Bartlett Anthias Trio Agression

[SnowDog]

I recently purchased a Bartlett Anthias Trio from LA Diver's Den. From the moment they arrived one of them was being picked on and after 15 days, it died. Now I have two left and I'm noticed that one seems to be hiding that was doing fine before.

Is this a case where the dominant fish is just picking off the other two? I assumed they would be fine since they were sold as a trio. Why would they be sold as a trio if the strongest just picks off the other two?

Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[bdejong1112o]

Watching this as I have been looking at the same type of trio from divers den. In all my discussions with people at local fish stores I get a variety of answers about Anthias's in general. I am starting to think maybe these are just not what I want although I saw a few purple square anthias this weekend that are just plain beautiful.

 

[SnowDog]

Forgot to add that I feed 3x a day so no issues with lack of, or competition for food...

 

[ca1ore]

Hard to say. I've got a DD trio coming next week. We're yours all females? Ive not had bartletts pick each other off; Lyretails yes, bartletts no.

 

[Renelope]

I just got a trio of lyretails and one of them is being super aggressive to another one, I think they were both on their way to becoming males, I’m hoping they figure out the pecking order and they all survive, if it gets worse I’m thinking about adding 2 more to break up the aggression

 

[Maritimer]

You'll get different answers about anthias, because there are different varieties of anthias - not only in color, size and pattern, but in temperament as well.

Bartlett's are among the hardiest, but also among the most aggressive - and have this delightful thing where virtually all of them seem to turn male. I started with four, was down to two in a week or three, and it wasn't long before the less attractive of the brace intimidated the prettier one into a continual anxiety attack.

Rehomed that one.

Picked up a trio of dispars at a Black Friday price I couldn't pass up (the last three in the shop, or I'd have gone for seven!) - we'll see how they go. Less hardy than Bartlett's (not difficult like ventralis, or near-impossible like tuka), but more social is their reputation.

~Bruce

 

[Gablami]

Had a beautiful Bartlett trio for awhile. The male was the most aggressive fish in the tank, so much so that I found on top of my cover one day (probably chasing another fish a flew out). Then the subdominant female turned male and kept the remaining female in hiding constantly. That female was so submissive - really pale coloration. I ended up giving the Bartletts away and moved onto dispars. Dispars are much more social. They are the best anthias for schooling, and I find they don’t get as big. Trade off is they are not as hardy. I lost a bunch through TTM.

 

[ca1ore]

The thing with the larger, more aggressive species is that they need space. If cramped they'll not get along. I said a 4ft tank earlier, maybe revise that to 6ft LOL.

 

[ca1ore]

My DD trio arrived yesterday. Two males and a female. In QT and I will feed them multiple times a day. No excessive aggression yet. I find Bartletts to be 'chippy' more than murderous.

 

[ca1ore]

Had them for a week and no problems so far. Chippy as always, but all out and swimming. I do what I always do with anthias; put them into a 30L QT and feed the crap out of them for a month.