Feelin' Froggy? (now w/video)
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Forum Name: Fish
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Topic: Feelin' Froggy? (now w/video)
Posted By: Shane H
Subject: Feelin' Froggy? (now w/video)
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 4:58pm
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I thought I'd share a quick peek at my new frog. Its day 3 and its still not taking food off the stick. He is hitting on ghost shrimp w/out problems though. It's still small, but compared to the Histrio - its a giant! Well - wish me luck!
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Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 5:09pm
| That is a great looking frog you got your self this time. And a plus is its taking ghost shrimps at least. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 5:45pm
Good luck Shane. I'm glad he is eating ghost shrimp. Great picture too!
Mike -------------  |
Posted By: tileman
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 6:49pm
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Good luck Shane, Are you ordering these guys . I dont see them very often. ------------- 335G Reef TOTM. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/2/aquarium ReefKeepers TOTM Feb. 2012 http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month & |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 10:48pm
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Are you ordering these guys.
Ryan at ADs hooked me up with this little beauty.
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Posted By: Turbostud653
Date Posted: February 16 2009 at 11:29pm
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Shane, thats a sweet looking frog fish! ------------- Here is what a customer said while on hold Oh my gosh! Did you open the door? I told you not to open the door. Dre is in here completely naked and he's got freak'n Macaroni and Cheese in his hands. |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 17 2009 at 10:02pm
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Day 4 = fed two small ghost shrimp - gut loaded with cyclopseez - today.
I introduced both shrimp at about 11:30 am. The frog immediately stalked and ate one. The other I found nearly dead at about 7 PM. I used the feeding stick to move the shrimp near the frog and intentionally left the feeding stick near by. He stalked and struck fairly quickly. The next step (on day 5 or 6) will be to skewer one of the shrimp and get the frog to take it off the stick. I will do this for a couple of feedings if I'm successful. Otherwise, it will be back to letting him hunt.
I'm hoping that within a week, I can get it to take silversides or squid from the stick exclusively. I still like to introduce shrimp and/or feeder mollies (I have a source of SW mollies) occasionally, because the feeding behavior is incredible to watch. But important is to get a steady diet of easily introduced food.
The fish looks very good. No signs of ich, no observable lesions. The illicium and esca are intact and he uses it often. So far --- so good.
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 17 2009 at 10:04pm
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That is great news. Thanks for the update. Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 24 2009 at 6:10pm
Day 11 = eating gut loaded ghost shrimp regularly, will not take anything off the feeding stick. 
The frog is stalking the introduced shrimp and is moving about the tank angling and hunting. Heidi and I are convinced that the fish is noticeably larger (although I'm not sure a week could have made a difference)? A few more pics are below.
 Angling near the rear of the tank. It does this regularly. There must be an illusion of depth where the substrate meets the tank.
 You can clearly see the illicium and esca in this picture. When the fish is not angling, the lure is layed back against its head and looks like a small, fuzzy growth.
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 24 2009 at 6:30pm
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Great shots Shane. I'm really glad he is eating even though it is still shrimp.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: February 24 2009 at 7:40pm
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Awesome. Nice looking frog. Much better looking then mine. I would like to get another one soon. ------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 24 2009 at 8:28pm
| I've got another one coming - hopefully soon. A much larger Histrio.! |
Posted By: sukie
Date Posted: February 25 2009 at 10:14am
| That's just too cool! |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 01 2009 at 4:37pm
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Well - more than two weeks now and the frogfish is still doing very well. I have become somewhat lazy in trying to get the fish to eat from the stick. It is much easier to introduce a ghost shrimp each day. I keep the ghost shrimp in a quart mason jar and keep them fat and happy on cyclopseez and small, shaved squid. Each day, I dump out about 1/2 the water through a small net to capture one of the shrimp. The shrimp goes in the tank, the water goes down the drain. RO water is used as replacement. (daily 50% water changes) A small bubbler keeps the mason jar tank aerated.
