angler question

[d1hotblaze]

i will be setting up my 24 gallon nano cube soon i plan on mostly softies and a clown and maybe a gobi...i saw this really cool fish at the LFS called an "angle" now i know ther are many varieties of them, are they reef safe, are they nano same, are they hardy?

[chocolateblnt]

wait ... what are you talkin' about an angler or an angel ?!

[syndrome]

what type of angler? some grow up to 10 inches big.

[chocolateblnt]

if it's a big angler it will eat other fish... if it's really small then you will still have to feed it and it will get big soon and eat your fish. They are however as you mentioned hardy fish and really cool to look at, especially when they camouflage. If you're talkin' about an angel fish ... the answer is still mmmm no. Angels tend to pick at all sorts of corals even at a young age. Not to mention a 24 gallon is too small for an angel.

[d1hotblaze]

i meant angler....sorry for the mis-spelling... so the angler, even if it is small, not a good idea?

[syndrome]

some anglers could do well if it was a species tank, I think that coral would be fine in the tank aswell. The angler might eat grabs and shrimp however. But hermits and snails are fine. some websites about frog fish http://www.starfish.ch/frogfish/Behavior.html

[hooterhead]

there are anglers that stay pretty small. there is one that i can't think of a name at the moment but it only gets to 3". i've seen anglers in small tanks many times. the owners usually trained them onto frozen but threw a chromis or two in every once in a while for a treat. they are definitely cool fish and a blast to watch. they are reef safe in that they won't eat corals. they will however sit on them and make them angry. i'd get it if it was at a good price...how much was it?

[d1hotblaze]

20 bucks

[syndrome]

it was probably a sargassum angler. did it look like this http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=74

[aural]

if you put an angler in there, you wont be able to keep any other fish. Their eyes are bigger than thier stomachs, so it WILL at least bite, if not eat other fish in the tank.

They also create a pretty high bio load on the tank because they need live food. you will be doing some pretty heavy water changes in a 24 gal.

if you were to ask me, i'd say an angler just isnt an appropriate choice for the tank.

[vthondaboi]

I don't think there's anything wrong with an angler in that tank assuming:

you keep the tank clean
don't put fish in near it's size or larger as it'll die trying ot eat them
or better yet don't put any fish in with it
it will most likely eat other ornamental fish
it might require live food only if it won't eat krill or silversides
oh yea if you or the fish store exposes it to air then more then likely it will die
my old angler actually went after a hermit crab!

[chocolateblnt]

I have an angler in my refugium with nothing else in it ... I handfeed it krill and it has a very big appetite. Every negative thing said in this thread is true about anglers. However that being said these are super sick fish ... I want to set up a pico tank or something along the lines of 5-7.5 gallons and keep only an angler in it!

[Jordan55]

Anglers are very fun fish to keep. It would be a plus to have a tank for them from the start though. They will eat/try to eat fish as big as them and can die in the process.

Usually people feed them different live foods such as ghost shrimp, feeder guppies, mollies, some damsels. It is good to try and get them to eat frozen though.

Your goby and clown wouldn't last long:rollface:

But they are pretty hardy, and really fun to watch.

Probably one of my top 5 favorite fish:)