Shoal of anthias

[Bruce17]

Hello
I was wondering what people would suggest for easy and small anthias? I want to have a nice size schoal in my 205 gallon tank to go with the angels and tangs that I want to add eventually. I definitely like the Randall anthias and would like a bunch of them. Just wondering what other kind you would suggest? My goal is to have a bunch of small anthias a couple other small fish and some angels and tangs to make it look more like you see in a reef. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Singspot]

I am curious to see expert recommendation. Additionally wonder if folks have suggestion about "Hardy Anthias" and "once a day fed Anthias" ... I feed my tank heavy but once a day - not able to feed in morning .. as I leave early in morning .. I have heard Anthias has to be fed 3 or 4 times a day ... unless you have enough pods/ copepods in tank to support their feeding needs ..

Thoughts on bridge colored, hardy anthias that will not need to be fed more than 1 times a day?

 

[C. Eymann]

Ignitus anthias are one of my favorites, along with princess anthias.
But they can be a bit trickier to get to eat in captivity then Bartlett's and squammys though, which are both great choices as well, disbars are usually pretty easy too from my experience.
Keep odd numbers and feed at least 3x a day.

 

[Marco S]

Personally I like the Bartlett's Anthia. They aren't the fanciest, but they do have some striking color with an almost pink body highlighted by yellow and a purplish stripe on their head. The bottom fins are long and the best part is their pointed nose. They look like a Dr Seuss character. I have five in QT currently and they eat like pigs four times a day. They are separated into two different tanks, but they do stick together most of the time. Hopefully they all get along when I release them into my DT.

 

[blueface]

Had a school of 6 Bartlett’s in my 220 they all eventually turned male & killed each other off. The last one ended up hiding & stopped eating & withered away.

 

[naterealbig]

I've always had great luck with squamipinnis - they generally eat a variety food readily, and easily keep on mass. This comes in handy with a lower feeding frequency. Mine did well with 1-2 heavy feedings a day. The drawback is that they are one of the larger Anthias species.

 

[vetteguy53081]

lyretail the easiest

 

[kapnkush608]

Lyretail (squampinnis) Anthias are what I went with. It's been interesting watching them come together. The start working rank out amongst the females and the male tries to get them all to stay together in a shoal like a teacher chasing a bunch of kindergartners around.

 

[Bbfishb81]

Lyretail seem to be the hardiest and easier to get eating.

 

[C. Eymann]

Will agree that Squammys/lyrerails are the most resilient of the anthias from my experience, also the first species that stops spitting out its food offerings pretty quickly once in captivity.
They are beautiful as well, but the one caveat with them is they have quite a bit more intergroup agression/chasing than I have seen with other species.

 

[Bruce17]

lyretail the easiest

How many do you have in your tank? What size is your tank? Did you get all females and let the dominant one become a male?

 

[Bruce17]

Ignitus anthias are one of my favorites, along with princess anthias.
But they can be a bit trickier to get to eat in captivity then Bartlett's and squammys though, which are both great choices as well, disbars are usually pretty easy too from my experience.
Keep odd numbers and feed at least 3x a day.

Have you ever put schoals of different kind of anthias in one tank? How many would you recommend for a 205 gallon tank?

 

[Qasimja]

Lyretail (squampinnis) Anthias are what I went with. It's been interesting watching them come together. The start working rank out amongst the females and the male tries to get them all to stay together in a shoal like a teacher chasing a bunch of kindergartners around.

i feel bad for the male having to deal with all those wives must be tiresome or maybe its the other way around and i should feel bad for the females having to deal with him and his bossy attitude lol

 

[C. Eymann]

Have you ever put schoals of different kind of anthias in one tank? How many would you recommend for a 205 gallon tank?

I have mixed Bartletts with Squammys/lyrerails with no issues and they seem to act as a group, in this larger clients aquarium (700gal) I have had success 15 fairly long term if I remember correctly.

In a 205 gallon, I'd say go for any odd number between 5-11 if you have good nutrient control and depending on the other fish load of course

Biggest thing when adding anthias to a tank is the importance of QT, Uronema is a disease that
psuedoanthias are very common vectors of and it can be very virulent, so proper QT is key to establishing a nice group of healthy anthias in your display tank.

 

[Seanislav]

I've had Bartlett's, dispars, square spot, and tried Randall's. I had one dispar out of 5 survive, and it turned male and is giving the new male lyretail and three female stout Anthias a run for their money. In my experience, the square spots were successful and easiest to get eating...but they're big, and not cheap.

 

[vetteguy53081]

How many do you have in your tank? What size is your tank? Did you get all females and let the dominant one become a male?

I have eight and two males, rest female. Tank is 660g

 

[ca1ore]

None of the pseudoanthias are easy to keep, certainly if your aspiration is for a stable, persistent shoal. Some are easier than others. Those would include lyretails and Bartlett, though neither would qualify as smaller species. Lyretails are slightly easier to keep as a group as bartletts tend to develop multiple males and spend all their time beating the crap out of each other. I agree that ignatus or dispar are the easiest of the smaller anthias, and probably the best choice. Randalls/resplendent are also on the easier end, though they don’t do well with larger, aggressive tankmates. I’ve been able to keep princess in a species tank, but not in a community tank where they aren’t aggressive enough and just starve. Purple queens (Tuka, pasculus, etc.) are essentially impossible and should be avoided.

 

[Bruce17]

I have eight and two males, rest female. Tank is 660g

Would you ever add more? Does that amount make for a nice schoal in the size of your tank?

 

[Bruce17]

None of the pseudoanthias are easy to keep, certainly if your aspiration is for a stable, persistent shoal. Some are easier than others. Those would include lyretails and Bartlett, though neither would qualify as smaller species. Lyretails are slightly easier to keep as a group as bartletts tend to develop multiple males and spend all their time beating the crap out of each other. I agree that ignatus or dispar are the easiest of the smaller anthias, and probably the best choice. Randalls/resplendent are also on the easier end, though they don’t do well with larger, aggressive tankmates. I’ve been able to keep princess in a species tank, but not in a community tank where they aren’t aggressive enough and just starve. Purple queens (Tuka, pasculus, etc.) are essentially impossible and should be avoided.

Thank you very much for your response. That’s some very valuable info. Would you ever put 7-10 Randall’s with 7-10 of another easy/small anthias like the Ignatus or Dispar in a 205 tank? Would they be ok with angels and tangs?

 

[Butuz]

Bad experience here with Bartletts. dominant one killed the rest over a course of 10 mos, one at a time, then started to massively harass the rest of the fish. Had to catch him and take out of the tank.