Bartlett's Anthias

[Squadir]

Was buying a Bartlett's anthias a good choice? I currently have a firefish, 2 blennies and 2 clowns. I saw him at the LFS and just had to have him (impulse buy :confused: ) . He is doing very well, hanging out with the clowns and eating like he has never gotten food in his life which is great!! just wondering if he was a good choice long term.
Also can I put more (same kind) anthias with him.

 

[eatbreakfast]

He is a fine choice, but adding more anthias may be a little problematic as bartletts are aggressive for anthias. Just add a handful of them when and if you decide to get more.

 

[Squadir]

ok great, thank you :)

 

[JakeK]

Bumping this for another question on Bartletts (and one Resplendents).

I had a tank crash about 1.5 months ago. Lost all my fish in my 93 gallon. Tank is sitting fallow right now, but plan on slowly restocking with a couple fairy wrasses, anthias, midas blenny, orchid dottyback, and some firefish.

My wife and I both love anthias. Here are our questions. My two choices for anthias are Bartlett's OR Resplendent/Randall's, and maybe a single Blotched. Either Bartlett's with a Blotched or Resplendent/Randall's with a Blotched, not both Bartlett's and R/R's in the same tank.

1) Will Bartlett's harass my other fish, or is their aggression confined mostly to other anthias?
2) How likely are Resplendents/Randall's to take to pellet food?

Every year we go on a 2 week trip to visit out-of -state family. I have local family stop by 2x per week to feed and check on my Biocube, but I also run an auto feeder with pellets. I'll do the same with the 93 gallon version 2.0. This is my only reservation towards this species. It is actually the species I would love to re-stock with as they are small and docile from what I have read.

Thanks.

 

[ca1ore]

Bartletts are among the more aggressive anthias, so it's a bit difficult to predict how they will behave. It's also going to be a function of tank size. I started out my current tank with three bartletts, and then added five bimacs and a group of resplendents. The bartletts gave the new additions nary a second look - but my tank is a 265. My resplendents do not eat pellets, though they do eat just about any kind of frozen fare.

 

[JakeK]

Ca1ore - Thanks for the information on both the Bartletts and the Resplendents. I've heard that some Resplendents will take pellets, others will not. Prior to my crash my Carberryis ate up NLS 0.5MM pellets with ease but it did take nearly 8 weeks to get them to eat pellets.

Regarding the aggressive nature of the Bartletts, I know you say unpredictable, and there are a lot of variables that will affect their behavior, but based on your experience would a single Bartlett be a better choice than say 2 or 3 in a 93 gallon if I want to limit aggression towards other fish, or does the number of Bartletts not matter? Could a single be worse than 3?

 

[ca1ore]

I've always kept them as a group figuring that they're more likely to beat on their own kind than on any others. My current trio consists of an apex male, sub male and female. Interestingly, the sub-male tends to hang with my six resplendents (at least three of which are males/sub-males).

 

[JakeK]

That's exactly why I was thinking multiple would be better than a single; they'll fight among themselves rather than the other fish, and with just 1 it may harass more timid fish in the tank, but thought I would ask for confirmation. I'm leaning heavier towards the resplendents assuming i can get them on pellets.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree. Single male bartletts are more aggressive than a small group.

I haven't had a problem getting resplendents taking pellets, it just took a couple of weeks.

 

[TreyC2010]

It could be luck on my end but I had 5 Bartletts and they never bothered another fish in my 150 DD. They ate flakes and pellets too. Like I said, it could be just luck on my end but I had a very pleasant experience with Bartletts.

 

[jackson6745]

Too aggressive in my wrasse tank, had to get rid of my remaining male bartlett. I did have a female as well, but this dominant male killed her off.

 

[TreyC2010]

I had 5 and the male seemed to get picked on way more than the females. Maybe they do better in larger groups than 3 or less.

 

[JakeK]

Thanks everybody for the info. I think resplendents will fit the bill of relatively easy/hardy anthias that will eat pellets and be a good member of the community.