Frogfish + sandbed yes or no?

[karazy]

in my opinion the best way to ween frogfish from live to prepared is the least ethical, but most effective.
what you do is take the damsels out and throw them in a sump or something for later .
then you dont feed your frogfish for about 2 weeks (make sure he has eaten recently before you do this.)
then you take one of the damsels and you grab it by the tail.
still usuing your hand to hold the damsel, slow put it closer to the frogfish.
one it gets close enough wiggle the damsel a little and 9 times out of ten the frogfish will take it.
if this doesnt work after about 20 minutes of trying just let the damsel go so that the frogfish can hunt it normalyand so that it gets a meal in it and try again in 2 weeks.
this teaches it a few things.
1)to eat when food is available, not just at their leasure
2)to get used to feeding aparatuses
3)to eat as much as they can when they can.

once you have done thing a few times succesfully you can try prepared foods.
the best feeding stick ive seen by far would be a piece of acryilic rod with a small length of 40 lb. (or larger) fishing line on the edthat you can push through whatever you are feeding(krill, silversides, ect)

now take the food on your feeding stick or tongs or whatever you have chosen to use (the stick works best imo, even without the fishing line it works pretty well) and put it in the tank about 4"-6" away from the frogfish, wiggling it in the water.
at this point your frogfish should have moved a little towards the prepared food.
now slowely move the food closer to the frogfish, wiggling the whole time.
now wiggle it right in front of him, (moving it side to side a little bit can help too) and he should eventualy take the prepared foods.
if hedoes not take the food try again the next day, but again make sure he gets a meal atleast once every two weeks while weening.

hope this helps.

[s.tan]

Just wanted to re-emphasis a point that Karazy made in one of his statements.

Originally Posted by karazy

...then you take one of the damsels and you grab it by the tail.

When you start feeding whole dead fish, its easier to hold the fish by the head with the tongs. It may also seem that when you wiggle it, the tail action looks more inviting! In my experience, I've even ended up slapping the face of the frogfish with the tail of the tail of the food fish, trying to get the frogfish interested enough to attack. What I've learned ... and should have known ... is that frogfish are ambush predators. Therefore, they will target the head region of their prey. Duh! As soon as I switched it around, the frogfish attacked and ate.

[karazy]

here's an awesome article on predator feeding by one of the best predator based hobbiests in north america:
http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingt...thetrade.shtml

[bowkry]

I have a frog fish tank and I find some large crushed rubble in the bottom is great he can walk around lots, not too too much rock I find when you feed him the less rock the more often you will get to see him eat. I also feed mine gold fish (I know its not the best but they are cheap) Starve him for a week then put in a bright gold fish and you will see him eat. Also when he has his hod out that means he is hunting. Plus run a huge skimmer they poop lots. My frog fish is about 6 in and eats 3 large goldfish a week, Its great to watch. I tried feeding him cromis's but he ate one and one is still in the tank 2 months later.

[midgetwaiter]

While tongs certainly work I actually found that a bamboo skewer or something similar made it a little easier to feed. You can still get the good wiggle action but it is easier for the fish to pull the prey off of the stick. My acrylic invisi stick is my best friend.

Originally Posted by bowkry

I also feed mine gold fish (I know its not the best but they are cheap) Starve him for a week then put in a bright gold fish and you will see him eat.

I don't want to offend or anything but that's not just bad it's horrible, your fish is going to develop serious problems over time. google lionfish + liver problems

Mollies are the best food I've found for my predators when it has been necessary to use live food. They don't have the fat profile like goldfish so you avoid that problem and given 30 minutes or so of acclimation that adapt to living in SW quite well. This transition also eliminates any parasite issues. Feed with some NLS or something just before you give them to the frog fish. Actually it's good practice to pop a couple of pellets into silversides before you feed as well if you eventually get the frozen working. Don't be shy about making him hungry, a healthy specimen should be able to handle a month without eating.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by karazy

here's an awesome article on predator feeding by one of the best predator based hobbiests in north america:
http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingt...thetrade.shtml

great article thanks.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

great article thanks.

I know it will take time and patience to get the fish eating frozen food so hang in there and best of luck. Like was posted, when he is hungry enough he will go for it.