Angler

[wade1]

I just entered my nano tank pictures (I know, I'm a bit slow) and this is one of them.... you can find the rest in the nano buildoff section:

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=80

 

[Mihai]

Cool looking. What does it eat? How big does it grow?
M.

 

[wade1]

It eats anything that moves thats 50% of its size or less. So far, I have been feeding it damsels. When I get back from my vacation, I will train it over to primarily silversides.

As for size... they can get pretty darn big. I'm hoping it takes a long time to get that big though! Its only ~3.5" long now.

Wade

 

[RobertoVespucci]

What are the odds of getting a pic of him eating a damsel?

 

[wade1]

RobertoVespucci
What are the odds of getting a pic of him eating a damsel?

Good question! I spent about an hour the first night I put the damsels in, with the camera focused on its face. No such luck, although it eyeballed them really heavily. I'll keep trying, but the chances are next to zero to actually catch him feeding except when I add new fish (I keep a resident population and it eats when it wants).

As an aside... the motion is supposed to be so fast, that I _highly_ doubt I could even catch it! I might get a few scales fluttering or a tail out of its mouth, but thats likely to be it. Nevertheless, I will keep trying.

 

[Bojangles]

Isn't it dangerous to keep resident fish in the tank? I've known a few people to have theirs eat themselves to death.

 

[wade1]

Eh... I don't know how true that is, but the damsels I have in tank aren't stupid. 4 damsels can last 2 weeks (sometimes one will last even longer if its smart enough). They are also very small relative to the size of the angler, I doubt it would feel a full belly ingesting 3-4 of them.

I am making a point of keeping it slightly underfed as well. Its only in a 12g nano tank right now and I don't want it eating itself out of a place to live too fast.

I'll keep the thought in mind though Bojangles, thanks for the input.

 

[Bojangles]

I'm not sure if it is true or not. Most of the time when something dies, the owner has no clue what killed it or just lies to save face anyway

 

[wade1]

Well crud. This guy died late last week. No idea as to cause, it had been eating fairly well (about 1 damsel every other day or a bit less) and everything else in the tank was and still is in good shape. It did leave me with a fiji damsel (darnit) in the tank as the sole resident. Guess its time to reconsider stocking options.

 

[Mihai]

I'm sorry to hear that Wade. I also recently had a flame angel die in quarantine after initially eating well. I also have no idea why.

M.