Hey everyone. It has been a while since I have been on the forums, but my recent interest in purchasing another frogfish for my reeftank has brought me back to this page. I thought I would share my experiences with you all.
I have had two frogfish over the course of the last 3 years. My first frogfish, Bowser, was an Antennarius pictus, about 4 inches long. I had him for 2 years in a 27 gallon bowfront with another frogfish, Mushu, also about 4 inches long. I ordered them both from liveaquaria as an assorted angler (Antennarius sp.). Mushu turned out to be a marble mouthed frogfish ( Lophiocharon lithinostomus ). I knew I was risking it by keeping two together, and had done a lot of research before I decided to do this. I had Bowser for 6 months before I introduced Mushu. I was nervous at first, because although it is not recommended to keep two frogfish together due to the risk of them eating each other, it is advised if you keep them together, that they are the same species. I was expecting an Antennarius, as per the liveaquaria site, but knew right when he arrived that he looked different (there are some pics of him on some of the previous pages of this thread). Despite this, they had no problems getting along. They actually would often sit on top of each other, or hide in the same spot together.
Feeding is always a hard thing to get down when first keeping these fish. It is very easy to overfeed these guys. For one, they dont know when to stop eating! and two, it is hard to resist their cute little faces and their waving lure. It is very important that you DO NOT overfeed. I had a close encounter with Bowser within the first 5 months. Im pretty sure I was feeding him too much, and he appeared bloated and was swimming funny (their tummies get full of gas) and I thought he wasnt going to make it. Luckily, with some TLC, a burp, and no food for a week or so, he recovered. I feed my frogfish about twice a week, no more than that, and sometimes once a week. I alternate between feeding a whole, thawed silverside, and raw white shrimp (from the grocery store). I usually cut the shrimp in half if they are large. Depending on the size of your angler, you may want to cut the silversides in half as well. This combination has worked well for me. Occasionally I will get them ghost shrimp, as a treat. Mushu will pretty much eat anything I put on the end of the tweezers, and I also recently started feeding him thawed formula 1 cubes. I have read that a varied diet can help prolong their life in captivity, although they do not tend to live longer than 2-3 years in the aquarium hobby.
Bowser died almost a year go (RIP), and I had him for 2 1/2 years. He suddenly lost his appetite for no apparent reason (parameters were fine, no changes in diet or tank), and I had to force him to eat. It got to the point that I could not force him anymore, and he eventually passed. Mushu is still thriving, and I have had him for almost 2 years (Got him in May 2011). He now resides alone in a Deep Sea Aquatics 34 Gallon Neo Nano tank. I do have lots of hermit crabs and snails residing with him, which hasnt been an issue. I did have a coral banded shrimp with them both for about 6 months with no issue, but one day i noticed he was missing :eek2:, and im pretty sure Mushu ate him. The Lophiocharon frogfish tend to have more voracious appetites.
I have been having angler fever lately, and I am thinking about purchasing another soon
Mushu as of 2/1/2013
