Fish Spotlight: Anthias

[davocean]

One of the key points in keeping anthias successfully beside feeding is temperature. Most of the times , if temperature is around 75 - 76 F , it really helps with anthias keeping infections at bay .
The other thing is low lighting and hence they fare pretty well in a NPS tank.

I myself have 3 groups coming tomorrow and as always pretty scared even though they are quarantined and all - Charlenae , Randalls and Loris . All deepwater and definitely wayy tougher but a little peaceful compared to the Ignitus, Bartletts and Bimacs .

Have loads of stashes of cyclops, cyclop zee , nutramar ova (thats magical for purple queens) , mini mysis , frozen and live brine shrimps, LRS and reef chilli at hand . But still am scared as I know they drop dead so easily especially the deepwater ones.
Wish I could keep them in a NPS tank but mine is acro dominant with temparature constant at 77.2 . Will see how it goes .

Regards,
Abhishek

I can't swear what temps or light they are normally collected in, but I've had a number of tanks and anthia groups in normal temp(78ish) and pretty strong light myself, as well as many other people I know that keep them, I have not witnessed or read about any issues in this area myself.

 

[ca1ore]

I got 3 females and a male a month ago. So far so good!

Was going to tell you that you can't count, then realized one of the females is a reflection lol. That is one finely polished front glass ..... Nice tank too!

 

[melypr1985]

I'll add that my three lyretail anthias in the display at work have been there for two years in very bright lighting. There were AI Sols on that tank for a while before being upgraded to the RapidLED Corona fixtures. I run them pretty high because the tank is so deep. They never seem effected by it. Now, the sunburst anthia does tend to stay in the shadows most of the day.... so that might show an affinity for lower light.

 

[locito277]

Just a few. I have about 30 varied anthias in my DT. Dispars, Bimacs and lyretails. Got two blotchys waiting for my 220 to be set up. Also waiting on a harem of pink squares and 4 bartletts. Can never have enough Anthias!

 

[ca1ore]

Pics ...

 

[davocean]

It's funny I avoided them for so long due to the multiple feeding issue, but once i got my first group w/ sound advice from a fellow reefer, that really it's not like 3x the normal feeding, but rather just fill the cup normally and disperse w/ a baster a small amount as you think about it through the course of the evening, so it actually brought me to view my tank much more, and of course the color keeps me there longer.
Now I can't be w/out them.

 

[ca1ore]

Pics above are a bit old, but camera broke and I've largely given up on photobucket. All anthias are still with me however, except the two princess in the background. They just couldn't compete for food in the big display.

 

[azbigjohn]

My Blotchy that is a great community fish that eats flakes, pellets and frozen.

That is a beautiful fish!

 

[PJS]

Great thread!
Love my Anthias! I have a male and female Bimac and a male and female Lyretail. The Lyretails are my favorite!
I used to have 5 Bartletts, 1 male, 1 in transition and 3 females. The one in transition ended up bullying the male until it was close to death. That one Bartlett made me have to take all but 1 piece of live rock out of the tank to catch all 5 and find them new homes, not a good day. It's too bad, I really liked them. I may get another one but it will be just one this time.

Here's my male Lyretail, love the colors!

 

[Flashy Fins]

Yay! Anthias are one of my favorite types of fish! Might have something to do with my favorite colors being orange, yellow, and pink.

I've kept a couple different types. Sunbursts are especially beautiful, and they have peaceful, inquisitive personalities. They hug the rocks and keep to themselves, unlike shoaling anthias types who need more swim space.

Sadly, I no longer have this sunburst. I used to be very inconsistent with my QT practices, and I let some diseased fish in who took out everything. I've since wised up! I currently have a small sunburst in QT, and I hope to have him for years to come.

I've also kept resplendent anthias, albeit not for long. I had to break down my tanks and move last summer, so fish were sold off. A friend bought my resplendents and added them to his carberryi harem. He says the carberryis seem more robust, but those likely started off healthier. I spotted white stringy poo with the resplendents when I had them, and though I medicated their food for a long time, the worms persisted. Once they went to my friend's tank, he was unable to do that, since there were corals present. (The tank I kept them in was fish only.) I lost one or two of them along the way, as did my friend, but a couple still live. If I'd been able to cure them of the worms, I'm sure they'd have done much better for both of us. They didn't seem to quarrel with one another at all. I still think they're one of the best anthias, peaceful and likely to stay small. Also, the females are just as beautiful as the males, perhaps more so, which certainly isn't true of most anthias.

There are so many types I'd love to try in the future! Bimacs, bicolors, tukas, evansi, carberryi, ignitus, sunsets - ok, let's make this simple, just gimme ALL THE ANTHIAS!!!

