Anthias Anthias Anthias

[AJsTank]

Okay, so I'm going to put in about 40 Anthias in my 400 gallon and I want to mix them with as many different species as possible. This video has inspired me to do it.

Deepwater Reef Tank at Steinhart Aquarium on Vimeo

From my own experience, I've come to a conclusion that Bartlett Anthias are way too aggressive towards other Anthias, so I will not put them in this time around. I've also heard to stay away from Borbonius and Bimaculatus as well because they get aggressive in the long run, but I have only heard that form a couple people.


Those of you who have had Anthias, please list what kind you've had, how many and what your experience is with them.

 

[Jjmelgoza]

I've only had 6 ignitus anthias in my 120 gallon and they are really peaceful, they were even schooling with my pair of clowns and my 3 chromis, but that's the only anthias I've had, haven't tried any others.

note ll

 

[wrasseluver]

Okay, so I'm going to put in about 40 Anthias in my 400 gallon and I want to mix them with as many different species as possible. This video has inspired me to do it.

Deepwater Reef Tank at Steinhart Aquarium on Vimeo

From my own experience, I've come to a conclusion that Bartlett Anthias are way too aggressive towards other Anthias, so I will not put them in this time around. I've also heard to stay away from Borbonius and Bimaculatus as well because they get aggressive in the long run, but I have only heard that form a couple people.


Those of you who have had Anthias, please list what kind you've had, how many and what your experience is with them.

I've kept central pacific and ventrails anthias in the same tank with no issue. In a 400 gallon you should have any issues.

 

[chemisfun11]

I did a lot of research and read a lot of opinions about Anthias before I got mine. I decided to play it a bit safe and get Lyretail Anthias (Maldives) species. I ordered 4 females in the hopes of seeing one change into a male. My system is 54"x30"x24" and holds approximately 170 gallons. One female looked terrible immediately and died after two weeks the other three are doing well and only exhibit some aggression towards each other a few months later. Two of the three eat really well, and one female is definitely the runt of the lot. The other two seem to be challenging each other for the role of male. They all started at around the same size. I too considered the Bartlett's, but after hearing others experiences with them I opted for the Lyretails.

 

[AJsTank]

I did a lot of research and read a lot of opinions about Anthias before I got mine. I decided to play it a bit safe and get Lyretail Anthias (Maldives) species. I ordered 4 females in the hopes of seeing one change into a male. My system is 54"x30"x24" and holds approximately 170 gallons. One female looked terrible immediately and died after two weeks the other three are doing well and only exhibit some aggression towards each other a few months later. Two of the three eat really well, and one female is definitely the runt of the lot. The other two seem to be challenging each other for the role of male. They all started at around the same size. I too considered the Bartlett's, but after hearing others experiences with them I opted for the Lyretails.

My experience with my 5 Lyretail was the same and that's why I think I'm adding Lyretail on my list of "do not add" as well lol. Not as bad as my 5 Bartlett, but they were aggressive too.

 

[AJsTank]

I've only had 6 ignitus anthias in my 120 gallon and they are really peaceful, they were even schooling with my pair of clowns and my 3 chromis, but that's the only anthias I've had, haven't tried any others.

note ll

I've heard of Ignitus. I'll look into those.

 

[Marquiseo]

Anthias I have had:

Ignitus - Peaceful, good choice.
Lyretail - Aggressive, Ok in a 400g but you want to limit the species size say 1m, 3f
Threadfin - Peaceful, very active, good choice
Sunset - Peaceful, excellent choice, very beautiful
Ventralis - Peaceful, Not easy for some to take of. Once you get it pass not eating, it is wonderful afterwards
Bicolor - Semi-Aggressive, I had a big male that was peaceful and a female that wasnt but overal beautiful fish
Fathead Sunburst - Peaceful, beautiful fish, excellent choice
Stocky - Semi-Aggressive, kind of dull
Dispar - Peaceful, kinda looks like the stocky
Randalls - Peaceful, excellent choice

 

[AJsTank]

Anthias I have had:

Ignitus - Peaceful, good choice.
Lyretail - Aggressive, Ok in a 400g but you want to limit the species size say 1m, 3f
Threadfin - Peaceful, very active, good choice
Sunset - Peaceful, excellent choice, very beautiful
Ventralis - Peaceful, Not easy for some to take of. Once you get it pass not eating, it is wonderful afterwards
Bicolor - Semi-Aggressive, I had a big male that was peaceful and a female that wasnt but overal beautiful fish
Fathead Sunburst - Peaceful, beautiful fish, excellent choice
Stocky - Semi-Aggressive, kind of dull
Dispar - Peaceful, kinda looks like the stocky
Randalls - Peaceful, excellent choice

Wow. Thank you for the feed back. Hopefully someone chimes in about Resplendents. I've also heard Tri-Color are aggressive too from 1 individual who has them.

