Anthias tail rot or something else?

[zimbelj]

Hello, new to this site and new reef tank owner. I recently lost 2 anthias. It started with a chewed up looking tail and then a loss of color, no eating and then dead. It looks like my other anthias are starting to show similar signs of the tail damage. Any ideas what this may be? I have not seen any other ls acting aggressive. I only have some clowns, chromis, dottyback (beyond my Anthias). Any help/advice would be great!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Welcome to Reef2reef and sorry for the late reply.

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello, new to this site and new reef tank owner. I recently lost 2 anthias. It started with a chewed up looking tail and then a loss of color, no eating and then dead. It looks like my other anthias are starting to show similar signs of the tail damage. Any ideas what this may be? I have not seen any other ls acting aggressive. I only have some clowns, chromis, dottyback (beyond my Anthias). Any help/advice would be great!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It is likely that the tail damage and the fish dying are not directly related. The sharp-edged fin damage in the video is being caused by another fish. While that sort of injury can become infected, the tail would look more smoothly eroded, and most of it would be gone by the time the fish died.

Catching the culprit of this sort of thing is difficult, it is over in a split second and it is very easy to miss. You can set up your phone to video the tank and them leave the room. Reviewing the video can sometimes tell you. However, it could be one or two fin nips each day to cause this damage, so still tricky to see. Watch for "near misses" or fish rushing at another one. Anthias sometimes fight - are there any in the tank with perfect fins?

As to the direct cause of death of the anthias, that would take some digging. Can you post your water quality parameters, how long you've had them, etc.?