Fathead Sunburst Anthias Shy Eaters?

[CMO]

My fathead sunburst is becoming skinny since shes being out competed for food. Is this typical of these fish to be shy eaters or do I just have a unique fish?

She does eat but only really get's one piece or so at feeding time since the rest of the fish are so aggressive and get it all before she get's any. I've tried target feeding her but she's still too darn scared to get in the mix of fish to get her share.

I've had her for 4 to 5 months now and has always appeared very health so I do not suspect disease to be the cause.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Maybe if you try feeding with the flow off, while feeding your other fish at the opposite ends of the tank from the sunburnt anthias so the flow doesn't blow it away and she can get more maybe while the others are distracted, or try feeding later at night when the other fish may be less active or sleeping. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[CMO]

Unfortunately I already do most of that without much luck. Haven't tried to feed at night after lights out though so that's worth a shot. I'm going to put her in an in tank acclimation box to fatten her back up for now.

But still curious if this is a normal temperament of these fish or if mine is just shy. If so maybe it would be best to re-home her to a tank with less aggressive fish and try again. Her name is Bonnie and I really love her though so hopefully I can figure this out.

 

[suta42]

Double post

 

[suta42]

Depends...which bold feeders are the problem? For an anthias they are probably considered medium difficulty, not hard if their needs are met.

But it seems like you have two problems: the other tank mates, and the type of food offered. They are shy if they’re being bullied and really large adults take longer to adapt.

Fwiw a good diy mix is the best for keeping these guys fat and growing. That way they can grab decent pieces of nutritious food even if you only feed twice a day. But if you rely on packaged food they need far more frequent feeding.

Hope that helps.

 

[CMO]

Not one or a few in particular. Every other fish I have is a more aggressive feeder from tangs to other anthias, even my tail spot blenny. lol.

I'm feeding a mix of PE mysis, spirulina brine, PE calanus and mega marine algea 2x per day and neptune crossover diet pelets 1x per day.

 

[Swoody]

My Sunburst never really got eating in qt and sadly did not make it. Beautiful fish IMO.... I recently got a Purple Queen (and is in qt) and I swear I have not seen her eat yet.... I figure she must be eating something since it’s been at least 12 days in and she’s very active and looks great... just wondering if Anthias in general are tough to get eating? Good luck with yours. I hope things go well for you ( both!)

 

[CMO]

My Sunburst never really got eating in qt and sadly did not make it. Beautiful fish IMO.... I recently got a Purple Queen (and is in qt) and I swear I have not seen her eat yet.... I figure she must be eating something since it’s been at least 12 days in and she’s very active and looks great... just wondering if Anthias in general are tough to get eating? Good luck with yours. I hope things go well for you ( both!)

Sorry to hear that . All of my anthias from divers den ate well pretty much from day 1, even the fathead but she just get's out competed.

 

[suta42]

You might have to rehome her then.

The only time I had trouble with mine was when I added some coral sea fairy wrasse. The male would do large laps when trying to court the females. All the anthias hid, including the sunburst who were my bossiest ones. Point is they went from being alpha fish to scared fish. I had to remove the wrasse as ventralis stopped eating.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[suta42]

Beautiful fish IMO.... got a Purple Queen (and is in qt) and I swear I have not seen her eat yet..... just wondering if Anthias in general are tough to get eating? )

A lot of the smaller anthias are tough to get feeding properly. Though not small, purple queens are probably the hardest to keep, and feed, long term. If you only have one you will need a few more as they are a shoaling fish.

 

[CMO]

You might have to rehome her then.

The only time I had trouble with mine was when I added some coral sea fairy wrasse. The male would do large laps when trying to court the females. All the anthias hid, including the sunburst who were my bossiest ones. Point is they went from being alpha fish to scared fish. I had to remove the wrasse as ventralis stopped eating.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Interesting. That helps. Thanks for sharing.