 

[40B Knasty]

I will never buy one again. The littlest bit of bullying from my Randall's Prawn Goby made it hide and it starved to death. So upsetting. Such a beautiful fish. Red Saddle Back aka Flash. RIP

 

[Abhishek]

I can't swear what temps or light they are normally collected in, but I've had a number of tanks and anthia groups in normal temp(78ish) and pretty strong light myself, as well as many other people I know that keep them, I have not witnessed or read about any issues in this area myself.

Am not saying they won't survive in higher temps or high light .But if you want to have more chances for success , lowering the temperature and light will help . Sadly I can't do both but in the past , deep waters responded very well to lower temps and low lit tanks .

Here we are talking about different ways to keep them and just trying to help someone have more success

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[TC3]

Anthias are so colorful and so vivid but so far, I haven't had any luck with my Lyretail Anthias (my wife said they look like $30 feeder goldfish ).

I ordered three females from an online store (one shipment). One was pretty healthy, one was semi-healthy, and the third was not at all (lost it in a week ). The two remaining ones were getting along just fine and eating well. I then went to a LFS and purchased another one to get the number back up to three but this new one bullied the semi-healthy one. Luckily, I had two QTs going and moved the mean one to the other QT. The semi-healthy one didn't make it . I guess I separated them too late. The mean one from the LFS was doing/eating well in the other QT for about 3+ weeks and for whatever reason, it died as well.

Now, I'm just going to stick with this remaining one I have. I fed them all mysis in the morning and at night. I tried feeding them pellets and flakes once a week but with no success. I read that Lyretail was supposed to be the easiest of them all.

 

[Flashy Fins]

I've also heard of lower light and temperature being helpful with certain deepwater anthias, such as ventralis. There are many reports of that improving chances of success, which are easily found by searching the web or that other forum. Public aquariums that keep deepwater anthias can be a good source of information on this, as well.

Hardier anthias, such as bartlett's, do great for most in normal reef conditions, so no one is wrong about that. If something is working well, stick with it.

 

[Flashy Fins]

I read that Lyretail was supposed to be the easiest of them all.

I believe that's true, but they're also more aggressive with one another than some of the more delicate species. A lot of people are successful with just one lyretail anthias in their tank. A friend of mine has been able to keep male colors on his without females present, but I think typically they revert to female coloring when kept alone.

I hope many more people share photos and stories of keeping anthias! So many of them have very scarce information out there. Even photos show wildly varying colors of the same type sometimes, so it's great to see real, live examples in home tanks.

 

[Bob E]

Another great article

 

[ca1ore]

Lyretails, along with Bartlett, are the easiest to get feeding and most of them will take pellets or flake foods. Trouble is they are also very aggressive and you may see your prized group gradually winnowed down to just the alpha. For this reason I don't keep them anymore.

The small anthias like randalls, resplendents, etc., will eat, but they are easily cowed by larger fish and may then starve.

Princess, tuka, ventralis, etc., are extremely demanding and require a calm, dim tank to have any chance of surviving. Never kept ventralis, but the other two did OK in my NPS tank for a while.

 

[melypr1985]

I hope many more people share photos and stories of keeping anthias! So many of them have very scarce information out there. Even photos show wildly varying colors of the same type sometimes, so it's great to see real, live examples in home tanks.

Me too! This has been great so far. I love the discussion and photos. Let's keep it going

 

[davocean]

Lyretails, along with Bartlett, are the easiest to get feeding and most of them will take pellets or flake foods. Trouble is they are also very aggressive and you may see your prized group gradually winnowed down to just the alpha. For this reason I don't keep them anymore.

The small anthias like randalls, resplendents, etc., will eat, but they are easily cowed by larger fish and may then starve.

Princess, tuka, ventralis, etc., are extremely demanding and require a calm, dim tank to have any chance of surviving. Never kept ventralis, but the other two did OK in my NPS tank for a while.

I agree w/ most everything here, and I have seen other experienced reefers say they had bad luck w/ lyretails, but I have seen many others not have problems at all w/ them, myself included, I've had several groupings now in the 2-4 year range w/out any losses, not sure what exactly the deal is there.

 

[ca1ore]

I agree w/ most everything here, and I have seen other experienced reefers say they had bad luck w/ lyretails, but I have seen many others not have problems at all w/ them, myself included, I've had several groupings now in the 2-4 year range w/out any losses, not sure what exactly the deal is there.

Well I did use the word 'may' for precisely that reason. I've not kept Lyres for many years, really back to when I simply wasn't feeding enough. Probably if you feed more heavily you can at least postpone the losses, maybe even prevent them. By the time I realized that more food was not a reef-tank-death-knell, I'd already decided that there were many other pseudoanthias species that I liked more, so I never revisited lyres.

BTW, nobody's mentioned the square spot. A bit twitchy (think the hippo tang of anthias), but stunning under 20K lights.