bartlett's anthias dying with mouth open

[javisaman]

Not my picture but exactly the same symptoms

I have a 60 gallon cube that's been up for about 7 months now. As of right now I have a single clownfish, one fire shrimp, and bunch of snails and hermits. My parameters are well within the normal range, as I keep SPS corals. I've had 3 anthias, 2 of them died within the first month, the last one died about 2 months later, today. I suspected that the fish had flukes from the beginning and treated them accordingly, however, even with that the fish eventually died. They all had this trademark open mouth and wide open gills. I've fresh water dipped them to see if any flukes came off, and there are none. Now I know it isn't ammonia poisoning as my corals would likely be the first to show symptoms and when I measure I get a zero reading. Could it be lack of oxygen? I have enough flow to keep SPS, so I'm sure sure how that could be. Could it be stress from having a light on all the time? Not the aquarium lights, but ambient lights. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Deinonych]

How often did you feed the anthias? They have extremely high metabolisms and feed constantly in the wild, so they need to be fed small amounts several times a day.

 

[nitro'sreef]

do you have a auto-feeder they need to be feed 3-4 times a day imo

 

[-Logzor]

I'm not entirely sure where this myth came about that anthias need to be fed 3-4 times a day. I feed mine once a day, if I'm out of town it might miss a day of feeding. I've had my single Lyretail for over 4 years now. Fat and extremely happy. Most people lose theirs within 2 years and blame lack of feeding for some reason. I added another Lyretail over a year ago under the same feeding conditions with no issues.

How would these fish get to market if they had to be fed so often? For what it's worth, Bartletts seem to be extremely sensitive fish. I haven't seen many survive long-term for whatever reason.

I think this is some type of parasite or disease. Why would insufficient food cause their mouths and gils to be locked open like this?

 

[Connie]

I would guess parasites blocking water/oxygen through their gills.

 

[Deinonych]

I'm not entirely sure where this myth came about that anthias need to be fed 3-4 times a day. I feed mine once a day, if I'm out of town it might miss a day of feeding. I've had my single Lyretail for over 4 years now. Fat and extremely happy. Most people lose theirs within 2 years and blame lack of feeding for some reason. I added another Lyretail over a year ago under the same feeding conditions with no issues.

It's not a myth, it's how they feed in the wild. Anthias are primarily planktivores and spend much of the day eating. They can certainly be trained to "gorge" themselves at more infrequent feedings, which it sounds like yours are doing (which is great).

I agree, however, that lack of nutrition would not cause the jaws to lock open with the gills flared. Could have been a parasite.

Anthias Imposters! - The Genus Pseudanthias, Part I by Henry C. Schultz III - Reefkeeping.com

 

[javisaman]

Thank you for the reply guys. I feed anywhere from 2-4 times a day, no autofeeder however (they are too messy). I did do a fresh water dip on the body and didn't notice anything flake off. Should I remove the clownfish? How long should the tank remain fish free to make sure no parasites exist?

 

[ritter6788]

I had a lyretial male die in QT like that. It was fine one minute and then it's mouth opened and looked like it was having a seizure. It died in front of my eyes and looked just like your pic. It started shaking violently, froze and sank to the bottom. Never saw a fish do that before and I don't know what caused it.

 

[javisaman]

Thank you for the responses. My guess based on what you all said is that they were suffering from reoccurring stress and then suddenly died. Unfortunately they do not show any symptoms

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Many anthias species tend to die in that pose, personally not sure why. Sounds like you treated appropriately for flukes, did you treat for internal parasites as well? In my experince these are the two most common threats to anthias (and most fish, frankly) besides Cryptocaryon irritans and Amyloodinium ocellatum of course. Even if the fish was eating well over the two months if an internal parasite was present it could have been robbing the anthias of all the nutrients it was eating. Sure sign of internal parasites is a fish getting skinny over time while still readily accepting food.

I'm not entirely sure where this myth came about that anthias need to be fed 3-4 times a day. I feed mine once a day, if I'm out of town it might miss a day of feeding. I've had my single Lyretail for over 4 years now. Fat and extremely happy. Most people lose theirs within 2 years and blame lack of feeding for some reason. I added another Lyretail over a year ago under the same feeding conditions with no issues.

Agreed, people seem to regurgitate anthias feeding recommendations frequently with no real world experience. It's important we don't group all anthias under the same care requirements. All anthias are actually groupers, and in some cases this fact is clearly visible based on their behavior. In my experience most of the larger commonly kept species of anthias can thrive with once a day feeding after being conditioned to their environment. Certain species that are smaller such as P. tuka will require considerably larger food input to keep them thriving.

 

[Eienna]

I suspect that the multiple feedings "requirement" may have originated when less-nutritious food items were commonly being offered (such as brine shrimp as a staple, early attempts at pellet and flake foods, etc.) I do agree, however, that certain species may need more input than others.

As for finding a fish dead with its mouth open, I believe that's due to the muscle structure - what configuration they're in would determine the final position due to certain muscles being longer, shorter, etc. When they tighten up from rigor mortis different ones would pull different ways and to different extents.