How long have you had your Anthias?

[happyhourhero]

Trying to get a gauge on how long people can generally keep anthias. If over a year, please post species. Thank you!

 

[happyhourhero]

I have lost 2 lyretails in mere months from divers den, 2 Marcias over the span of a year, have a Marcia from that batch going on 2.5 years and just bought a pink square.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Ive had a male lyretail for 3 and a bit years, and 2 females for almost 2 years ansa pair of red saddle anthias for just over a year. Also have a geometric pygmy perchlet for i think 2 or 3 years

 

[mfinn]

I've had my 2 lyretail anthias and one ignitus for 3-1/2 - 4 years.
I lost 4 lyretails and 2 ignitus last winter from a ick outbreak, that were the same age.

 

[AiKkz]

Great thread, I'm about to pull the trigger on some lyretails. Anyone have any tips when putting through copper power?

 

[rkpetersen]

I put 8 Barlett's Anthias in a Reefer 450 about 2 years ago.
In retrospect, probably too many.
Now there is 1; they killed each other off one by one.
The one left is fat and healthy.
Nothing else in the tank bothered them, it was strictly conspecific aggression.
I've heard that Bartlett's are among the most aggressive anthias, and my experience would certainly confirm this.

 

[mattzang]

i've had a female lyretail for over a year now. i only have 1 so no anthias battle going on

since mine is solo she hasn't become male so she's had this little streamer for quite awhile now. kinda hope she doesn't transition, i like her coloring now

 

[pcon]

I had 1 Bartlett's for about 2 years who suddenly disappeared in a tank move.

 

[Bluespottedjawfish1]

I have x4 Bi-colored anthias, I believe they are the hardiest of them all. Best fish ever, get along well with my x3 lyretail (1 male, 1 changing and 1 female. Would like to try the fathead sunburst again but the are expensive and easily stressed.

 

[RobMcC]

I’ve had 5 bimacs for just over 2 years (bought 5, zero deaths). Had ventralis in the past for over 3 years and flavoguttatus for about 2 years (sold them when I moved, so they may still be alive). Apart from the bimacs, I’ve not had much luck with anthias in my current tank, which has been set up for about 3 years: I’ve lost Randall’s, flavoguttatus, ventralis, tuka, smithvanzii, watei and one of my kashigawae, all lasted less than 2 months (all were eating well, apart from the ventralis there was no sign of disease. They just disappeared...). For context, they are in a full reef and are fed approx 3 times per day.

 

[mattzang]

I have x4 Bi-colored anthias, I believe they are the hardiest of them all. Best fish ever, get along well with my x3 lyretail (1 male, 1 changing and 1 female. Would like to try the fathead sunburst again but the are expensive and easily stressed.

i really like the bicolors, surprised more people don't have them. are they aggressive like the other larger anthias? do they and the lyretails have any issues?

 

[Auto-pilot]

Anthias are my favorite! Ok I have one male Bi-color, he can be a huge pain sometimes as he bully's everyone but after some time and a couple of isolations to the QT he has gotten a lot better. I have a Bartlet, indigenous, lyretail, sunburst, sunset and carenbery that are all femails in my tank. They get along but the carenbery got attacked by the bi-color when I first got him and now has a permenentaly damaged fin. Right now I'm planning a larger tank for when I finish the basement and my QT has Two purple queen anthias that I'm experimenting with. So far they eat frozen cyclops and plankton as well as live brine shrimp.
They are all about a year old. Had the purple for 3 weeks now

 

[Viking_Reefing]

I have two lyretails, one male and one female going on year three.
I hade two females but the smaller female got bashed to death by the larger one.
I feed once per day and they seem to be fat and happy.

 

[Fishnut]

I had a trio of Bartlett’s about three years ago. Within three months I was down to one very aggressive male. Now it chases wrasses and chromis all day long. Can’t wait for it to try carpet surfing.

 

[Auto-pilot]

When it comes to anthas you need a LOT of then to disperse aggression

 

[rkpetersen]

I had a trio of Bartlett’s about three years ago. Within three months I was down to one very aggressive male. Now it chases wrasses and chromis all day long. Can’t wait for it to try carpet surfing.

Please see my previous post. If I ever keep a group of anthias again, it won't be Bartlett's. They're just nasty.

 

[jx fang]

Sunburst and blotched anthias, both 3 years.
Just with normal 2 feedings a day, very healthy fishes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have ignitus, bartlett and several lyretail

 

[truetricia]

Anthias are my favorite! Ok I have one male Bi-color, he can be a huge pain sometimes as he bully's everyone but after some time and a couple of isolations to the QT he has gotten a lot better. I have a Bartlet, indigenous, lyretail, sunburst, sunset and carenbery that are all femails in my tank. They get along but the carenbery got attacked by the bi-color when I first got him and now has a permenentaly damaged fin. Right now I'm planning a larger tank for when I finish the basement and my QT has Two purple queen anthias that I'm experimenting with. So far they eat frozen cyclops and plankton as well as live brine shrimp.
They are all about a year old. Had the purple for 3 weeks now

What's your experience with the sunburst? I'm considering getting a couple of them and maybe some Queens for my tank!

 

[Auto-pilot]

What's your experience with the sunburst? I'm considering getting a couple of them and maybe some Queens for my tank!

Sunburst Anthias are EXTREAMLY tempermental and die SUPER easy. They need a lot more oxygen and take more time to acclimate to bright light than other anthias as they are usually collected in deeper Water than most Anthias. They are wimps compared to most fish and are hard to order in as they don't ship well. They do accept frozen food more readily than some of the more difficult Anthias. My advice to you is if you order one, when it comes in watch it closely. If it looks super stressed make sure you get an airstone in its container and get some oxygen to it. If Anthias get ick or velvet it can be hard to get them healthy again. If you see any sighn of disease deal with it fast or it might just die from not being able to breath due to damage to its gills. Purple queen anthias are an investment. They are A lot of work as they are really hard to get to eat. They are super picky and eat small food and will not accept large peices of food. You start by feeding them brine shrimp and go from there. I can't give you too much info as I'm still learning. These fish can take months to train to eat normal reef food. For me I have them eating cyclops and reef plankton. One important detail is anthias like flow and fast moving food. I have a bare bottom tank with no filter for my QT because I put food in it and it doesn't settle. It just floats around and round until the fish decide to eat it. This help them snack for hours after I feed them. Hope this helps. Let me know if you want any advice