Need info on sargassum frogfish

[Drewbaby]

So I brought back a bucket of seaweed from the beach for a friend to put in his tank. He is going with a local theme and keeping only Florida native species. Anyway I didt notice it until I got home, but there is a 3" sargassum frogfish in the seaweed. I'm assuming the seaweed is sargassum sp.

First off, will he survive in a reef tank? I know he will eat shrimp, crabs, etc. What about my chromis?

Second, do they need to have sargassum to live in? Or can they survive without it?

Third, will a diet of gut loaded grass shrimp and crabs be adequate?

Any other advice will be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: I live 2 hours from the beach so returning him isn't an option. I would prefer to keep him and will do what needs to be done if it is possible for one to live in captivity

 

[makover]

:strange:I have the same situation. Found in the panhandle of Florida. Any answers on this post would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mwilliams62]

Thet will eat anything that will fit in it's mouth including small fish.

 

[snorvich]

they are interesting. However their mouth is much larger than you would think, and they will eat any fish that fits.

 

[Drewbaby]

Bump..

 

[jarrod13]

#1 they jump, one of the only anglers that does, so make sure you have a top. In the wild they jump onto the sargassum "float" to avoid predators, so no, they Don't require it to survive, they just like it.

Other than that they have the same requirements as any other angler. They will eat anything up to almost double their own size, which could potentially lead to death if it's too big of an object. As for your chromis they should be fine as long as they can stay away and not be tempted by the anglers lure ;-) only feed 2-3 times per week, food can start to rot in their stomach and cause death if they are overfed.

Search for "the frogfish files" on rc for tons of great info

Good luck and cool find, I find them occasionally while surfing, awesome little fish

 

[PCFisher66]

They are cool looking fish, here in the panhandle the sargassum has been thick, I usually find shrimp the the sargassum but not the fish. It would be nice to see one, don't wan to keep it though of course my kids would.

Tod

 

[mwilliams62]

They are catching them here in the Sargassum down in Galveston, San Luis Pass as well along with the shrimp and the sargassum crabs I got on and he is a little piglet. Takes the food right from my fingers but his pincers are getting stronger now then before.

 

[Drewbaby]

I don't have anything other than the chromis so not worried about him eating more than he needs too. I got him some ghost shrimp tonight and am about to feed him a few. Not sure how many to start with. I was thinking 4.

Jarrod- thanks for the archive search title it's turning out to be a good read.

The sargassum out at new symerna beach, where we were, wasnt too thick, but there was tons of it. Alot more than I can ever remember. I picked up the first big bunch and was startled by a sargassum crab. I didn't see him at first, then he leaped towards my face with claws open. He was the biggest one I saw all day at almost 4". The second biggest one I tried to pick up and was "attacked". He crab grabbed on for dear life and continued to squeeze my finger for over a minute before letting go. The biggest frogfish we saw was the size of a large orange. It was definitely a fun day.