Lyretail anthias eating

In the sticks · Aug 9, 2022

I just put two lyretail anthias in my tank for the most part I auto feed pellets. For the easy way to go about keeping the fish happy. I thought the anthias would join with all the other fish. But they won’t eat pellets. Just frozen food. Not sure if I have the time to keep up with there needs? I just started a monthly subscription of pods from algae barn. Will this be enough to keep them happy? And will they learn to accept pellets over time?

Miami Reef · Aug 9, 2022

Same. In general my fish don’t eat pellets. I’ve been meaning to try TDO Chroma Boost by Reef Nutrition, but I’m just a bit skeptical if they’ll consume it since I’ve not had the best luck with pellets.

For now I’m feeding my fish (including my lyretail amthias) 2-4 times a day with LRS Fish Frenzy and live whiteworms that I culture myself.

Tuan’s Reef · Aug 9, 2022

I hear they can be picky eaters and need at least 3-4 feedings a day in small amounts. I always wanted one but fear i can't keep up with their feeding habits. If yours is taking frozen, i would stick with that and maybe mix in some pellets so they can get a taste for it. soak it with Selcon. what size is your tank?

LeftyReefer · Aug 9, 2022

When they get hungry enough, they should start to eat the pellets. mine did.

My anthias were a pain to get feeding on pellets too. Eventually I just stopped feeding all frozen and just fed the tank with nothing but pellets from the auto feeder and eventually they started eating them.

My fish only need to eat pellets when I leave town or go on vacation... that is when the pellet feeder gets activated. Other than that, the fish all get frozen.

Bucs20fan · Aug 9, 2022

LeftyReefer said:
When they get hungry enough, they should start to eat the pellets. mine did.

My anthias were a pain to get feeding on pellets too. Eventually I just stopped feeding all frozen and just fed the tank with nothing but pellets from the auto feeder and eventually they started eating them.

My fish only need to eat pellets when I leave town or go on vacation... that is when the pellet feeder gets activated. Other than that, the fish all get frozen.

+1 to this. Mine wouldnt touch pellets at first, the feeding response from my other fish when pellets were added made them go nuts on pellets. They eat a TON of pellets now. As they get more comfortable they are going to be those fish that fit as much food as they can in their mouths, only to spit it out bc they tried to eat too much too fast. Just give them time.

Miami Reef · Aug 9, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
+1 to this. Mine wouldnt touch pellets at first, the feeding response from my other fish when pellets were added made them go nuts on pellets. They eat a TON of pellets now. As they get more comfortable they are going to be those fish that fit as much food as they can in their mouths, only to spit it out bc they tried to eat too much too fast. Just give them time.

What pellets do you feed? My anthias are asking.

paradizecityz · Aug 9, 2022

I currently have 3 lyretail anthias. They get fed 3 times a day via pellets from auto feeder and 1 more time with frozen. Have had them for almost a year and all happy.

Bucs20fan · Aug 9, 2022

I feed TDO chroma boost small pellets, and New life spectrum garlic pellets and new life spectrum algae pellets.

ReefGeezer · Aug 9, 2022

I only feed my Lyretails once or twice per day. They only pick at pellets and ignore flake. I've had them for a long time and they don't seem to have suffered due to lack of food. The tank is fairly mature and may be providing some food also.

Tuan’s Reef · Aug 9, 2022

paradizecityz said:
I currently have 3 lyretail anthias. They get fed 3 times a day via pellets from auto feeder and 1 more time with frozen. Have had them for almost a year and all happy.

how's your nutrient level due to the extra feedings?

Bucs20fan · Aug 9, 2022

Everyone says they have to be fed 5 plus times a day, this is, in my experience, simply not true. Ive had mine for almost a year now, they are fat and happy and have beautiful color. I feed them the exact same as my other fish, once before work, once when I get home, and once before bed.

LeftyReefer · Aug 9, 2022

I agree with Bucs20fan.... the fears about feeding anthias appear to be completely over-hyped now that I have some. They like to eat and are very efficient at it, but they don't need to be fed all day every day like some people seem to think.

paradizecityz · Aug 9, 2022

Tuan’s Reef said:
how's your nutrient level due to the extra feedings?

Last time I checked was July 28th. My phosphate was at 0.07 and my nitrates were at 5.1

i cant think · Aug 9, 2022

Bucs20fan said:
Everyone says they have to be fed 5 plus times a day, this is, in my experience, simply not true. Ive had mine for almost a year now, they are fat and happy and have beautiful color. I feed them the exact same as my other fish, once before work, once when I get home, and once before bed.

The reason they need to be fed 3-4 times is to keep them fat and happy. 1 year is nothing compared to their whole life span of potentially 10 or so years.

Another thing I would never recommend is starving the fish. This can do so much more harm than good, if you can’t feed them pellets without starving them then I honestly don’t think that species is for you.
The fish comes out of the wild and put into a box, the first thing you should want to do is give the fish the best life you can. By doing this it means you have to be committed to everything, even just getting them onto pellets without starving them.

Bucs20fan · Aug 9, 2022

i cant think said:
The reason they need to be fed 3-4 times is to keep them fat and happy. 1 year is nothing compared to their whole life span of potentially 10 or so years.

Another thing I would never recommend is starving the fish. This can do so much more harm than good, if you can’t feed them pellets without starving them then I honestly don’t think that species is for you.
The fish comes out of the wild and put into a box, the first thing you should want to do is give the fish the best life you can. By doing this it means you have to be committed to everything, even just getting them onto pellets without starving them.

They are fed 3 times a day, and its a mix of frozen and pellets. I have seen no adverse affects of feeding 3 times daily verses more than that. I understand that 1 year is a beginning of their entire lifespan, but it is a large enough sample size to see if there are detrimental effects to what is being done. Just a difference of opinion.

Freddy0144 · Aug 9, 2022

Miami Reef said:
Same. In general my fish don’t eat pellets. I’ve been meaning to try TDO Chroma Boost by Reef Nutrition, but I’m just a bit skeptical if they’ll consume it since I’ve not had the best luck with pellets.

For now I’m feeding my fish (including my lyretail amthias) 2-4 times a day with LRS Fish Frenzy and live whiteworms that I culture myself.

My Anthias are eating the TDO twice per day with a frozen mix in between. I am shocked at color and vibrance of the fish from eating this. I noticed it after being away from the tank for several days and returning to see how much their color improved.

I feed the small size pellet.

In the sticks · Aug 9, 2022

i cant think said:
The reason they need to be fed 3-4 times is to keep them fat and happy. 1 year is nothing compared to their whole life span of potentially 10 or so years.

Another thing I would never recommend is starving the fish. This can do so much more harm than good, if you can’t feed them pellets without starving them then I honestly don’t think that species is for you.
The fish comes out of the wild and put into a box, the first thing you should want to do is give the fish the best life you can. By doing this it means you have to be committed to everything, even just getting them onto pellets without starving them.

Will keeping a large population of pods do the trick?

i cant think · Aug 9, 2022

In the sticks said:
Will keeping a large population of pods do the trick?

Anthias are not pod eating fish, they’re planktonic feeders.

Tcook · Aug 9, 2022

I've had my 5 lyrtail for the past 2 years eating TDO small pellets 3 times a day from a Plank auto feeder. As mentioned above the best way to get them to do this is place them in the display with other fish that go nuts over pellets. Now, my anthias are the first ones to the feeder. They also get frozen in the evening. Very small lyretails will go for calanus but not pods IME.