Shoal of anthias

[Haydn]

The Ignitus males tend to keep separate from each other except at feeding time or at night. The female ignitus swim all over the tank joining an leaving a males group. The Evansii all hang around together as a group. The resplendents are all over the tank although the male tries to group them. I haven't seen any interspecies fighting although the male lyretail thinks he the boss (no chance!). The singleton Diamondhead usually hangs around with the Evansii.

It is difficult to suggest numbers in you tank because these are active fish which need constant food and I have no idea how efficient your filters are. All I can suggest is you add them slowly and when your NO3/PO4 levels are hard to control you have about reached the limit in the tank.

 

[Bruce17]

I am confused.. My choice would be dispar or ignitus. They are pretty much the same and sometimes even hard to tell apart.

As for how many I guess it depends on what and how many fish you have already. I think I had 5 or 6 in my 6 foot tank and eventually added one lyretail, one Bartletts and a sunburst. The lyretail and bartlett stayed with the rest of the anthias and the sunburst did its own thing. I am sure in that size you could go allot more.

I have none right now since I moved but plan I dropping a bunch in my new set up..

I tend to stay away from some of the harder anthias. The one thing I recommend with this fish since they are plankton feeders is several meals a day of very small food. Some of the harder ones require allot of feedings a day.

Beware of anthias coming in right now especially lyretails they have been coming in with Uronema so quarantine them..

Dispar and ignitus can be a challenge at first but if you get them past the first few weeks and eating they are pretty hardy.

Ok thank you very much. I missed a sentence in my question. I was wondering which one of the two would you choose to go with Randall’s? I really like the look of them. I plan on having an automatic feeder feed them 2-3 times during the day and then hand feed them in the morning and evening. I also want to have a healthy supply of copepods and ampipods as well

 

[Haydn]

They do spawn fairly regularly just before lights out

 

[Bruce17]

The Ignitus males tend to keep separate from each other except at feeding time or at night. The female ignitus swim all over the tank joining an leaving a males group. The Evansii all hang around together as a group. The resplendents are all over the tank although the male tries to group them. I haven't seen any interspecies fighting although the male lyretail thinks he the boss (no chance!). The singleton Diamondhead usually hangs around with the Evansii.

It is difficult to suggest numbers in you tank because these are active fish which need constant food and I have no idea how efficient your filters are. All I can suggest is you add them slowly and when your NO3/PO4 levels are hard to control you have about reached the limit in the tank.

Ok thank you very much. I’m trying to figure out all the different kind of fish that I want for my tank. From there, I will make sure that I have all the filtration set up appropriately for them and then start cycling the tank. It’s going to be a fish only tank with a fake wall of live rock and coral. I also want to select the order ahead of time of adding the fish. I want to also take my time adding them ( this will be hard lol ) All fish will go through qt phase in a 55 gallon tank. For filtration, I already have Bashsea 48 signature series sump, skimmer good for 300 gallons, dual GFO/ Carbon reactor, UV sterilizer, Klir 4, and bio media blocks. Any other suggestions?

 

[atoll]

Check out Carberryi anthias, mine fed within hours of being put in the tank.

 

[Bruce17]

Check out Carberryi anthias, mine fed within hours of being put in the tank.

They do have beautiful colours

 

[Haydn]

Certain species of anthias do not take QT, especially aggressive QT procedures, well.

 

[Bruce17]

Certain species of anthias do not take QT, especially aggressive QT procedures, well.

Why’s that? Because they don’t have as many hiding places or water movement?

 

[Bruce17]

How do you find the scribbled anthias? I googled them and they look amazing. Where they hard to get to eat?

I have a mixed group (mainly Ignitus but also Evansii, Resplendent, Scribbled, Lyretailed, Diamond head) I do feed heavily (hence the Aips) but except for the odd 'handbags' the group get along well and it's easy adding to the group as the new ones simply join in.

 

[Jase4224]

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I hope you continued success it’s them. Will you add more or is three your limit?

I’m planning to stock my tank pretty heavily so three is plenty if I had a larger tank I would have more.

