Anthias

[eatbreakfast]

I struggle getting my fish to eat anything besides frozen. The Marcia anthias will eat some pellets but is quickly turned off by them after eating a few. The lyretail wont touch them. Clowns seem to like them. One wrasse will eat them if hes hungry enough and the other wont. Neither will the cardinals or firefish.

So i continue to try to hand feed dried foods a few times a week. Hoping i can eventually install the ehiem feeder. It be so handy when on vacations.

This has only been my experience with more delicate anthias, such as flavoguttatus, purple queens, and tiger queens. I have had most other anthias get trained on pellets within 2 weeks. Lyretails, bartletts, dipars, randalls, parvirostris, pink squates, bimacs, carberryi, have all gone to pellets for me. What helps is having a group of eager feeders, such as chromis in the tank. They lead a feeding frenzy for the pellets, and most other planktivores follow their lead.

 

[stevo01]

This has only been my experience with more delicate anthias, such as flavoguttatus, purple queens, and tiger queens. I have had most other anthias get trained on pellets within 2 weeks. Lyretails, bartletts, dipars, randalls, parvirostris, pink squates, bimacs, carberryi, have all gone to pellets for me. What helps is having a group of eager feeders, such as chromis in the tank. They lead a feeding frenzy for the pellets, and most other planktivores follow their lead.

Thanks TJ, ill keep trying. I think its because I still feed the meaty frozen foods everyday. So i may have to stop doing that for a little while.

 

[caliudig]

hello,
this might be a dumb question but has anyone came up with a way to automate feeding for their Anthias? like with a auto feeder.

 

[eatbreakfast]

hello,
this might be a dumb question but has anyone came up with a way to automate feeding for their Anthias? like with a auto feeder.

Once they get trained to take pellets autofeeders work great.

 

[TX_Punisher]

I've got 5f and 1male in qt right now. The male is in hiding so I hope he comes out soon.

 

[biecacka]

The other question I have along with feeding is, "how long has everyone had their anthias?"

Corey

 

[TX_Punisher]

The other question I have along with feeding is, "how long has everyone had their anthias?"

Corey

You can ask, but imho and in the opinion of breeders and in-the-know lfs owners, they will tell you some will last months while others have had them live years. I've seen amazing aquarists do everything right and have them live less than a year.

 

[eatbreakfast]

You can ask, but imho and in the opinion of breeders and in-the-know lfs owners, they will tell you some will last months while others have had them live years. I've seen amazing aquarists do everything right and have them live less than a year.

This, I disagree with. Healthy anthias should last a few years if adequately cared for.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Until a female tries to turn male when you already had one. One of the females I had must have been changing and we either didn't notice or it wasn't obvious yet. This afternoon I went to feed and saw one ina corner on its side. It had a slight red on the body. Thinking it was the male I tried to move it out of the corner and knew it was gone. Retrieved it and saw the face and knew it was a female changing. The male in the tank probably killed as there's already a dominant male in the tank. So, be careful your females aren't changing when you introduce them to your qt. I've also been told to have an odd number of females. I'll replace her with another soon.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Until a female tries to turn male when you already had one. One of the females I had must have been changing and we either didn't notice or it wasn't obvious yet. This afternoon I went to feed and saw one ina corner on its side. It had a slight red on the body. Thinking it was the male I tried to move it out of the corner and knew it was gone. Retrieved it and saw the face and knew it was a female changing. The male in the tank probably killed as there's already a dominant male in the tank. So, be careful your females aren't changing when you introduce them to your qt. I've also been told to have an odd number of females. I'll replace her with another soon.

It can really vary between species. Some are much more aggressive among transitioning conspecifics, others much more tolerant. Larger groups also tolerate transitions better.

 

[biecacka]

That's why I ask, most ppl I've spoken to say they don't have luck longer than a year or so.

Corey

 

[TX_Punisher]

That's why I ask, most ppl I've spoken to say they don't have luck longer than a year or so.

Corey

I've already lost two in qt. They looked healthy at the distributor and were eating. Everything is on point in qt.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I have a dispar anthias that I got back in January. I feed 2x a day frozen mysis.

 

[Bow69]

I just bought a harem of lyretails for my 300 gallon tank. 1 male; 6 females. I also bought 1 Evansi and he hangs with the group.

Knowing these fish prefer to feed often, I bought an Eheim Automatic Fish Feeder, stocked it with Hikari and PE Mysis pellets, and programmed it to disperse food 5 times a day.

I also feed twice when I'm home: one is Reef Chili (the anthias love it), and the other is frozen foods like LRS and PE Mysis mixed with some Reef Nutrition products.

As you can tell...I try to spoil my fish. Just need to watch tank parameters: with NO3 currently holding at 8, and PO4 holding at 0.08 (which is where WWC keeps their PO4 at).

Strongly recommend the feeder. Eheim one is $33; built well and runs quiet (I had initially bought a cheaper one and it felt cheap and ran LOUD).

My goal is to stock like 30 anthias in my tank. Their colors are strikingly beautiful.

How is that feeder doing? Stillnlike it?

 

[1stNoel]

How is that feeder doing? Stillnlike it?

That feeder is A+. Set it and forget it. I highly recommend.

 

[Bow69]

That feeder is A+. Set it and forget it. I highly recommend.

Ty for the follow up.

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

so have the carberryi for at least 2 months now. I originally bought a trio but one died, I think due to infection as it had a tear on his body when I saw it. I added 2 more and as of today I have 4. I love the movement and their interaction with the cleaner shrimp. they are not shy at all. I feed them Reef Frenzy 2x daily which is after my working hours, 5 pm and 9 pm. they scream for these foods, but what I have tried that made them eat pellets is every time I feed them, I mix a pinch of NLS pellets and sure enough they eat it. So now I have installed an EHIEM Auto Feeder to feed 2 x before i get home from work... They are happy as can be. Thinking of adding a trio more of the Evansi and that's it for my tank.

My Tank: Red Sea Reefer 170
Filter: Refugium with Cheato, Miracle Mud
Skimmer: Curve 5

 

[TX_Punisher]

I'm thinking of adding a 4 pack of sunburst soon in my 180.

Any comments on this species?

 

[ca1ore]

It is hard to keep weight on anthias, which I suspect has a lot to do with why they don't last much more than a year. You have to feed them a lot. I feed mine 3-4 times a day. Had my bimacs and bartletts for 5 years before they started to die off. Have had resplendents for 4 so far.

 

[User1]

What @ca1ore said. I had 4 lyretails and they lasted about 3 to 4 months if that and I fed 3 times a day. What I noticed is that one becomes more dominate and starts to find the better hunting spots for food. Chase the others away and continues to push and push so that they slowly start to starve and grow weaker. Anthias, at least the lyretails that I had, remind me a lot like trout freshwater fish that we eat. They are always hunting and finding a spot that allows them to use less energy (rock, wood) yet has fast water movement around them that food passes. This way they can dart out to grab the food then back to the spot using less energy. Rinse and repeat.

When they do feed it is quick, aggressive, and direct. It is like striking the food with everything they got regardless if it is pellet or frozen food. I would see them shoal together, slowly moving about the tank, once in a while but most of the time it was around a larger rock in my tank with their head point into the water column like a fighter getting ready for take off against the wind. That extra lift you know?

Anyway one thing I would suggest or at least a key to success is having a more mature tank. Mine wasn't there yet with regards to coral growth. I think that would help provide those calm spots in the water columns. I had the deep open water area covered and they enjoyed it but I probably needed more corals for protection, isolation, and breaking up of movement.