Next week should get even easier - with the introduction of saltwater shrimp! This will allow me to introduce several shrimp at once and allow the frogfish to eat them as it desires. The shrimp should also take care of the small amount of hair algae that is growing on the LR. This will necessitate another small tank to house the shrimp. Fortunately, I have another identical tank - found it at the DI for $5. As far as the tank goes - the set up couldn't be simpler. I'm using a small HOB filter as the only water movement. This filter has a small cartridge that I fill with carbon and change (every two weeks). 1/2 gallon water changes each week and the water stays crystal clear! I did have to add a heater to keep the temp up. I'd really rather avoid a heater, but until the weather warms up I don't have a choice. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: March 01 2009 at 10:17pm
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Thanks for the update. I'm glad he is eating well. I'll be anxious to hear how the saltwater shrimp work out.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 9:47am
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I put together a quick video of the frog fish stalking and eating a ghost shrimp. Unfortunately, the shrimp don't normally require the fish to lure them in. So its more of a wait and see type of thing. The video is just over three minutes long. This is essentially the last three minutes of an hour and half worth of waiting and watching. ENJOY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNdiUcKnVs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNdiUcKnVs |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 10:19am
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That was great Shane! I can't believe you held the camera all that time.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: john hill
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 10:38am
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that is cool ------------- out with the large and in with the nano |
Posted By: BigRagu2
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 4:45pm
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Shane . . .way cool dude!
This is much better looking than the one you missed . . .
 BigRagu2
 ------------- Rimless 40Bdr . . .sweeeeet! |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 5:19pm
| Great video and great music to go along with it. |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 7:44pm
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Wow, Shane very cool.
We really need to talk about the whole going into the future and taking video though. Doesn't that seriously mess with whole space-time continum thing or something?
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Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 07 2009 at 8:56pm
| My son's friends were over and we had them totally convinced that the frog fish was fake. Kaelton had them thinking it was a rubber fish and that the tank was set up for the shrimp. They kind of freaked out when the frog fish starting creeping across the rock! |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: March 08 2009 at 12:18am
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You almost faked me out when I watched the video. At the end it says filmed March 9, 2009. I had to look at my calander since I was pretty sure I was watching on March 7, 2009. |
Posted By: CrimsRayne
Date Posted: March 08 2009 at 12:43am
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That is AWESOME!!!
I love the little clawed-web-feet and the way he moves. So cute.
Thanks for sharing such a great video.
That time thing made me do a double take too.  ------------- "What we know from this hobby is too hard to share with the people who just want to look and not get wet." -Rioreefer "The Puffer Girl" Zoo freak :) West Jordan |
Posted By: BigRagu2
Date Posted: March 08 2009 at 9:45am
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Shane . . .
FTS
FTS
FTS
FTS
FTS
Plz . . .BigRagu2 ------------- Rimless 40Bdr . . .sweeeeet! |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 08 2009 at 10:07pm
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Don't be overly impressed! The tank is a 3.5 gallon extruded acrylic tank (the kind you get at Wal-Mart in a kit for like $20. I'm running a HOB filter with carbon / floss, a 14w EcoSmart powercompact (Home Depot - 4 for $2), and an old heater I had lying around. Substrate is crushed coral and there is a small piece of LR taken from another aquarium I had running.
For size reference I grabbed the closest thing I could find - a baseball.
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Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 08 2009 at 10:13pm
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While I was taking pics:
I put some of the red caulerpa from Dana in the tank - I really wanted to add something red to encourage the frog to remain the same color. Its only been in there since Thursday, but appears to be doing ok.
 And another of the frog fish doing what it does best - just sitting there!
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Posted By: BigRagu2
Date Posted: March 12 2009 at 11:18pm
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Shane . . .still VERY cool dude.
Tiny tank for a tiny Fish, yep . . .very cool
BigRagu2
 ------------- Rimless 40Bdr . . .sweeeeet! |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: March 13 2009 at 9:57am
I have a bigger, better tank planned - just need the time to do it. (planning for a couple additions) 
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Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: May 08 2009 at 9:40pm
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Took a few more pics today. I think the tank is maturing nicely. This is one of "Freddy" (Karver's name for the fish, not mine). He perches often within this red algae. Thanks Dana!
 This algae grew out of the piece of LR. Its pretty cool and nicely colored.
