Angler Fish

Does anyone know what angler fish can be kept in a reef aquarium? Looking through the web I see lots of mixted reef tanks that have them. Are some better to keep then others?

 

I believe they can be kept, and will actually change color according to their background. But that's just what I've heard. Yes I'm almost positive they won't eat coral, but will eat any moving creature that will fit in it's mouth. And it's whole body is basically one big mouth. lol

 

Yea he wont eat coral but he will eat all your fish and the flow might beat him up a bit.

 

Paging Greg and/or Renee.
If they don't chime in go to the Lionfish lair section and they will help you make a good decision.

 

Reef is a very broad term

Some label anglerfish not safe because they'll eat inverts and other fish, but can be kept with coral, after all, they are found on reefs. (assuming you're talking about a. pictus or a. maculatus)

High flow also wouldn't be a problem, assuming you give them plenty of places to hang out in lower flow zones.

However, I'm not an expert so as vinny said, LFL is your best bet

 

I have kept multiple anglers and I would say...........NOOOOOOOO absolutely not to an angler in a reef tank unless you want all your fish ate by the angler adn then the angler die.

anglers are safe to corals, will not touch them. You can put an angler tank with coral in it.

However, even the smallest angler do not know how small they are, in particular how small their stomachs are! Their jaws hinge open at an amazingly degree and they will eat what ever they can get in their mouth, and most of the time even what they can not get in their mouth..........they will try and have it "stuck" in their throat/mouth.

Then what happens when an angler overeats is he enters into "liver" failure and dies. I read in a magazine where an angler ate a bamboo shark once........of course died within the next day

Do a species tank, definately worth having one. Just be prepared with live food as they are HARD to get to eat frozen

 

While it's true that anglers could care less about corals, they will indeed eat any ornamental crustaceans as well as any fishes that are upto about twice their size, longer for easily-swallowed torpedo or eel-shaped fishes.

If an angler eats too much in a single feeding, or is fed too often, the food will actually begin to decompose in the fish's GI tract before it is digested due to their slow metabolism, which kills the angler.

Anglers are also susceptible to a little-understood malady known as SAD (Sudden Angler Death), where a "perfectly good" fish begins darting around the tank, bloats, and dies. This generally occurs with newer specimens, but can happen with any of them. When we first began keeping anglers, we actually lost 3 fishes in a row this way, and it put us off anglers for awhile.

As mentioned, anglers are best kept in single species, single fish setups, as besides having the ability to swallow their tankmates, they're also prone to being picked at by browsing fishes.

This isn't meant as a "don't get an angler" post, but you do need to go into it with both eyes open, and again, a community tank isn't a good idea for them.

HTH

 

Great feedback...thanks Vinny ill check on the lionfish lair...

 

Hello,

I was told to post here to ask about angler fish. I am interested in adding one to my tank but they seems to get a lot of bad feedback as far as them eating your other fish in the tank. Looking through the web I've noticed many reef tanks have angler fish and they don't seem to eat the smaller fish. Can anyone tell me which one would be my best bet?

 

Lionfish Lair actually came to you...;D