 

[Joe's 220 Reef]

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.

I have the same thing. I have a 220 and had 4, one turned into a male and was killed. My 2 also turned male so now all 3 are males and fight constantly. I would go with lyretail as they are pretty, can hold their own, and won’t go all male on you

 

[1stNoel]

I have several schools of fish in my 300g display tank:

• 13 lyretails
• 5 bartlett's
• 5 yellow tangs

It adds cool splashes of orange, yellow, and purple movement in the tank.

I have 2 auto-feeders that feed a small amount of pellets every hour. Keeps everyone happy and well-fed.

 

[Bruce17]

I have the same thing. I have a 220 and had 4, one turned into a male and was killed. My 2 also turned male so now all 3 are males and fight constantly. I would go with lyretail as they are pretty, can hold their own, and won’t go all male on you

Thank you very much for your story with them as well

 

[Bruce17]

I have several schools of fish in my 300g display tank:

• 13 lyretails
• 5 bartlett's
• 5 yellow tangs

It adds cool splashes of orange, yellow, and purple movement in the tank.

I have 2 auto-feeders that feed a small amount of pellets every hour. Keeps everyone happy and well-fed.

That must be amazing colours to watch move around the tank

 

[LIreefguy]

I bought 6 bartletts 7 lyertail and 4 bimac anthias
5 out of the 6 barts turned male and after 18 months the live female died
My 7 lyertails are still alive although one female turned into a male
And 3 bimac are alive
One went carpet surfing

I do feed heavily 2 times a day and my tank is 7 feet and 265 gallons
All my anthias do chase each other. And my big male bimac is the king is the anthias
I would recommend feeding 2 times a day
If you leave early for work feed when you get home and feed just before bed
Keep your lights on a later schedule to accommodate this

 

[Bruce17]

I bought 6 bartletts 7 lyertail and 4 bimac anthias
5 out of the 6 barts turned male and after 18 months the live female died
My 7 lyertails are still alive although one female turned into a male
And 3 bimac are alive
One went carpet surfing

I do feed heavily 2 times a day and my tank is 7 feet and 265 gallons
All my anthias do chase each other. And my big male bimac is the king is the anthias
I would recommend feeding 2 times a day
If you leave early for work feed when you get home and feed just before bed
Keep your lights on a later schedule to accommodate this

Would you ever get Bart’s again?

 

[Terri Caton]

I got one Carberryi to see if I could keep it alive. That fish eats more than all the others in the tank! It’s a super funny fish. At least mine is. Best friends with the skunk shrimp. Just hangs out upside down with it for long periods of time. So pretty! I want to get more but I like this one so much and it’s happy so...maybe not.

I would definitely recommend adding them all at the same time. And try to get them on the younger side so they have a while before getting to sexual maturity.

 

[Terri Caton]

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?

I feed my Carberryi 2 x daily. 3 x if I’m home. It’s a little piggy and does just fine either way.

 

[JMM744]

My experience with dispar is ....hard to get eating and get them in a display ASAP. Humblefish sent me 3 a while back that we’re floundering in qt. They hit the display with a natural setting and two fish I had qt’ed and they took right off. Calanus and baby brine shrimp really helped get these fish eating till frozen brine and mysis were accepted. Have 5 in my 70 reef and they hang tight to each other. Can be a bit skittish though. Have seen no aggressiveness among them .

 

[Haydn]

Why’s that? Because they don’t have as many hiding places or water movement?

I am not saying all species have problems, it is mainly the smaller types- Dispar, Evansii, dispar, etc. I think it's more to do with intolerance of crowding and treatment in a QT system. They don't tolerate lots of interference (moving tanks, water changes, hand constantly in the tank), I think they are sensitive to and don't handle the chemicals we use in QT well.

How do you find the scribbled anthias? I googled them and they look amazing. Where they hard to get to eat?

Like I said these are a resent addition but they were out feeding within a couple of hours of being put in the tank. After a few days of watching the other anthias they realised the micro pellets were food and now eat it well. I don't yet have any signs of a male forming but there isn't any intergroup sparing either.