Anthias - to give up or not

Nutramar
Jump to Last
Just an update- I had a good email conversation with TSM and they reccomend I try adding a small group of females. They went into quite a bit of details on their QT procedure, which is far more thorough than my own. So I just placed an order and we will see how it goes!
 
Nutramar Foods
Just got these guys in today from TSM:

I did not QT, and as TSM's salinity matches mine, I just temp acclimated and dropped them in.

2 of the 4 have been out and actively swimming with the 2 existing ones. One of them is on and off, clearly a little stressed. The last one is very stressed and tries to hide, but it's unfortunate choices of "hiding" spots are clownfish territory, so it's having a bit of a rough start.

But... All 4 have eaten two meals now, and appear alert and healthy, despite the stress, so I'll update you on how things going a bit later down the road. There's definitely a bit of a pecking order thing to sort out, not helped by the fact that my Carpenter wrasse has decided he's actually a male anthias..
 
Day 2 of the new group!

All 4 animals still appear healthy and have been with me for 24 hrs, which is a new record for me. Crazy credit to TSM aquatics for sending me healthy specimens of an animal that just can't seem to come in healthy otherwise. All of them came out to eat again this morning. So for health based issues with anthias (or any other fish for that matter) just order quarantined fish.

Now the other thing I'm learning... healthy anthias are jerks. Absolute jerks. 2 of the newbies slid right in and pretended they've always been there. 1 is still stressed (color is badly faded) but otherwise in good shape. There's one fish though that emerged today with some fin damage an a few missing scales. It doesn't seem too bad yet, but as fast as these guys are, there's little I can do if the aggression continues. I'm hoping on day 2 things will settle out a bit.

So far the only thing that seems to stop the constant dust ups for pecking order is when they accidentally cross the new melanurus wrasse. He's not aggressive on his own, but if they bump him or accidentally posture near him, he breaks it up real fast. He's quickly becoming the policeman of the tank.
 
Tidal Gardens
Vakko said:
More food.
Click to expand...
Oh trust me they are getting spoiled with food! I'm at home and fighting low nitrates so they get about as much as they want!

Much of the aggression seems to have calmed down, and the anthias have split off into two groups, each schooling with a wrasse. It's sorta odd, but I'll take it.
 
Tidal Gardens
mattzang said:
can you post what TSM's QT said their procedure is? i remember looking for it on their website and it just said broad stuff, 30 day QT etc
Click to expand...

From the email I got:

"Thanks for reaching out. All of our fish receive a full 30+ days of copper at therapeutic level and 3 rounds of praziquantal. We will not ship you any fish that we don't feel are 100% healthy. "
 
I'm also very mindful that their QT procedure isn't as complete as some here, but it's more than I usually do, and at the very least, feel it gives the fish a much better chance to survive your DT or QT.

Also, and this was very important to me: I actually fed right after introducing all fish to the DT in an effort to distract the current residents from the newbies. Much to my surprise, all the new fish ate, despite being out of the bag for 5 minutes or less. The hawkfish I ordered is eating out of my hand!
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
I just received a big tang order today from TSM and completely happy. A wrasse/Anthias group will be next up. I’m getting all my fish from them. Also ordered some CUC
 
jstephens24 said:
I just received a big tang order today from TSM and completely happy. A wrasse/Anthias group will be next up. I’m getting all my fish from them. Also ordered some CUC
Click to expand...
The anthias were in good shape, but I was even more pleased with the 2 wrasse I got. Totally using them in the future.
 
Stoked to hear they new additions are doing well.
that’s about my experience with every fish I’ve gotten from them with the fish immediately eating after going into the tank. Granted I pick the fish up in person but I’ve never had an issue.
I’ll be picking up a potters leopard wrasse from them
This weekend as it just finished QT :)
 
WWC
mikeintoronto said:
Those prices are more than reasonable for 30+ days of copper treatment.
Click to expand...

Well and in direct comparison to Divers Den:
TSM hawkfish: $45
TSM Solon wrasse: $69
4 TSM anthias: $160

Divers Den
Hawkfish: $90
Solon wrasse: $89
Anthias trio: $199 or more
 
GlassMunky said:
Stoked to hear they new additions are doing well.
that’s about my experience with every fish I’ve gotten from them with the fish immediately eating after going into the tank. Granted I pick the fish up in person but I’ve never had an issue.
I’ll be picking up a potters leopard wrasse from them
This weekend as it just finished QT :)
Click to expand...

I appreciate the heads up on TSM, I think you were one of the first to mention them to me. Absolute game changer for fish. 100% changes the way I shop for livestock from now on, and gives me so much more confidence to go for the animals I want, rather than the ones I just think won't die.
 
Nutramar Foods
what salinity did you get your anthias?
 
hmm maybe they ship only in low salinity....
 
Tidal Gardens
I had a small group of lyretail anthias in my previous tank and they lived a couple years. When I set up my new tank I couldn't find them out of 5 stores for months. I asked the one local store and he told me he wont even sell them because of the death rate was too high. I finally found some at another and bought them on site. There were 3, lost one about 2 months later and then another about 6 months later. I'm down to one, beautiful and healthy eating fish. I hope he lives a long time.
 
jeffrey750750 said:
I had a small group of lyretail anthias in my previous tank and they lived a couple years. When I set up my new tank I couldn't find them out of 5 stores for months. I asked the one local store and he told me he wont even sell them because of the death rate was too high. I finally found some at another and bought them on site. There were 3, lost one about 2 months later and then another about 6 months later. I'm down to one, beautiful and healthy eating fish. I hope he lives a long time.
Click to expand...

I've experienced much the same. The ones I just got in are as healthy as it gets. If I can't keep them alive, or they pick each other off, I'll just likely replace them with fairy/flasher wrasse and be done with it. But I like my group of 6 anthias so far, and I'd one of them morphs into a male, and has at least just a few females long term I'll be very happy.
 
Nutramar

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
See comments…

New Posts

Top Shelf Aquatics
World Wide Corals
TCK Corals
Deltec
Tidal Gardens
Nutramar Foods
Chewy.com
Dinkins Aquatic Gardens
New Posts
Back
Top