 

[TJ's Reef]

I currently have three Hawaiian Bicolor Anthias (1 male ~ 2 female) and a single female Dispar. Mostly get along and school together throughout the day. Originally four and three, one Dispar did not make it through QT and then after introduction dominant Bocolor chased male Dispar out of tank then tile surfed himself a week later. I plan on adding another 3-4 Dispar at sometime and maybe a small group of Flasher Wrasses to see if they will all school up. I have had decent success with the Lyretail in the past as well and if able get my 450-600g DT anytime soon will introduce these and increase Bicolor and Dispar numbers to. The best lesson I've learned of keeping Anthias is to purchase one that is larger than the rest to begin with thus establishing a dominant male and not having them have to go through the inevitable battles otherwise.

Cheers, Todd

 

[TJ's Reef]

^EDIT^ After reading post and looking at some old pics I had and will add again the Threadfin not the Lyretail

 

[Marquiseo]

Also, be prepared to do a lot of feeding. 40 anthias is a lot of mouths to feed. They will need at least 3 feedings a day which also means you need to get a stable bioload. I ran biopellets so my the feedings did not impact my nitrates or phosphates. That's just something for you to think about.

 

[AJsTank]

Also, be prepared to do a lot of feeding. 40 anthias is a lot of mouths to feed. They will need at least 3 feedings a day which also means you need to get a stable bioload. I ran biopellets so my the feedings did not impact my nitrates or phosphates. That's just something for you to think about.

Yeah, I had 10 Anthia's for about 18 months in my 120 until I tore it down. I did smaller feedings about 5-7 times a day.

 

[Marquiseo]

Yeah, I had 10 Anthia's for about 18 months in my 120 until I tore it down. I did smaller feedings about 5-7 times a day.

Ok cool. Oh yeah. I always wanted to get red saddled anthias so you could probably add those to your list.

 

[AJsTank]

Ok cool. Oh yeah. I always wanted to get red saddled anthias so you could probably add those to your list.

Red Saddled? I wonder if those are the ones Chingchai has in his tank.

DSPS tank from Thailand (MACNA version) - YouTube

 

[Mr tap water]

Hi there
That looks great

 

[Marquiseo]

Red Saddled? I wonder if those are the ones Chingchai has in his tank.

DSPS tank from Thailand (MACNA version) - YouTube

​ Red Saddle Anthias

 

[AJsTank]

​ Red Saddle Anthias

Maybe those were Red Bar.. Those Red Saddled look like the Central Pacific from Live Aquaria.

 

[Marquiseo]

Maybe those were Red Bar.. Those Red Saddled look like the Central Pacific from Live Aquaria.

Different fish, face markings are different as well as the pattern for the red bars are different.

 

[Swine]

I have three lyre tails and one bimac. The lyre tails were peaceful for the most part until I got the bimac. He was instantly aggressive and significantly larger than the lyre tails. It looks like the bimac is now entering the terminal phase with the tips of his(?) tail starting to get accents. It doesnt help that my clowns and tomini tang are semi aggressive too.

I was really nervous getting the lyre tails to eat but now they are very aggressive feeders (the first ones at the feeding spot when i come up to my tank) and eat pellets and flakes. This is in a 55 long. I am upgrading to a 105 soon.

 

[Reefer831]

I have 4 Bartlett, 4 lyretail, 2 randals, 9 bi color, and a blotchy...all in a 120.... I've noticed they all need a few things to be happy and once you give them those they are very easy fish to keep... First acclamation is very important… Make sure you drip acclimate all of them and that will give you a lot more better success from the start... Very important to make sure you pick healthy looking fish from the start as well… Make sure they are plump and fat looking and don't have a long sucked up skinny look... Second you're going to need enough rock work for them to all have sleeping spots comfortably... Then after all that you're going to need to feed a time… I usually keep food next to my tank so every time I walk by I just throw some in there… I feed mine small amounts about five times a day... Make sure you try different types of food because many Anthais will feed on different things... For finicky eaters prawn eggs works really well… I always try to train them to feed on pellets.... Along with a variety of other food but once I know I got them on pellets there going to usually live... There's only a few different types you really need to watch out for… And usually you will be able to tell within the price tag that those are really finicky fish and they usually cost around 100 bucks a piece... But if you're looking to have a ton of random Anthais in a 400 gallon you should be fine with any of the basic types... With that much space you don't really need to worry about Bartletts and Blotchys being aggressive because they will have a ton of space... I would say if I were you I would just go with a lot of basic types and not go after year high-end super finicky types cause those usually don't do we'll when mixed...