Whats your experience with Anthias?

adestafi · Dec 19, 2015

I have ignitus Anthias. The first 3 didn't fair so well. They wouldn't eat they were shy and died probably due to starvation. This group is from @Incredible Corals and they are super active, eat everything I put In The tank and sometimes act they are clownfish and hang out with them. Btw- I started with all females and one changed overnight.... It was pretty crazy to wake up one morning and see a dude with these new colors in the tank

Brian Kim · Dec 19, 2015

I had used to have 3 princess anthias years ago, they are pretty shy and hard to acclimate since they are from deep water, I believe below 200+ feet. Took them several days to get used to my system and lost one due to starvation.

adestafi · Dec 19, 2015

loumaggs said:
What type?
Are they finicky feeders?
How often do you feed?
How many do you keep?

just an FYI-- anthias need larger tanks with great flow and filtration.

BkReefBaby · Dec 19, 2015

I have a borb that I bought from 3 to 5 aquatics he has so much personality and he eats everything I throw in the tank I feed him at least 3 times a day

VolcanicWinter · Dec 19, 2015

We have a Borbonius. He was a model citizen when he was younger, but now that he is the largest fish in the tank, he has become rather aggressive. We're pretty sure we're going to get rid of him. He eats pretty much everything, and has since day one. Absolutely beautiful fish, and tons of personality.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 19, 2015

@VolcanicWinter , that's what happened to mine. He kept his woman in line from the beginning, but when he got big, he tried to keep everyone else in line too. He was trying to intimidate one of the mean lions I had.... the lion was having none of it. The anthias never messed with him again. If your looking to rehome, there are a lot of people who would pay for an established borb, including myself. Don't bring him to the LFS.

NeuroticAquatics · Dec 19, 2015

I rescued a Borbonius about a year ago. It did great and its find were growing back and I found it dead a couple weeks ago. No idea what happened as it looked fine earlier. Great personality and got along well with my other fish. I'm considering a Sunburst, as I've never had one.

VolcanicWinter · Dec 20, 2015

@Lionfish Lair: Thanks for the info. I'll probably trap him and pass him on to someone with a more aggressive tank after the holidays. Funny you say that about not bringing it to the local fish store. The owner of the local fish store said the same thing. He said he'd buy it, but if I wanted to sell it, I'd do much better selling directly to another tank owner.

Anybody have any advice on trapping/ transporting a Borbonius? I've never trapped a fish before.

loumaggs · Dec 22, 2015

VolcanicWinter said:
@Lionfish Lair: Thanks for the info. I'll probably trap him and pass him on to someone with a more aggressive tank after the holidays. Funny you say that about not bringing it to the local fish store. The owner of the local fish store said the same thing. He said he'd buy it, but if I wanted to sell it, I'd do much better selling directly to another tank owner.

Anybody have any advice on trapping/ transporting a Borbonius? I've never trapped a fish before.

I've always found a fish trap to be the best way catch fish, they arent cheap but mine has come in handy so many times

abinder · Dec 22, 2015

loumaggs said:
I've always found a fish trap to be the best way catch fish, they arent cheap but mine has come in handy so many times

What fish trap have you had success with?
(I don't need one at the present, but it would be nice to know in case I need one some day.)

thanks.

Allen

maroun.c · Dec 22, 2015

Got 8 lyretails. All came in as females and one switched male in few weeks only. I find that the males that switch in tank are less colorful than wild caught males even with quality feeding. They might be the easiest anthias to keep but I noticed a clear improvement in colors when I shifted to quality foods soaked in vitamins a 2-3 feelings per day in average.
It takes some luck to maintain a single male and his Females and the mating behavior every night at lights out is a joy to watch .

Lionfish Lair · Dec 22, 2015

@abinder The way I have done it in the past is bullet proof..... remove everything from the tank while cursing up a storm.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 22, 2015

My girl had a eyebrow raising feature.... see grew an elongated first dorsal spine in the absence of other anthias.

She had a "female" spine for the first 5 years and then out of the blue, grew an elongated one. She hadn't seen another anthias for years, at this point.

So, this is what she looked like 3-4 years after seeing her last anthias.

In year five, she invested in a new accoutrement

knukles55 · Dec 22, 2015

whats my experience with anthias idk I lost mine this morning

Lionfish Lair · Dec 22, 2015

:-( Sorry.

knukles55 · Dec 22, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
:-( Sorry.

I honestly don't know if its dead I just went to feed my tank and noticed it wasn't out so im hoping for my night time feeding he was just hiding and comes out

well see

abinder · Dec 22, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
@abinder The way I have done it in the past is bullet proof..... remove everything from the tank while cursing up a storm.

Ouch........
I'd rather not have to go that way.

Allen

abinder · Dec 22, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
My girl had a eyebrow raising feature.... see grew an elongated first dorsal spine in the absence of other anthias.

She had a "female" spine for the first 5 years and then out of the blue, grew an elongated one. She hadn't seen another anthias for years, at this point.

So, this is what she looked like 3-4 years after seeing her last anthias.

In year five, she invested in a new accoutrement

Still a very beautiful fish though!!!

Allen

maroun.c · Dec 23, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
My girl had a eyebrow raising feature.... see grew an elongated first dorsal spine in the absence of other anthias.

She had a "female" spine for the first 5 years and then out of the blue, grew an elongated one. She hadn't seen another anthias for years, at this point.

So, this is what she looked like 3-4 years after seeing her last anthias.

In year five, she invested in a new accoutrement

Was she in the presence of another male or any other dominant females with maybe a similar or bigger spine. Beleive this was a transition into male which was stopped by a more dominant female or a male in the tank. Now that she's alone she is completing the transition.
Up to you to add a few females now so that hopefully one becomes male and manages to keep all others as females or maybe wait till it's a complete male and add a few smaller females and hope the hirearchy will be established/maintained.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 23, 2015

Ya, that's the normal scenario when they start to change, but she hadn't seen another anthias in years. There were no other "like bodied" fish in there, as there was a pipefish, leopard wrasse, mandarin and a foxface. They were all together for years. The timeline is year 1 she was introduced to 2 males. Both males died. In year 4 (three years post male), she had a normal spine. In year 5, it elongated. She lived three more years after that and nothing else changed except that. I wouldn't have matched her up with anyone else at that point. The tank wasn't big enough to have more than one and she was so healthy, I wouldn't have messed with it.

I never mixed any of the anthias besides the sunburst being with the borbs for a few weeks. I had 14 tanks, so they all had their own home. There is just no identifiable queue for the change.