Pink Squareback anthia "sharking"

haleyf1024 · Jun 18, 2015

Hey everyone! So I have a huge PSA (about 6-6.5") in QT. He has finally opened up and isn't shy anymore, eats like a champ. Only thing about him that I find strange is that he does what I call to be "sharking". He goes to the water's surface and sticks his face out, spit water, come back under. More often however, he just swims like he is a shark and swims with his top fin and the tip of his body out if the water. Especially when looking for food. Anyone else experience anything like this? Is he just weird? I'm not worried about illness or anything

4FordFamily · Jun 18, 2015

I have not kept any anthias for more than a couple weeks (although I have only tried a small handful of times), but that sounds strange and is often indicative of a fish that wants/needs more oxygen. Do you have a skimmer running? (increases O2 significantly), do you have lots of water movement?

Try aiming a powerhead towards the surface so that it agitates it. This may help if this is why he is exhibiting this behavior.

I imagine it could be in response to a disease, but I am certainly no expert, especially with Anthias.

haleyf1024 · Jun 18, 2015

He is in QT, the water is pretty oxygenated. He's only done the spitting thing once or twice, but loves doing the fin out of water thing. He has done it since I got him, and his only issue is ich.

4FordFamily · Jun 18, 2015

haleyf1024 said:
He is in QT, the water is pretty oxygenated. He's only done the spitting thing once or twice, but loves doing the fin out of water thing. He has done it since I got him, and his only issue is ich.

Ich could actually be why he is seeking more oxygen. Ich attacks their gills, thus making it increasingly more difficult to breathe. The water can be 100% oxygenated, but his gills may be damaged such that he can not benefit from any of it.

Ich can do that very quickly, I have seen it happen many times.

Is the ich being treated?

eatbreakfast · Jun 18, 2015

I wouldn't worry about the behavior, I have seen sticking the head out of water and spittimg many times and it is always for 1 of 2 reasons.
Reason 1: a flight response, usually occurs the first few days/weeks until it gets used to the surroundings.
Reason 2: excited about the possibility of getting food, almost an attempt to get your attention. Usually once the fish figures out you = food.

The swimming with it's fin at the surface has more to do with the lev wel of the tank he is expecting the most food.

ca1ore · Jun 18, 2015

I've had plenty of fish do that, and the reasons are both varied and unclear. Sometimes the fish dies (most recently for me was a pyramid butterfly, but he didn't eat either), but often they are just fine. Larger anthias can also exhibit weird behavior in the small confines of a QT. I had a male bimac that constantly attacked his reflection to the point that he ended up with a large welt on his head. Once in the display, he was fine. I would suggest that some kind of cover for the QT would be warranted if he spends a lot of his time at the surface.

haleyf1024 · Jun 18, 2015

ca1ore said:
I've had plenty of fish do that, and the reasons are both varied and unclear. Sometimes the fish dies (most recently for me was a pyramid butterfly, but he didn't eat either), but often they are just fine. Larger anthias can also exhibit weird behavior in the small confines of a QT. I had a male bimac that constantly attacked his reflection to the point that he ended up with a large welt on his head. Once in the display, he was fine. I would suggest that some kind of cover for the QT would be warranted if he spends a lot of his time at the surface.

He doesn't attack anything, the other small fish actually push him around sometimes. The tank does have a full lid, so he can't go carpet surfing. He eats well so I'm not really worried that he will take a turn for the worst

60squared · Jun 20, 2015

Mines a d*** harasses anything that will take it

haleyf1024 · Jun 20, 2015

60squared said:
Mines a d*** harasses anything that will take it

Mine is the complete opposite. How big is yours? I read that the max size is usually 4-5" but mine is pushing 6.5".

60squared · Jun 20, 2015

Mine wasn't at first, it's about 4 inches and I'm also pretty sure it's female. I have heard four inches blue zoo aquatic has them listed to get 8 inches http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?cid=10&pid=319&did=1

haleyf1024 · Jun 20, 2015

Liveaquaria says 4. Guess I just got a monster, hopefully he doesn't get the 8 inches lol. He's already bigger than my tangs and marine betta

60squared · Jun 20, 2015

Let's see some pictures!

haleyf1024 · Jun 20, 2015

60squared said:
Let's see some pictures!

You mean comparing them? He's in QT now so I can't compare him to the purple tang or betta, but tomorrow I will get a pic of him compared to a kole, coral beauty, Bengaii and cleaner wrasse. I will try to get him sharking to!