Anthias recommendation

Brew12 · Nov 9, 2018

I've narrowed down my next fish addition to 2 different types of Anthias and I would like a recommendation on which one would be better for my system. The question.. should I go with Bartletts or Ignitus? Or would something different be better? Looking to add a school of around 7.

Tank is a 60"x30"x24" 187g mixed reef that has been up for a year.

Current fish:
Hippo Tang
Convict Tang
Yellow Tang x 2
Kole Tang
Magnificent Foxface
6-line Wrasse
Oscellaris Clownfish x 2
Starry Blenny
Yellow Tail Damsels x 4

Epic Aquaculture · Nov 9, 2018

I can't speak to the Ignitus, but I have 8 Bartletts, and 6 of them have turned to Male. They get along reasonably well, but since so many are males there is occasional bickering. I have read that it's very common for most Bartletts to turn male, so if you go that route, keep that in mind. They are beautiful fish though.

Dr. Reef · Nov 9, 2018

i personally like ignitus for their sharp colors and more slimmer bodies than bartletts. ignitus are easy to care for as well. in my last setup i have a group of 20 and they got along well. current setup has 7 and planning to add 7 more.

nereefpat · Nov 9, 2018

You want a group, I assume?

The ignitus and dispar are supposed to be more social and less nasty to each other.

ca1ore · Nov 9, 2018

My favorite anthias, and it is not close, is the Bimac. It's about the same size as Bartlett, maybe a tad bigger, but just as colorful and does not bicker nearly as much. I like bartletts, but they need a lot of space and a lot of food in order to avoid winnowing. Bimac groups are much more stable. The bimac is a bit more expensive, but given group stability, probably cheaper in the long run. I'm not a particular fan of ingitus/dispar; they aren't as colorful and tend to fade a lot in captivity. If just a single, the male square is spectacular - if a bit twitchy.

Hokie125 · Nov 9, 2018

+1 on the Bimac. I picked up 5 females from fishybusinessaquatics and they are gorgeous. Have not seen any signs of which will be the male yet but they seem very calm and hardy compared to a lot of other anthias I've seen.

nereefpat · Nov 9, 2018

Those do look pretty. I see they are 70$ a piece on LA. Whoa, that's an expensive group.

Hokie125 · Nov 9, 2018

I caught mine on sale for 40.00. Not sure if they are still doing it but the fishy business website seems to be down at the moment.

Brew12 · Nov 9, 2018

nereefpat said:
You want a group, I assume?

I should have stated that. Yes, I'm looking for a school of around 7 anthias. I'll edit my original post

ca1ore said:
My favorite anthias, and it is not close, is the Bimac.

I can't say I've looked into that one much. I'll start doing some homework, thanks!

Brew12 · Nov 9, 2018

ca1ore said:
My favorite anthias, and it is not close, is the Bimac. It's about the same size as Bartlett, maybe a tad bigger, but just as colorful and does not bicker nearly as much. I like bartletts, but they need a lot of space and a lot of food in order to avoid winnowing. Bimac groups are much more stable. The bimac is a bit more expensive, but given group stability, probably cheaper in the long run. I'm not a particular fan of ingitus/dispar; they aren't as colorful and tend to fade a lot in captivity. If just a single, the male square is spectacular - if a bit twitchy.

I overlooked these because I have seen them rated as "Expert Only". I've also seen now where they are listed as "Moderate". Do you have a feeling on if they are a harder or easier fish to keep?

davocean · Nov 9, 2018

I think the ignitus are right up there in the more sensitive side.
Bartletts do seem to always turn male, often pecking off each other, which is too bad because they have such nice colors.

I'm pretty happy w/ lyretails, and I've had a good mix of those w/ dispar and carberyyi's, and while I agree both dispar and carbs are a little more challenging in keeping bright color, they still look great, especially if mixed in w/ other types of anthia to give a good mix of colors.

ca1ore · Nov 9, 2018

Brew12 said:
I overlooked these because I have seen them rated as "Expert Only". I've also seen now where they are listed as "Moderate". Do you have a feeling on if they are a harder or easier fish to keep?

Based on my own experience I would judge them to be moderate. Lyretail (and other Franzia subgenus) and Bartlett are the easiest, though also the most likely to kill each other off. Bimac, square, carberyii, resplendent/randalls and ignitus/dispar are moderate. Princess, tuka, purple queen much harder to improssible.

Brew12 · Nov 9, 2018

ca1ore said:
Based on my own experience I would judge them to be moderate. Lyretail (and other Franzia subgenus) and Bartlett are the easiest, though also the most likely to kill each other off. Bimac, square, carberyii, resplendent/randalls and ignitus/dispar are moderate. Princess, tuka, purple queen much harder to improssible.

Really appreciate your input as I would never have considered these even though they look spectacular! Thanks for the help!

Hokie125 · Nov 9, 2018

From what I could gather, what makes a breed of Anthias more difficult is getting them to eat once in captivity. I have been lucky and all of mine have ate frozen brine within a couple of days. I'm sure you are aware but make sure you have a powerhead in your QT tank. None of my Anthias would ever touch a piece of food unless it was being blown around by one.

Brew12 · Nov 9, 2018

Hokie125 said:
From what I could gather, what makes a breed of Anthias more difficult is getting them to eat once in captivity. I have been lucky and all of mine have ate frozen brine within a couple of days. I'm sure you are aware but make sure you have a powerhead in your QT tank. None of my Anthias would ever touch a piece of food unless it was being blown around by one.

Great advice and one some people don't think about! Mandarin are another fish that benefit from a powerhead pushing food around. Mine wont eat frozen that he can't hunt down from behind as it moves across the sand.

ca1ore · Nov 9, 2018

Hokie125 said:
From what I could gather, what makes a breed of Anthias more difficult is getting them to eat once in captivity. I have been lucky and all of mine have ate frozen brine within a couple of days. I'm sure you are aware but make sure you have a powerhead in your QT tank. None of my Anthias would ever touch a piece of food unless it was being blown around by one.

It depends a lot on the species, and how stressed they are from the trip. I always drop a power head into my QT for anthias. Feeding response improves significantly if they think it’s trying to escape. Almost funny actually. Even in my display I’ve never understood why folks turn off pumps to feed. I pour frozen right into my MP60. Ensures fish other than the tangs get some.

ca1ore · Nov 14, 2018

SawCJack00 said:

That is a great picture. Male bartletts really do color up far better than most anthias species …. and generally keep it.

Epic Aquaculture · Nov 14, 2018

ca1ore said:
That is a great picture. Male bartletts really do color up far better than most anthias species …. and generally keep it.

Thank you. They are beautiful, I just wish they didn't all turn male LOL. Overall they seems to co-exist pretty well. There are some skirmishes, but there's plenty of rock work to escape the battles, and they all seem to get enough food. I've had them for about 6 months now. If I were to do it over, I'd probably go with different anthias just because of that.