Feeding a wart-skinned angler (AKA. little yellow golf ball)

[Joshbd]

Hi,

I picked up a great yellow wart-skinned angler about a month ago from Skiptons. Right now, he's a little bigger than the size of a golfball. Luckily, he started taking frozen krill after about a week too.

My question is on quantity/diversity of foods. I currently feed him about 2 good size thawed krill each morning, and an occasional live shrimp when I can catch one out of the sump.

Is this the right amount? Too much, too little? Should I be supplementing with other food options? Coat the krill in cyclopeze?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks and I'll try to post pictures soon.

-Josh

 

[AV8er]

Frozen silversides make the best "staple" diet... Krill is OK in a pinch (especially if that's the only thing he will eat), but it's best to stick with fish-based foods. Don't feed any freshwater "feeder fish" and it's best to avoid feeder shrimp.

When my angler was smaller (and since yours is small) I'd just cut the silversides in half. That's the best way to do it.

Also, you are probably feeding too often.

I feed my angler a full sized silverside every 3 or 4 days (he's about the size of a billiard ball). They are relatively sedentary animals and overfeeding is big cause of early angler death in captivity. It's always better to SLIGHTLY underfeed than overfeed. After he eats, my angler won't move around a lot for a day or two. I can tell when he starts to get really hungry when he starts swimming all over the place when I enter the room around days 3 and 4.

Hope that helps.

 

[Joshbd]

Thanks! That definitely helps, and I'll pick up so frozen silversides today.

Out of curiosity, why avoid feeder shrimp? Are they difficult for an angler to digest? I only ask because I believe that is what he was being fed at Skiptons (and what was recommended that I feed him).

Also, do you know of any small (cheap) saltwater fish that can be kept live so he can feed on his own? I think it would be amazing to watch the hunt.

 

[AV8er]

Here is a great link regarding angler feeding/nutrition:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anglerfdgfaqs.htm

Gut impaction and nutritional deficiencies are the explanations I've heard for avoiding feeder shrimp. However, this is what they are almost universally fed in pet shops when they arrive and most of my research (which is admittedly limited to personal experience and internet searches) suggests that this probably isn't the best idea. On the other hand, most livestock arrives battered and bruised and getting them to eat something is better than watching them waste away. Once the feeding response is rekindled, they most likely try to wean them onto frozen fish.

If you want to watch them hunt (that is, ambush hunt - meaning sitting still and wave his lure until the unwary meal swims too close - which is still very cool to watch) you could put some chromis in the tank (depending on your tank's size). They are relatively passive and inexpensive. I've heard people feeding damsels to their angler, but they are fast and aggressive and could end up picking on the angler or end up being an unwanted permanent inhabitant that learns to avoid being eaten.

 

[mak3mydae]

I've heard krill is full of phosphates

 

[Sherri]

Admittedly I have never kept an angler but I do keep lions and feed them all sorts of foods. I breed saltwater mollies which I feed to the lions. I feed them grass shrimp -- not ghosties -- which are gut packed with all kinds of good food. And I feed them a mix of scallops, salmon, clams, silversides. I think all of these ambush predators are opportunistic feeders so they will eat whatever walks/swims, floats by and will fit in their mouths. I think variety is key. Krill has been linked to lockjaw in several pred species including puffers and lionfish so it it best to feed krill sparingly. I feed my fish at unpredictable times, I don't have set days, I watch them and decided when they are hungry and feed them. I like feeding them live because they like the hunt -- they get all excited. And it does not stop them eating frozen too -- I can feed them anything.

 

[Doherty]

Not to sidetrack the thread, but would love to see a picture of him.

 

[Joshbd]

I broke out the macro lens last night, so get ready for a few closeups! I'll post this evening.

Also, with the mollies, did you convert them over from fresh water? I've heard mixed reviews about feeding freshwater fish to anglers if that's the case. Just curious if these are actually a different species.

As another option, maybe I'll feed him a diet of juvenile mystery wrasses... ::

 

[Sherri]

I did convert -- but they are really a brackish water fish. The data about freshwater fish concentrated only on goldfish. There is no data on the fat content of brackish water mollies converted to full salt. It is a different fish and everything I have read seems to indicate that brackish water fish do not have the same fat make up and other issues associated with feeding goldfish. So I decided that if I was going to feed live the safest things is to raise my own mollies as I know what they are eating and I can keep them disease free. My lions love them to death!

It is also not the only thing I feed them. They get live grass shrimp, and then all of the frozen stuff I mentioned above.

 

[Joshbd]

Pics!

Thanks Sherri! Very helpful Information. Also, new pictures as promised. Unfortunately, they aren't great, I need to wait until he (or she) situates better for a good macro pic!