Anthias - what type would you recommend

[jaba7711]

I would like to get some anthias for my tank. I never had anthias before, and was wondering what kind should I start out with and what special care and parameters I need for them. I have a 150 gallon tank with plenty of swimming space, and was told by several people, that some of the species I should stay away from. I think they are beautiful fish, and would like to have some in my tank.

 

[CALI DIPPIN]

Xmas barlett are nice and school together

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

Bartletts and lyretails are probably the easiest. Do not put more than one male in.Just feed a couple times a day and your good to go.

 

[Eienna]

Bartletts and lyretails are relatively hardy. One caveat with the lyretails, though. The dominant ones sometimes have the tendency to kill the subordinates off until there's only one fish left. With that size tank, you may not have that problem, but just so you know. If you want a group, start with all females, and let the male arise out of them. If you buy a male, there's a chance that a female within the group may be more dominant than him and kill him in order to take his place.

 

[lps1212]

Ventralis to the experienced reefer. These are very beautiful anthias just very hard to keep

 

[Eienna]

I want pictilis, myself, but I can't find much info on them at all.

 

[jaba7711]

Bartletts and lyretails are relatively hardy. One caveat with the lyretails, though. The dominant ones sometimes have the tendency to kill the subordinates off until there's only one fish left. With that size tank, you may not have that problem, but just so you know. If you want a group, start with all females, and let the male arise out of them. If you buy a male, there's a chance that a female within the group may be more dominant than him and kill him in order to take his place.

I will take your advice and talk to my LFS to see what kind of deal i can get on the barletts and lyretails.

 

[jaba7711]

Bartletts and lyretails are probably the easiest. Do not put more than one male in.Just feed a couple times a day and your good to go.

I will give it a try, thank you

 

[EDM]

lyertails are very nice , my experience is with the larger square back anthias, similar color variation, but can be more aggressive. but they school

also anthias are hydrogenous, meaning they can swap gender. dominant female becomes a male

 

[Eienna]

lyertails are very nice , my experience is with the larger square back anthias, similar color variation, but can be more aggressive. but they school

also anthias are hydrogenous, meaning they can swap gender. dominant female becomes a male

I don't think heterogenous is the word...maybe heterogynous? LOL I can't quite remember XD

 

[shred5]

Pseudanthias ignitus because they are hardy, easy to get to eat, come from shallow water and are one of the few anthias that will actually school and not kill off the weakest one by one in smaller numbers

Dispar and lories also will stay in schools much easier but they are a little harder to acclimate than ignitus,,..

Bartlett's Anthias and Lyretail Anthias are very hardy but in most cases they will kill each other off slowly unless kept in large tanks in large numbers.... They do fine with just one though... You could just buy a male or a female and it will become a male.

With most anthias it is best to have one male and all females or get all females and let them figure it out...

Some good articles On them :

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Pic/article.cfm?c=3578&aid=2476
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/hcs3/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/hcs3/index.php

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/archives.php
volume 5 and 6

 

[Marquiseo]

Sunset, Sunburst, Threadfin, Randall, and Ignitus would be a good start for you. Ventralis are too advanced for you just starting out with anthias. Don't get lyretails unless you don't mind some aggression and if you get lyretail, you must crowd your tank to thin out the bullying from the fish. Their diet is very demanding. I fed a mix of foods by broadcast which can affect nitrates and phosphates but I countered with biopellets, aggressive skimming, and water-changes. I fed a mix of fish roe, cyclops, mysis, reef chili, and NLS pellets 3+ times a day. Here are some pics from my old tank before a moved a while back:

Ignitus(female)

Randall(male)

Sunset(male)

Sunburst(male)

Ventralis(male; expert only, Likely-hood of dying if not equals 100%)

 

[Mike&Terry]

Bartletts and lyretails are relatively hardy. One caveat with the lyretails, though. The dominant ones sometimes have the tendency to kill the subordinates off until there's only one fish left. With that size tank, you may not have that problem, but just so you know. If you want a group, start with all females, and let the male arise out of them. If you buy a male, there's a chance that a female within the group may be more dominant than him and kill him in order to take his place.

Having kept Lyretail Anthias for many years, I would agree with this. They are the most aggressive Anthias species that we have kept.

 

[Eienna]

I have a single male Bartlett's. His mate was lost in a botched tank move, and oddly enough he actually seems happier without her. His color is brighter and he's not stressing over controlling her.

 

[EDM]

sorry XD auto correct on phone will be the end of me i swear
anyway they swap gender
there are many anthias and as everything else in our world is , each is unique, some will display "normal" behavior for a species but, there is always an odd duck lol

i like my square backs cause the males lower fins look like butterfly wings (mix of yellow like a sunburst and highlights of pink)

 

[SDguy]

Having kept Lyretail Anthias for many years, I would agree with this. They are the most aggressive Anthias species that we have kept.

Interesting. Not my experience at all. I had to remove bartletts and tricolors for being too aggressive. Never had a lyretail kill or bully another lyretail, but I guess every tank is different. IME lyretails and ignitus make a great combo (and are found together in the wild too).

 

[shred5]

Interesting. Not my experience at all. I had to remove bartletts and tricolors for being too aggressive. Never had a lyretail kill or bully another lyretail, but I guess every tank is different. IME lyretails and ignitus make a great combo (and are found together in the wild too).

They both are very aggressive lyretails and bartletts..

Bartletts I have never kept but everyone says they all end up turning male eventually and killing each other unless in a very large school in a very large tank..

The hard part with any anthias is the males unless your tank is very large you can only have one.


I have heard that too lyretails go really good with ignitus. Also have heard lots of success stories where one male lyretail and several ignitus do very well in smaller tanks where someone want a lyretail but still wants a group of anthias.....

I think people who dont see aggression in certain species that are known to be aggressive is do to certain things.. Example: I was looking up some stuff on lyretails yesterday and guy said his lyretails were not aggressive but then he didn't even have a male yet and were smaller than 3 inches which make them juveniles still...


Most anthias actually mix pretty well though...

I really think the main thing with lyretails is they are cheap and the males really pretty so everyone wants them and people don’t realise they need a very large tank unless keeping one. One can be kept alone just fine in a 75 gallon. This to me is the number one mistake people make.

Also I don’t think allot of people realise most anthias wont school in a reef anyway...

Most are fine as a single too..

Most of the smaller species are better in a school like ignitus.

 

[mfinn]

Are Lyretail's considered jumpers?
I have considered getting some anthias like the op but have a open top tank.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

if you get lyretail, you must crowd your tank to thin out the bullying from the fish.

That's a stretch. I've kept trios of Lyretails for years. The males can be boisterous, but as long as the females are in good health they can take it just fine.

 

[Kworker]

I can't attest to Bartletts being Hardy by any stretch of the imagination. You can just ask the 7 dead ones that died over the course of a 2 month span in my 180. They were Quarantined beforehand as well... Yet my achilles tang seems to be fattening up quickly.

Only thing I could think of, is the manner the Bartletts may have been collected from the wild could of influenced that.