Anthias- Hard to keep?

[N11morales]

I got mine from fish hotel. We as a group are currently placing a tranship order from Africa right now on the humblefish forum. There are a few hours left if you’re interested. Not sure I shoud share a link here on R2R or not so I will refrain.

i'll pm u

 

[Doctorgori]

No anthias is easy. Some are just easier than others. Keeping a single is generally met with greater success than trying to keep a group. No matter how many you buy, eventually you’ll end up with just one. You can mix species. I have a single lyretail and bimac in my 120. Thinking about adding a single Bartlett. I started out with 5 lyretails six years ago, now down to one.

yes you can mix and they will interact; unfortunately.Long story short I ended up with a dominate male Lyretail and two dispar females

FWIW, with lyretails, I have not found female-to-male to be inevitable. Mine remains female. I have also found that females that transition to males in a tank lack the full coloration of wild caught males. This is also true for bimacs, Bartlett and squares. Resplendent are the only others I have successfully kept, and male coloration isn’t all that different than female.

yes, this is true. I had a school of 3 female Lyretails until adding female dispars which triggered a sex transition murder spree…see above

yall recommend any vendors to order some anthias from?

AVOID the 2 major online vendors here, every last anthias came in emeciated and/or with uronema

Pardon the caps/underline but take this advise: spend the $$$ in the first place and get well conditioned/quarantined anthias (I feel strongly qualified and confident in that statement)

edited

 

[Griev]

I guess I'm the exception to this rule. I've now kept my group of 12 for over a year without a single loss. I auto-feed 4-5 times a day, and they're all fat and happy. The male and original 5 females have been together now almost 2 years. I did lose several to acclimation/disease, but never aggression.

I think a key part is keeping enough so that the aggression and thus stress is spread out a lot more. Keep in mind that the M:F ratio for these fish in the wild is like 1:35.

I guess I need to update my story! After two years, my male developed pop-eye and while he's less active, the largest female has started changing male within a couple of days and is usurping his throne!

He's still got the pop-eye and can't defend himself very well, so I've pulled him to the QT tank to recover and re-home.

Well after two years I finally had an aggression related incident. Let's see how the school is under this new king.

 

[GrandmaReefer]

well if the tomini is minding its own business planting flags still, then your good.

The moment it declares the tank tangopia... its pretty much overs from what i hear.

I have a tiny one... well not so tiny anymore... but got him the size of a half dollar, and now its about 2 inches.
So far its still planting flags in the 150g i have... so i know my time frame is very short if i want to add any more fishes.

How do you know it’s still planting flags? I just got a Tomini but had hoped to still add a fish or two so would love some insight on the behavior you see that tells you this.

 

[Naekuh]

How do you know it’s still planting flags? I just got a Tomini but had hoped to still add a fish or two so would love some insight on the behavior you see that tells you this.

The last time i had tangs, if it considered the tank theres, they would flex in front of the fish. Like flare up, and try to let the fishes that it see's a whats up.

Planting flags would be its still roaming around and it will bolt out of that area if another fish comes in instead of flexing.

Also my Tomini seems to poop in front of my clown's hosting duncan.
Its halarious, as it will swim to where the duncan is, take a poop, and then run for the hills like a ding dong dash.

But all tangs are different, and i guess you sort of know if its already planted all its flags or its still in the process of doing so.

 

[N11morales]

How do you know it’s still planting flags? I just got a Tomini but had hoped to still add a fish or two so would love some insight on the behavior you see that tells you this.

what fish you planning to get? Honestly I think you will be fine. I just worry cause hes been in there for a year now. That being said though I did add a bluthroat fairy wrasse, orange back fairy wrasse, and a diamond goby.

Tomini didnt bother my wrasses at all didn't even attempt to chase them. BUT the diamond goby he was very upset that he was in the tank. constantly chasing him when came out of the cave.

So I think it had to do with them being simliar in coloration. I since then got a pink watchman goby and tomini didn't try anything at all with him. My pink watchman comes out all day long.

My tomini does chase my bicolor blenny. Again I think it had to do with colors for my tomini at least. I say color because I have a scopas tang (added 6 months after tomini) and had little to no aggression on day 1... after 24 hrs they were like buddies. no issues since

 

[N11morales]

Also decided to give NYaquatics a go on some lyretail anthias. I got a small group of 3. I was able to see them eat on their live stream!

