Squarespot Anthias

[njreejer]

So I saw this adult Squarespot Anthias at my LFS & loved its pink color. Its been there for a few weeks & I told myself I need it in my tank. I think it’s waiting for me to buy it. I’ve done some research & came to the conclusion that anthias need multiple small feedings throughout the day. I have an autofeeder but I’m not sure if the Anthias will be able to get much food because my currently stocked fish which are:

Blue Tang
Yellow Tang
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Royal Gramma
Flame Angelfish
Fiji Bicolor Foxface
2 Clownfish

Would they be able to compete for autofeeder pellets with my current stock? I will be feeding frozen whenever I’m home but I’m away pretty occasionally for a few days. Also, I remember someone saying anthias are meant to be in groups & won’t live happily alone. Is this true? If so, would one more anthias fix that or would I need a larger school?

 

[Haydn]

Well done for doing research before committing to a fish.

Generally I would agree with your comments regarding the feeding, etc. However the Squarespot is, for an anthias, large (over 7") and is one of the more aggressive species which IMO is better kept as a singleton unless you have a very large tank. It should be able to compete with your other fish (with the usual warning about potential tang aggression). I don't know if you feed frozen food but it will need some in the early days until it gets used to the dry offering from the auto feeder.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Pink square like other anthias don’t require constant feeding as I have a mix of 8 and working 3rd shift, they get a morning and evening feeding of frozen and minimum feeding of pellets from my auto feeder 3x per day

 

[Qasimja]

i have 2 square anthias and i feed them twice a day had them for 6 months and they are fat and happy they eat flake and frozen and pellets arent aggressive with any fish really they do chase each other once or twice a day thou lol

 

[njreejer]

Regarding new additions, my tangs don’t tend to bother them & if they do it’s only for like 1-2 days before they calm down. Occasionally there’s a litttttle bit of aggression here & there but barely. Good to know It doesn’t need a group, that’s what I was hoping for. Also, whenever I’m home, I feed my fish frozen, pellets, & freeze dried cubes all mixed together in a cup with some tank water, selcon, garlic & a dropper. I have a good variety of food so for each feeding of the day they’re enjoying something different. Also, whenever I’m not home I have my autofeeder running to supplement them meanwhile. Might end up picking up another one when I go to purchase the anthias so I can place them on opposite ends of the tank & more evenly distribute the food to all the fish. Overall, I’m thinking the Squarespot should do perfectly fine in my tank from the feedback I’ve received from you guys

 

[Whisperer]

I would not buy a large square anthias again. I had 3 that were 3.5 - 4 inches long. I guess they were in their golden years, lost them one after another within a span of two months. They ate voraciously during feedings. Then one day one will stay hiding for days and not eat. Then, the clean up crew goes to work. Beatiful fish, no problem getting them to eat. Next time I will get smaller ones.

 

[njreejer]

I would not buy a large square anthias again. I had 3 that were 3.5 - 4 inches long. I guess they were in their golden years, lost them one after another within a span of two months. They ate voraciously during feedings. Then one day one will stay hiding for days and not eat. Then, the clean up crew goes to work. Beatiful fish, no problem getting them to eat. Next time I will get smaller ones.

That’s not good to hear, thanks for informing me though. I’m kinda put off from buying this fish now from all the mixed things I’ve read from people online & how they seemingly die out of nowhere. Definitely do not want that. I might consider a smaller one I guess but I don’t know, I’ll look into it some more. The pink color was just so nice & that’s the only color I’m missing fish wise in my tank besides green which I’m adding later on with a mandarin. Just noticed I forgot to include flame hawk in my stocklist

 

[scchase]

Pink square like other anthias don’t require constant feeding as I have a mix of 8 and working 3rd shift, they get a morning and evening feeding of frozen and minimum feeding of pellets from my auto feeder 3x per day

How does the group of 8 work for you as far as aggression? I plan on including a group in my 1100g and am trying to nail down how many to get.

 

[vetteguy53081]

How does the group of 8 work for you as far as aggression? I plan on including a group in my 1100g and am trying to nail down how many to get.

Despite tank size, expect some chasing and squabbling. Just seems to be their nature