Saragassum Fish

[Pacu Man]

Will these guys eat inverts like shrimp or crabs?

 

[triggers]

If you mean the Sargassum Triggerfish then the answer is yes.

 

[gbundersea]

Will these guys eat inverts like shrimp or crabs?

If you mean a Sargassumfish (Histrio histrio) aka Sargassum Frogfish, they will indeed eat shrimp. I've had 2 of them, and shrimp was their primary diet. I wouldn't trust them not to eat crabs as well. These fish are capable of swallowing anything up to and including their own size, and have been known to die trying to swallow fish larger than they are. They will eat each other. I would only keep one in a tank by itself.

Sargassumfish live relatively short, intense lives. They eat a lot, have a high growth rate and metabolism, and in the case of females, produce large batches of eggs constantly. I've heard of one public aquarium keeping them for 2+ years, while others have been unable to keep them for more than a few months. I lost one of mine (gender unknown) due to an equipment failure, and the other because she became eggbound (plugged up with eggs.)

See my household ammonia cycling site for some pictures and notes on the female sargassumfish I had.
__________________

Don't miss my Jensalt sump horror story site.

Also see how to cycle a new tank with household ammonia.
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Greg Bunch
Staff diver, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
http://www.gbundersea.com
Home of the Digital Lens Dock, MXTENDER, Save-A-Lens Kit, and u/w photography

http://www.reefngom.org
Co-founder and fish ID instructor
REEF Field Station of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

 

[Pacu Man]

thanks i was talking about the saragassum frogfish btw. I guess i cant get him unless i get rid of fire shrimp but i dont think thats gonna happen