Hope they come in well. I had a friend strongly recommend them.

Is 3 an okay number to have? I also got 3 green chromis thinking that will help spread out aggression if there is any when adding these fish to my tank.

 

[Tcook]

I currently keep 4 Pink Square Anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia). Captive bred, Biota. Purchased them all at the same time back in July 2022.

I feed dry / pellet mix hourly starting at 0830 to 1830. Small portions. Between 1830 and 2030 I feed one frozen session. Rotate through LRS Reef, Fish, mysis, prime, and brine. This is a medium size portion. Dry is a blend of TDO x-small (I have gobies), small, Hikari A & S, and PE Mysis.

They arrive all as female. One is clearly the dominate and starting to transition. It is slow going but you can see the color difference in body and fins. It does an odd dance, head butt, and a bit of chasing or corralling. There are no fight clubs, locking of jaws, or torn fins. Just one sort of herding. One is clearly smaller than the rest so lowest in the harem pecking order.

They will group up for a bit and shoal then go about their own. Pair up here and there but that is about it. They are pretty docile all in all but do chase other fish. I have 11 lyretail damsels that they will dive bomb. I introduced a Milletseed Butterfly (Biota) last year and they pretty much chased it non stop. Now it is larger and holding its own. I guess my point here is that they do dive bomb and chase fish but not a relentless chasing to death.

Upon arrival they are small and pale in color. Maybe 8 months old to a year. I didn't ask Biota but that is my guess due to their size. No more than a year and a half. So while you pay a premium for captive bred/raised animals you get them young, eating, healthy, and get to watch them grow. Coming up to two years with them now and it has been a blast watching them. Their colors are amazing. They have the potential to get large so keep that in mind. 7 - 8" easy. Looking at mine now they are pushing 5" easy.

I've attempted 5 Lyretails (Sea Goldies) Pseudanthias squamipinnis with little to no luck. Eating and fighting. Won't go down that route again although the male is probably one of the prettiest fish there is (opinion of course). I've had some success with Bartlett's (Pseudanthias bartlettorum) but they slowly wittled down to a single.

Here are my current 4. Must love Biota

Beautiful! And good to hear about the longevity of the biota ones. I stayed away from the purple square as the wild ones never lasted very long.

 

[Chrisv.]

Simple Blue Eye Anthais.
No special treatment at all.
Maybe three in 40g.
They bullied by nobody. Very fast. Need a lid.

Always get all females, then, you see one change from orange, to reddish.

Three in 40 gallons?!?!!

 

[GrandmaReefer]

what fish you planning to get? Honestly I think you will be fine. I just worry cause hes been in there for a year now. That being said though I did add a bluthroat fairy wrasse, orange back fairy wrasse, and a diamond goby.

Tomini didnt bother my wrasses at all didn't even attempt to chase them. BUT the diamond goby he was very upset that he was in the tank. constantly chasing him when came out of the cave.

So I think it had to do with them being simliar in coloration. I since then got a pink watchman goby and tomini didn't try anything at all with him. My pink watchman comes out all day long.

My tomini does chase my bicolor blenny. Again I think it had to do with colors for my tomini at least. I say color because I have a scopas tang (added 6 months after tomini) and had little to no aggression on day 1... after 24 hrs they were like buddies. no issues since

I was thinking of a canary wrasse, and a clown goby.

I have a scopas that’s bigger than him in a 60g I want to move in (he’s getting kinda big) but I’ve been waiting to make sure he’s last - and catching that bugger is proving difficult. Sounds like he might most be a problem at all.

Tomini doesn’t bother anyone else right now - 3 fire fish, wrasse, diamond goby, 3 clowns, but he was nearly the last in. Only the clowns have been added because they, too, are moving from the small tank.

 

[Uncle99]

Three in 40 gallons?!?!!

Your point is?

 

[Chrisv.]

Your point is?

My point is that these fish are every bit of 5" when they are fully grown, and they do grow large if adequately fed. They are a stout fish when grown too.