 The fish decided to come right to the front of the tank while I was taking pictures. It is beginning to recognize me as the "food bringer", although it will not take frozen from the stick, it will take dead marsh shrimp from it!
 Full tank shot. The caulerpa came with the original Histrio I bought out of Florida. It was just a single piece and has grown nicely under the el cheapo light.
You can also see the small tube worms are doing pretty well! I do have two small majano anemones that I haven't bothered to kill yet. They have remained small and have not multiplied - yet.
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Posted By: Eve
Date Posted: May 08 2009 at 10:41pm
| He is so cute! Very interesting lil fish these guys are. |
Posted By: Acrid
Date Posted: May 09 2009 at 12:58am
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Sooooo cute. I want one, but where to put it? I have another big bunch of red macro. I think it's called titan algae? I don't know. It is red and leafy and cool. Try to remind me and I'll bring you some at the next meeting.
------------- 90g Reef |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: May 09 2009 at 10:33am
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Try to remind me and I'll bring you some at the next meeting.
You got it! Thanks!
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Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: May 09 2009 at 11:04am
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That is cool Shane. Great pictures too.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: December 26 2009 at 3:23pm
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I thought I would update this thread with a couple current pics. Sorry for the quality --> my daughters new camera ...
The once bright orange fish is now black. Same cool personality, less cool color!
 I still have it in the same tank as well.
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Posted By: jwoo
Date Posted: December 26 2009 at 5:14pm
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Shane, How big does he get? I have my 3 gallon pico that has been running for six months and I was recently thinking of going a different direction with it then I have livestock wise. I was thinking of doing dwarf seahorses or pipefish but after reading this . . . I'm not so sure. This looks WAY cooler. Do you have any links or articles on this little guy? ------------- None at the moment Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: December 26 2009 at 11:20pm
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This fish will stay fairly small, just a few inches long (and about as wide).
A three gallon tank would work well for a painted frogfish. The main draw back is that you will only be able to have this single fish. But, in a three gallon tank, one fish is likely all you could keep anyway! Snails and hermits are completely safe, but cleaner shrimp will eventually become dinner.For information try: frogfish.ch There is a lot of good information and some nice photos. Be aware that these fish will change colors. Unfortunately, it seems they often change from a very cool color to a less cool color. The reason I mention this, is that you can generally get a less colorful fish for less money. And - when spending more on a colorful fish, you risk the chance that it will change anyway.
Good luck. Let me know what you decide!
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: December 27 2009 at 12:03am
| Man that is cool. I might have to set up a nano and do one in there. I am thinking about a wartskin those are cool. Yellow or white that is the question. |
Posted By: jwoo
Date Posted: December 27 2009 at 3:52pm
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Shane, Thanks for the info! Did you ever get yours to eat off of a stick? Are you still feeding ghost shrimp? I noticed you mentioned salt water shrimp as being a potential food source in the thread - did that work out and if so what type of shrimp are they? ------------- None at the moment Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: December 27 2009 at 5:35pm
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This particular frogfish is a voracious eater and will take just about everything off the stick.
However, before you get a frogfish it is important to have a readily available food source for those finicky eaters. The marsh shrimp I have successfully used are Palaemonetes pugio. Commonly called marsh shrimp or grass shrimp. You can get them from many on-line retailers including Reefs2Go and even E-bay now.
Having SW feeder shrimp is a very convenient way to keep your frogfish initially, although it could become a bit spendy to rely on this method. I do recommend having the shrimp in a separate tank and only introducing a few at a time. Although, if you only have a few available it will likely not be necessary. In the past, I have ordered a hundred at a time.
Incidentally, the Rhinopias I recently acquired has no interest in shrimp at all. It shows almost no reaction to anything on the stick or to shrimp. But, he does go after damsels. I have yet to keep a frogfish that wouldn't strike on ghost shrimp though. |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: December 27 2009 at 11:26pm
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How often do you feed your frogfish? I have read if you overfeed they will stop eating all together. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: December 28 2009 at 10:01am
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I generally space feedings somewhere between 3 and 10 days apart. --> Depending on the size of the meal! And when I remember.
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