Lyretail Anthias Help!

[TheNowMovement]

Have any of you kept this fish in a reef tank with other tank mates? I just introduced a lyretail anthias into my system and its not doing very well... i wanna avoid mortality if at all possible... can someone give me the specifics on keeping this fish... the in and out of it? Ive been looking online for advice on keeping these guys and I cant find anything that ive done wrong... that being said it was in quarantine for a little less than two weeks, its a petco fish (which Im wondering if this has to be the issue as well) and my water parameters are tight! I do not however have many if any copepods for it to eat... what do you guys suggest i do?

She's just sitting in the corner, unresponsive and breathing heavily. its been 3 days since shes been introduced and has been in hiding ever since... today was the first day she ventured out in the open... i left for an hour and came back to see her in the corner all unresponsive... any clues as to whats going on? should i expect her to die? What are the ins and outs of caring for this anthias? Please, any help will be appreciated!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

What other fish do you have in there? Is it a male or a female? Picture? Albeit that might be hard with them in the corner.

 

[TheNowMovement]

Its a female... i have 1 scopas tang, 3 blue green chromis, 2 occelaris clowns, 1 diamond goby... i cant really get a pic at the moment!

 

[TJ's Reef]

What foods have you offered it and how frequently. Anthia's as species are kind of a 'high octane' breed and typically require multiple daily feedings. Mine are fed 3-5x daily with a mix of frozen Mysis, Brine Shrimp/Spyro, Blood Worm two of those feedings then 1-3x with NLS pellets and Hikari 'Seaweed Extreme'. It is not unusual to have new fish be very secretive for several days but these are shoaling fish and would/will feel very vulnerable without 'friends' of some sort.

Cheers, Todd

 

[TheNowMovement]

It was eating 3 times a day when it was in quarantine... now that its in the display tank it wont eat... she was pretty scared of the tang when she was first introduced... now she wont move from her color... she has lost a lot of her orange coloration on her sides... she aint lookin good...

In your guys' experience, is there a chance she'll bounce back? Is this just an inevibility of mortality? I just really hate things that die in my care... makes me feel totally inadequate as a reefer! I just wanna know what things you need to do to make these guys happy! If its another female, i might be able to pull that off... but really... i cant imagine whats going on!

 

[TheNowMovement]

Lyretail Anthias of mine needs help... Fast!

So i just introduced a female lyretail anthias into my display tank after having it with success in my quarantine tank for 2 weeks. It hid for the first 2 days and now its sitting in the corner, unresponsive and gasping for air...

My question... what is the care for these anthias... is there something that they need that i may not be giving it?

Also, it has tank mates; 1 scopas tang, 2 occelaris clowns, 3 blue green chromis, and 1 diamond goby...

My next question would be... when fish display this type of behavior, is it a sure sign of death?... or can they bounce back? I see fish at my LFS that look like this when they first get them in from shipping... dont know if they ever die though!

 

[Mike&Terry]

2 weeks is short for QT. Did you Prophylactically treat with copper or Prazipro?

I would remove the fish and do a 3 to 5 minute freshwater dip matching pH and temp. If the fish has a parasitic infection (which it sounds like) the dip will give the fish some temporary relief. If the fish has flukes, you will see them in the bottom of the dip container. Other possibilities would be amyloodinium or brooklynella.

Once the dip is done, I would move the fish back to QT. Some clear pics of the fish would help determine what you are dealing with and how to treat.

 

[fragman4]

My guess is it is getting abused when your not looking. Anthias are shy fish to begin with and should be put in as one of the first. Once established they are really cool to watch.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Having others of their own kind is a big help for anthias in feeling comfortable. And if there is aggression from another fish having more will diffuse the aggression.

Usually at an LFS when you see a fish laying down and having difficulty breathing it is from just having been shipped a great deal and is dealing with the stresses related to that. In your case being moved from qt to dt should not cause those kind of stresses.