setups (you didn't mention your tank size). One thing you need to be careful of with "Antennarius sp." is that you might end up with a Commerson's, which will top out at around 10".
 
Yea its a smaller tank, the only reason I would get the Antennarius sp. Is if I'm low on money and can't afford the warty.
 
What else should I get along with him? Feeding tongs?
What other inverts etc can be kept with him safely?
- I have hermit crabs, assorted snails, and those mini brittle stars in with mine. I suspect a large starfish would probably be OK but have not tried it. You could probably keep a cucumber too. We have corals, macro algae, and a clam in with ours.

What's the best way to acclimate him?
- I just did a drip acclimation in the bag he came in. I have been told that you need to make sure not to expose the fish to air (although I do not know if this is true) so we dumped ours with all of his water in the tank. He is still around 9 months later...

Also, what food should I grab? Should I get a bunch of each?
- It depends on what the angler you buy is eating. Is he only eating live ghost shrimp? If that is the case you will have to train him to eat frozen and give him ghost shrimp in the interim. I have read that larger type anglers are easier to train to frozen but again have no experience. Our wartskin angler has only eaten frozen food twice because the second time I messed up. I ran a string through a silver side, but the string did not easily come out so I ended up "hooking" the fish. He will not touch silversides now. FYI, I now have a tank of ghost shrimp that I feed the angler from, so be aware this is something that you may need to do.

And should I get a smaller one (1-2") or the larger one?
- I would get one that is at least 2" long.
 
Alright thank you. How much should I feed him. I know 3 days or so a week, but how much of each? 3 ghost shrimp per feeding? Etx
 
A typical meal should be 4 to 6 appropriately sized food items, depending on the angler's size and the size of the food items.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
 
How much should I figure to feed? I know with bearded dragons it's the space between their eyes. Is there anything like that?
 
Post pics when you get him. My LFS has two little ones in that are both about 1.5" One is orange and white and the other is black with white spots. Cool looking fish!!
 
Just let it go, he'll chase it around or it'll come to him...

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I go to my LFS almost daily b/c I work there, so I just bring them home whenever I'm going to feed him, but you could set up a small (>10g) tank to hold a larger number of ghost shrimp.
 
Radix said:
How much should I figure to feed? I know with bearded dragons it's the space between their eyes. Is there anything like that?
Click to expand...

About the size of the fish's eye or a bit larger is about right. No larger than the space between their eyes would be about max. Smaller pieces digest much more readily than larger ones.
 
Radix said:
Ok, ghost shrimp, how many should I get at once? And any other that I should get?
Click to expand...

It kinda depends on how your LFS sells them and whether you want to store them in a small tank for enrichment. IME, they're typically 5 or 6 for a buck, sometimes 0.25 each, and if you score, like 10 for a buck.

You could also use guppies in a pinch.

Most anglers wean fairly quickly tho, so I doubt you'll need to keep up on the live food for very long.
 
Ghost shrimp are great when enriched. I got mine basically net trained now and he walks to the net every time, but will chase them down if needed. Depending on size also helps determine the amount to feed.
 
There's a black 'colored angler' for sale at petco (ony LFS) for $40.

should I go for it, or is it probly a commersons?
 
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