In nature they eat micro invertebrates from the water column all day long and to really get them to thrive they should be fed (at least) several times a day. They have a super high metabolism and due to their tendency to eat all day long, they produce waste all day long. Between their uneaten food and their waste, they can have an outsized impact on bioload.

Live aquaria recommends a minimum tank size of 125 gallons. I ignored this and put a small group in a 90 at one point and in order to meet their needs, I wrecked my water chemistry. I ended up giving the harem to a local reefer who had a 300 gallon tank with room to spare.

All of that to say, I think that 40 gallons is not enough space for this fish.

 

[Uncle99]

Worked well last 4 years for me, two feeds a day only, never grew past 3”.

 

[Chrisv.]

Worked well last 4 years for me, two feeds a day only, never grew past 3”.

They are beautiful fish!

 

[N11morales]

I was thinking of a canary wrasse, and a clown goby.

I have a scopas that’s bigger than him in a 60g I want to move in (he’s getting kinda big) but I’ve been waiting to make sure he’s last - and catching that bugger is proving difficult. Sounds like he might most be a problem at all.

Tomini doesn’t bother anyone else right now - 3 fire fish, wrasse, diamond goby, 3 clowns, but he was nearly the last in. Only the clowns have been added because they, too, are moving from the small tank.

I think u will be perfectly fine with those additions tbh! But of course each fish has their own personality.

 

[N11morales]

Fish come in tomorrow can't wait, but also was looking into auto feeders.

Anyone here use the Eheim auto fish feeder? Seems good for the price? Or it kinda like *get what u pay for* situation and will have issues?


Also i have a mesh screen lid... so wondering can i just place this feeder on top and let it drop through the holes? Not sure what else ican do besides cut the net. Feel like that defeats the purpose of the mesh screen lid. since the fish could jump out of it.

 

[litsoh]

Fish come in tomorrow can't wait, but also was looking into auto feeders.

Anyone here use the Eheim auto fish feeder? Seems good for the price? Or it kinda like *get what u pay for* situation and will have issues?


Also i have a mesh screen lid... so wondering can i just place this feeder on top and let it drop through the holes? Not sure what else ican do besides cut the net. Feel like that defeats the purpose of the mesh screen lid. since the fish could jump out of it.

I use an Eheim autofeeder on my tank. Works great and is a pretty good price. Only problem I had was that the mounting bracket didn’t fit on the rim of my tank so I had to get an L bracket and use that to attach it. To be fair the rim of my tank for some reason is on the bigger side so most things would probably have trouble fitting atop.

As long as the mesh isn’t too fine then you can let them drop no problem. I have 1/4” mesh on mine

 

[mrpontiac80]

Fish come in tomorrow can't wait, but also was looking into auto feeders.

Anyone here use the Eheim auto fish feeder? Seems good for the price? Or it kinda like *get what u pay for* situation and will have issues?


Also i have a mesh screen lid... so wondering can i just place this feeder on top and let it drop through the holes? Not sure what else ican do besides cut the net. Feel like that defeats the purpose of the mesh screen lid. since the fish could jump out of it.

I bit the bullet and bought a Avast plank feeder when I got my anthias. It’s expensive but so great. I highly recommend it.

I originally had thought of the hydros feeder since I have a hydros controller, but the reviews are not as great as I had expected. I THINK it is a rebranded Eheim feeder with a couple of differences but Ehiem feeders had better reviews.

 

[N11morales]

So sad. I followed their acclimation guides to get the 14 day guarantee… usually when I get fish shipped I temp acclimate and throw them in. Well they require u to drip and temp acclimate :/ so I did that and I think this poor anthias got burned. He ended up passing away… the other two are completely fine but it was the bigger of the group. So bummed… I shoulda just dropped them in like I always do….

Feel horrible I killed a healthy fish just to get a 14 day guarantee :/

Also it’s not like I’ve never dripped I know how to do it. I drip all inverts and LFS fish I’ve ever bought. Just with shipping from NY to Texas that’s a long time to be in a bag.

 

[VintageReefer]

I unfortunately had a similar situation with a tomini tang from my LFS. Had to follow their acclimation procedure to get the guarantee. I followed against better judgement, and the fish acted very strange and died the next day.

He was replaced but I still feel bad because it was an unnecessary loss