Feeding Anthias and Best Anthias for me

Patrick Cox · Apr 15, 2023

I am starting a new 5' 150G total water volume tank and the tank is cycled and I am ready to add my first fish. Below is my fish list and I am thinking about starting with the Anthias. I have read that Dispar are one of the easiest to keep, would this be a good variety for me?

My other question is around feeding. I have an Avast Marine Plank Feeder and they sent me some "Reef Jerky". Would this be a good food for Anthias? Any other foods I should mix in with this? I am a little worried about high nutrients and developing an algae problem but I assume that I need to feed 3-5 times per day, is this correct?

I do have a roller mat and will do auto water changes so hopefully this will help with nutrient issues.

Thanks and I would appreciate any other comments.

Fish plan with order of add:

5 Dispar Anthias
FoxFace Rabbitfish
Flame Hawkfish
Melanurus Wrasse
White Tail Tang
Purple Tang
Clownfish pair with Anemone (Adding last because I won't be running my lights for a while and the Anemone will need light.)

mtraylor · Apr 15, 2023

Never heard of the food you are talking about. But anthias do not need to be feed 4 to 5 times a day. My aquarium gets fed twice a day and I have anthias. They are fat and happy

flashsmith · Apr 15, 2023

Here's my anthias story... I feed mine twice a day with everything else and they do well. A little over a year ago I got a harem of 3 female and 1 male lyretails. During that time everything was fine. Another of the females transitioned. Still everything is good. Just a day ago they all attacked the smallest female and essentially beat her to death. Being a large system full of coral all I could do was let it happen. I couldn't get her out to put into my other tank because they cornered her under the rock work. I'm sure it's just a matter of time until another one suffers the same fate. I heard you can buy as many as you want but you'll eventually end up with one. I believe it now.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Apr 15, 2023

I got my first anthias last week. My best advise is make sure you have some frozen cyclops on hand, it was all mine would eat the first few days, only now starting to try other prepared foods, but very hesitant. I feed twice a day

JCM · Apr 15, 2023

Dispar/ignitus are one of the best choices OP. They generally won't keep picking off the weakest like lyretails, and don't need constant feeding like some of the super difficult species. They also aren't picky about what they eat like other difficult species.

I feed all my fish 3-5 times a day even when I don't have anthias. They all seem to appreciate more frequent food, but dispars will tolerate twice a day feeding. I'm not familiar with the food you're referring to. I've always fed mine a frozen mix and NLS pellets, which they eat readily.

Patrick Cox · Apr 15, 2023

For those not familiar, this is the food that Avast Marine sells with the Plank feeder…

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/reef-jerky

Patrick Cox · Apr 15, 2023

JCM said:
Dispar/ignitus are one of the best choices OP. They generally won't keep picking off the weakest like lyretails, and don't need constant feeding like some of the super difficult species. They also aren't picky about what they eat like other difficult species.

I feed all my fish 3-5 times a day even when I don't have anthias. They all seem to appreciate more frequent food, but dispars will tolerate twice a day feeding. I'm not familiar with the food you're referring to. I've always fed mine a frozen mix and NLS pellets, which they eat readily.

Thanks for your reply. I am happy to feed frozen, however I need to ensure my fish will eat from an auto feeder when I go out town.

areefer01 · Apr 15, 2023

I keep 4 Pink Square Anthias. Captive bred/raised from Biota. Bees knees without a doubt as they are already eating dry / pellet food. Easy to buy the food Biota feeds ahead of time to have on hand in case they don't eat what you have.

I feed pellets 2 x a day. Blend of TDO (x-small, small, and medium), Hikari marine (A and S), and PE Mysis. I feed frozen during the evening. This is a blend of LRS (reef, nano), Mysis, Brine, Oyster Eggs, and Indo Pacific Sea Farms coral heaven.

Everything is placed in front of a powerhead or return pump to get spread out via the flow. This I found best as some fish are faster than others or in the case of Anthias their social hierarchy squabbles. Even the smallest of the group gets food.

My personal opinion, and experience, is if you want to keep fish that have high metabolism then don't go cheap on food or frequency. You are just asking for trouble in the long run. Especially when a social hierarchy is present. The onus is on the hobbyist to make sure everyone gets food. So be prepared to manually feed and have tricks ready to feed on one side while feeding the other or having foods it may prefer over the others (this is why I have TDO x-small).

JCM · Apr 15, 2023

Patrick Cox said:
Thanks for your reply. I am happy to feed frozen, however I need to ensure my fish will eat from an auto feeder when I go out town.

I've never struggled to get anthias eating pellets from an auto feeder. Including the dispars I kept for years. Have the feeder set up above a powerhead so it blows the food across the tank, they'll eventually start eating it. They aren't picky eaters.

zoomonster · Apr 15, 2023

I have had a variety over the years and some can be a pain, are bad shippers, mostly require frozen food and be finicky eaters. I would venture to say more Anthias have died in tanks than are currently alive in tanks. I have resplendent now and highly recommend. A little picky at first and would not eat flake or pellet but eat frozen food like excited pigs. For the tank as a whole currently feeding mix of mysis, brine, arctic pods, calanus, reef caviar, coral gumbo and occasional oyster feast. Fish also get some prime reef flakes and/or spirulina. IME at minimum they require 2x daily feeding and at least mysis and/or brine. I have a big pod population so hopefully they will eat that if I have to go on auto feeder pellets. The real story is they are plankton feeders in the wild which is why some will say they need constant feedings.