25g + Frogfish?

[Psittac]

So I'm doing an algae and plant tank in a 25g aquarium I got from a friend (he knew I couldn't resist the thought of an algae tank) And I've always thought that frogfish were pretty much the coolest fish alive (besides a panther grouper) and when I started looking around I found some sites selling frogfish saying they should fit into this tank. I'm wondering if people have some input on this and also wonder if theres any other tank mates that could go with them? Something big enough to not fit in the frogfish mouth and slow enough to not need a bigger tank, is there any type of scorpion fish or perhaps a dwarf lionfish that would work? That would be awsome.

Any thoughts that you've got for me keeping a frogfish would be usefull, I'm going to take alot of time before putting him in the tank and make sure it's well established first. I'm also going to have a 10g tank underneath because I found a site selling saltwater shrimp, so I'll start him on those and continue him on them if they'll breed in that tank.

[Psittac]

What about a puffer? (the tank is a 20g footprint but taller)

I can easily leave this tank devoted to the frogfish but if I could put something else in there thats awsome without compromising either fish I might as well.

[jmasterdiver]

There isn't too much that will live in a 25 gallon tank with a frogfish. I would recommend against the scorps because they could be eaten, and that would almost certainly cause the death of the frogfish. Many a keeper has lost a froggie this way. Any tank mate you add is at risk to be eaten, no matter how fast it may be. Frogfish are ambush preds, and even a fast fish may not escape forever. If you are going to add tank mates, make sure you won't miss them before you add them... ;)

[chasekwe]

Place a BTA up off the bottom a ways and get a pair of clowns to host it. No guarantees, but you'd have a better shot than anything else that's coming immediately to my mind.

[LisaD]

a smaller angler (like Antennarius maculosus) would be fine - alone. otherwise, consider a toby and maybe a blenny.

[andywg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14886694#post14886694 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmasterdiver
There isn't too much that will live in a 25 gallon tank with a frogfish. I would recommend against the scorps because they could be eaten, and that would almost certainly cause the death of the frogfish. Many a keeper has lost a froggie this way. Any tank mate you add is at risk to be eaten, no matter how fast it may be. Frogfish are ambush preds, and even a fast fish may not escape forever. If you are going to add tank mates, make sure you won't miss them before you add them... ;)


I personally have never kept my frogfishes with anything else except occasionally other frogfish, and feeding them scorps would be an expensive experiement indeed (whether the frogfish survived or not), however, I find it strange you mention that a frogfish eating a scorpionfish would almost certainly end in death. Everything I have read would indicate that it is not an extremely likely cause of death. For example, in Reef Fishes Volume 1 (page 331) Scott Michael notes:

Not even venomous reef fishes are safe from an antennariid attack. For example the Striated Frogfish consumes Mushroom Scorpionfish (Scorpaena intermis) ... and I once watched a Coinbearing Frogfish slurp up a Spotfin Lionfish (Pterois antennata) which did not appear to cause the frogfish any discomfort or health problems.

In an old hobby magazine Michael also showed pictures of a frogfish eating a lionfish around the same size as the frogfish with the frogfish again showing no ill effects.

It is, of course, possible that a frogfish could consume a fish which turns out too large to be digested and dies following the decomposition in the stomach.

[jmasterdiver]

I said that because the hobbyists I know that have had it happen lost the frogfish. One ate a fuzzy dwarf, another a toadfish of some sort, and a third ate a small volitans. None of the frogfish survived. Maybe it wouldn't be certain death, but based on the experiences of those I know (none of which occured in the wild, so these frogfish may have had issues aside from what the last food item was), it's a pretty significant mortality rate. I certainly don't want to contradict Scott Michael, but at the same time, it seems a much bigger risk to me than what he would indicate...