Should I buy Purple Queen Anthias?

[Scott Christenson]

I've read mixed reviews on this fish. Is anyone successfully raising them and if so what tricks can you share with me please?

 

[DeniseAndy]

I tried once. Got her to live for about 2 months. Not a good fish to try unless maybe you are running an nps system where food is a constant. Very tough fish to acclimate to aquariums.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Impulse buy for me, tried 4 at once. The last one live about 2 months. I tried every frozen, flake, pellets, live brine. The only thing it would eat was those tiny copepods for me but wasnt enough. Pretty fish in groups that should stay on the ocean

 

[Haydn]

Like everyone else, tried once- never again. Stunning fish but not one for aquariums.

 

[MIKE NY]

I actually,and a few of my club members, had pretty good luck with them, but definitely not for the casual hobbies because of their husbandry. Firstly like many of the less aggressive Anthias seems do better in shoals. I had about 6-7 of them with the largest turning male. The trick is to get them eating which I was able to do with NutraMar Ova, for those who remember, with simular foods like Roe etc...and they must be fed multiple times a day because they only consume small food items and not that aggressively either so not too many competitors with them. I eventually was able to wean them onto .5 m pellets and small flakes by mixing it in their regular feedings of frozen so an autofeeder could be utilize. The consensus was that their lifespan was only 3-4 years.

 

[ca1ore]

A definite NO. Reviews (by people who actually know what they are talking about) aren’t really mixed .... they almost all end badly. Almost impossible to feed and a very timid fish.

 

[MIKE NY]

A very difficult, challenging species to keep, but not impossible and obviously I must know what I’m talking about if I kept mine alive for four years.....also I know Brett(Aquaph8) here on this board had success with them as well. We conversed about keeping them aproximately 8 years ago when we had them.

 

[ca1ore]

Well, almost impossible is not the same as impossible LOL. Regardless, I’d suspect that for every one person that keeps them for more than a couple of months, 99 fail ....

 

[MIKE NY]

Totally agree...being in this hobby for thirty +years the challenge of keeping the more difficult species of fish and coral is what keeps my interest. I just wished the availability of information available today would have saved me a lot $ of trial and error back then....LOL

 

[stayfawntop]

It was hard to get mine to eat. I started with brine shrimp, mixed in frozen, and eventually moved to pellets. I’m lazy and only feed once a day now, but it’s still looking good. I’ve had mine for 4 years now.

 

[zzl630]

Hatch live baby brine shrimp with multiple containers.
Multiple feed per day first few months.
Broadcast feed with high flow.
Introducing frozen with live brine shrimp.
Then introduce pellets.
after a few months their metabolism will reduce so don’t need feed multiple times anymore.
When first introduce to the tank they need hide places and no other aggressive fish. Generally hard to keep but possible.

 

[J1a]

My only PQ left. I bought a group of 4, only one managed to survive for more than a year. It is fed pellet only together with the rest of the fishes. In a way, it is disadvantaged because it has tiny mouth, thus don't eat as fast as other fishes.

Previously, I did managed to raise a PQ from juvenile to male. However, the ensuing aggression ends with it being killed by a squamippinis male. The male purple queen is aggressive as well. Always harassing other anthias.

Imo, if they eat enough of good food, and are able to digest properly, they are quite ok.

 

[BiggestE22]

Live brine to dead brine to calanus