Looking at getting a 29 gallon BioCube for my room just to house a Wartskin Angler. Would turn the filter into a refugium instead of using the filter bags or bioballs that come with it. Can it be done? Anything else I need to add or modify for the fish to do well? Was thinking the Biocube skimmer. Are those any good? Feelings on Biocubes over Nanocubes? Can't really see the difference other than price and personal preference. Thanks for any help or insight you guys can share.

I have a wartskin angler in my 28g nanocube. I have a medium size CPR Aquafuge 2 hang on back refugium. I have chaeto growing in it with the light on 24/7. So far it seems like it's working out okay. I have not had to clean the glass for a couple weeks and my GHA from my cycle is going away since I got him but he is a little tiny guy (about 1.5"). I have not hooked up the skimmer yet as I need to clean it, but I'm sure it will help. You can check out a very short video of him in my 120g tank thread.

As for the biocube. I think it will be okay. I suggest getting the Intank filtration and fuge for it. I think there are better options as far as skimmers go but I don't know them off hand. Hopefully someone can chime in on that. As far as the difference between them and nanocubes, well are you gettng the new one with the HQI lighting? If it's the old one, the only thing I don't like about it is the hood. There is no hinge so you have to pull it off everytime you want to mess with the tank. It's no big deal as there are openings on the top for feeding. It's just that I'm used to the canopy of the nanocube with the hinge. Still the biocube is a nice tank.

Also keep in mind what you are planning on feeding your angler. If you are planning on feeding it live food such as damsels or ghost shrimp, you will probably need a separate tank, or two, to quaratine them. You can always just throw the fish in the tank but at the risk of your angler eating a sick fish. I plan on using two 10g tanks. One will be strickly a QT. This will be where the new fish will go for a few weeks. Once they are done with quaratine, they will be moved to the other 10g ready for feeding and I add more fish to the QT. Another option is to train it to eat frozen. I've read that may not be good for the fish and that they really need to eat live food but I don't know for sure. I'm still learning as well. I'm going with live food for now because I like watching it hunt his food. Also having fish in there would add some movement to the tank.

The angler is the most awesome fish I have ever owned. It's just amazing watching him move around, hunting, and eating. Anyway, I hope that helps alittle. I'm fairly new at keeping one myself so hopefully someone with more experience will chime in and we can both learn something.

Just make sure that you keep up with water changes more often than a regular reef tank since those things poop a lot. Also, you can gut load (feed them all they can eat) the ghost shrimp with cyclopeeze before feeding for better nutrition, same with any fish you're feeding it. You'll need to gut load freshwater fish if you're feeding those since they don't have much nutritive value for saltwater fish otherwise.

Oh, and post pictures! I love anglers, I used to have a 60 gallon entirely devoted to them but I took it down a while ago

Or you can treat it like a dog and scoop out their poop after they go. I read that somewhere and I did that a couple of times actually but I think I'll stick with water changes.

Thinking about adding it to my 40 Breeder once it is up and running for a while instead of getting it its own tank. Could you suck the poop out with the good old turkey baster? That would be so easy. I'll definitely post some pics once I get him!

Keeping him with other fish is a bad idea. What fish do you have in mind in the 40? I was alittle uneasy about keeping an angler alone in my nanocube. It seemed like a waste to only keep one fish and I almost went away from my plans of getting one for other types of fish. I'm glad I didn't change my mind. Now I'm really diggin' the fact that the whole tank is his with only a bunch of CUC. He is free to roam where ever he wants without me worrying about him eating something he is not suppose to. Also when I tell people there is actually a fish in the tank they get all confused then look really hard for him. It takes them a long time and thinks I'm joking around. I sometimes can't find him myself even if he is right in front of me. As for his poop, yeah a turkey baster would work. I was almost able to do it with tweezers but the pumps blew it away.

Why doesn't he just train it onto silversides on a stick?

Was going to put it in the 40 to save money, so that I wouldn't have to buy and maintain another tank. After a good night's sleep I realized that was dumb and will probably get the tank for him as soon as I get paid. I don't have two jobs for nothing. Would it be possible to house him with a Golden Dwarf Eel as well? I figured each of them would be large enough to leave the other alone, but wanted to check. If I can't it's fine, I'd rather have the angler.

Acquired a 24 gallon Aquapod yesterday so I am planning for my new angler which I should get fairly soon. One of the major questions I have is what to feed it and how often. I know people feed them damsels and feeder shrimp, but doesn't that get really expensive at $5 a piece? Also, how often should you feed it live or frozen food?