The Frogfish Files

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7548073#post7548073 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by uberfugu
I had a brief conversation with Richard (Lefty) and he brought up decompression related problems. Even from as shallow as 30 ft, he said the captured fishes balloon up like a puffer.
Wonder if that is decompression or maybe defensive inflation due to stress? I've seen some try to do a puffer impression when handled. It would make sense for frogs that are more cryptic. They could wedge themselves into a rock crevice that way.
 
Welp got a few questions for the frog experts. Yesterday my little tank heated up to 87.5 due to the damn ac going out and my new angler was acting funny swimming everywhere etc. I finally got the temp down to 82 and he seemed like his old self again. Well I got home from work today, and he is swimming around like a maniac. Not panting or anything just swimming kinda franticly. Is he going downhill? Is there anything I can do? My striated angler in the sump is fine.

Thanks for the help,
Kyle
 
I just saw a really amazingly red angler at a LFS down here in Santa Barbara (one of the cleanest if not THE cleanest LFS I've ever seen in my life) for $69.99. It's really small, about 1.5" but looks really healthy. The red color is not your usual rusty red, it's almost a bright neon red.

But since I'm down in LA until Sunday I won't be able to bring it back with me. But oh so cool of a fish!

A few people came in while I was looking around and pointed out how cool the angler looked.

Maybe I'll buy it and ship it home? Anyone wanna hold onto an angler for me until Sunday? ;)
 
Art, if you pick up that red angler, set him up in a smallish tank w/o a lot of flow. Also, do a quarantine for several weeks at 1.018 and let him get healthy and adjusted.

If you bring him home, make sure you put something in the container for him to hang on to for the trip... pvc pipe would work. Or else he can get a chin abrasion that can get infected. I've seen and heard of this happening before.

Don't be too eager to feed him a lot. Let him settle in.

Also, check to see that he's not breathing fast.... bad sign.
 
Kyle,

Frantic swimming usually is a bad sign in anglers. More so if he starts doing loops and rolls.

Hope he's ok!

I keep my tanks at 77.
 
He has settled down since then, but I am still a little worried. The tank is about 78.5 now so maybe that is a better deal. Is high flow bad for them? I have alot of flow in his 20g?

Thanks,
Kyle
 
Tomorrow if the little guy's still there I'll setup a small qt tank and then take him home with me in a tupperware on Sunday, then qt him some more. I'd have to keep my QT tank down at my girl's place, but hey with such a great LFS down here it may come in handy.

Think it'd be safe to just get a small 5g, aquaclear filter with the sponges, a heater and fan and about 1g of water change everyday until sunday?
 
I think you would be fine with that Kinetic. Hope it works out. Definitly post pics when you get him.

Well as of lunch time dude was still kicking. Actually throughing out his esca and moving around like normal. Weird little bugger. Maybe he was just cruisin last night. Heck If I know. What do you guys think about the spaz?
 
Not sure how to put this delicately....but Fuggly would do some rapid (as rapid as a frogfish gets) swimming when he'd eaten and was trying to expel feces...... I haven't seen my newer angler do this, but this guy/gal is just more cryptic and less active in general.

Just a thought. I don't know if any other frogfish owners have noticed this behavior.
 
a month ago I saw an angler at All About Fish swimming rapidly back and fourth at the front of the tank constantly. what would that mean?
 
Frogfishes seem to have active periods where they swim quite a bit. This is different behaviour from the distress mode, the precursor to death. In distress mode, there is a listlessness followed by bursts of seemingly uncontrolled (spasmodic) swimming. In normal active mode, its body is properly oriented and and the fish displays a sort of puffer-like inquisitiveness.

In many of my anglers, this time seems to be at dawn and dusk.

I haven't seen the fecal-elimination dance that Cherie describes but it probably happens in my tanks.
 
Oh, got a response from Dr. Pietsch (Co-author of Frogfishes of the World ) as to longevity of frogfishes.

About longevity in the wild, I have no idea. Don't think anyone has
studies age and growth in any frogfish. From my experience also, a year
is about the longest life span in captivity.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7568443#post7568443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by uberfugu
Oh, got a response from Dr. Pietsch (Co-author of Frogfishes of the World ) as to longevity of frogfishes.

About longevity in the wild, I have no idea. Don't think anyone has
studies age and growth in any frogfish. From my experience also, a year
is about the longest life span in captivity.

I guess I feel quite good about hitting the 28 month mark w/ Fuggly. I hope I have the same experience w/ Jabba, though he is quite a bit more boring than my first one. He spends 90% of his time hanging upside from the chaetomorpha ball in his refugium home. :rolleyes:
 
Back
Top