Since Non-reef Salty Pic Threads Die A Death...

[andywg]

The shop had him labelled up as a "Pop-Eye Sea Goblin" but in a surprise turn of events also had a scientific name for him: Inimicus filamentosus.

The closest match I can find would be Pteroidichthys amboinensis or maybe even one of the Rhinopias spp.

And as I am posting, here's the new frog again:

 

[Mr Miagi]

Now that is awsome! Gorgeous fin patterns and colours!

 

[SkiFletch]

NICE FISH

 

[andywg]

GOt a positive ID from a marine pred forum (a pretty grim one ) and it is indeed Pteroidichthys amboinensis. Apparently they are hard to get to stay alive for more than a year, so I am going to see what I can do about lengthening that.

Have bought some sand for the little blighter today to let him bury himself. My only fear is that at 12cm max he might not fare too great with a Pterois radiata (24cm max) which was one of the intended eventual tank mates.

 

[jenny6165]

wow... thats a little.... creepy! lol.

nice tank

 

[andywg]

wow... thats a little.... creepy! lol.

nice tank

nice tank?

It is an old 18x8x8 tiny tank to temporarily house him while new tanks are built and sumped. It just has an empty fluval 1+ for water movement and 3 pieces of LR (two home made). Hardly a show piece. If only everyone was as easy to please as you

 

[Lynden]

Do you know what ornamental invertebrates those guys will eat? I'm assuming at least shrimp. Dumb Liveaquaria just says they aren't reef safe and then doesn't say why.

-Lynden

 

[andywg]

According to Scott W. Michael in Reef Fishes Volume 1 (when describing the very similar Rhinopias spp) they are a great addition to any reef without small fish or ornamental shrimp but one must be careful with fish that eat encrusting inverts as they may mistake the fish for food.

Unsurprisingly he recounts a tale of why not to keep them with frogfish. While watching both fish stalk shrimp the frog decided the scorp was better and ate that instead. In this instance the frog was smaller than the scorp B)

 

[Lynden]

Wow, you must be really proud of those frogs! Such an astounding predatory capability.

Thanks for the info,
-Lynden

 

[Chac]

Only a mother would love those faces

Very interesting livestock andy

 

[andywg]

Wow, you must be really proud of those frogs! Such an astounding predatory capability.

Thanks for the info,
-Lynden

I do love the abiltiy of frogfish and plan to eventually up my collection. The Sargassum frogfish (Histrio histrio is known to take prey up to twice its own size. As food can be few and far between it gorges given the oppurtunity. One adult was found with 13 smaller specimins of the sargassum frog in its stomach.

One species of frog has learned to interact with divers. A small fish (forget the exactname, will update later) will retreat from its nest when divers approach which allows a butterfly fish to nip in and eat the eggs. The frogfish knows this so hangs around the nest waiting for the diver who then causes nice big fish to come in for the frog to eat.

Here is a picture from another forum showing an x-ray of a frog with a pretty large scorpionfish in its stomach, nicely curled up.

Once we move and I can get a good marine rack system going I plan to pick up some of the smaller more colourful species and chance my arm at breeding. Spawning and hatching is not too hard (some even carry the eggs on their body) but getting the fry past 8 days is very hard. The fish hatch as perfectly formed miniatures (so no real larval stage) and as such really need very small live food in a pretty good supply.

Only a mother would love those faces

Very interesting livestock andy

A mother and their very happy owner

I very nearly bought another scorp last night, but it was already sold

I really need to find room for a lot more SW tanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

that's so cool!!!

i always look at your fish and dream...... gonna get my head around a 'standard' marine tank before i try anything like you have though

 

[andywg]

that's so cool!!!

i always look at your fish and dream...... gonna get my head around a 'standard' marine tank before i try anything like you have though

Why bother with a 'standard' marine tank?

My first marine fish was the frog in my sig. Fish are far easier to keep than corals as there is far less problem with salinity (all reef fish can take 1.021 to 1.026 without much bother) and they can suffer far greater swings in other parameters and elevated nitrate levels.

I only have a reef to placate the Mrs, otherwise I would have more predatory fish. The only downside to my newest pair of fish is getting them to eat dead. The newest frog is currently scared of teh feeding stick and I don't have anything quite the right size really for the scorp yet.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

that's so cool!!!

i always look at your fish and dream...... gonna get my head around a 'standard' marine tank before i try anything like you have though

Why bother with a 'standard' marine tank?

My first marine fish was the frog in my sig. Fish are far easier to keep than corals as there is far less problem with salinity (all reef fish can take 1.021 to 1.026 without much bother) and they can suffer far greater swings in other parameters and elevated nitrate levels.

I only have a reef to placate the Mrs, otherwise I would have more predatory fish. The only downside to my newest pair of fish is getting them to eat dead. The newest frog is currently scared of teh feeding stick and I don't have anything quite the right size really for the scorp yet.

nah i love our reef tank, we both really like corals, and we're all full up for tanks now, no room for anymore, specially not any decent sized ones

but we're moving house within the next 2 years, so by the time we move we should be wll on top of the salty side of things and can then branch out into more interesting stuff

 

[SkiFletch]

Ah, when you start planning years down the road, you're hooked 8)