cdw79
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
For months I've been thinking about a sunburst anthias, but looking to hear about people's experiences with them first. My current tank is an established Red Sea Reefer 300XL with a 65 gallon display and 15 gallon sump with some chaeto.
Stock list (in order of when they were added):
Longnose hawkfish
Pearly jaw-fish
Yellow Assessor
Pair of large Ocellaris clowns
Shrimp Goby - pistol shrimp pair
Large Bangaii cardinal
Tiny Biota green mandarin
Some notes- female clownfish is definitely the boss of the tank, but doesn't really bother anything. The hawk will chase the assessor for maybe 6 inches a few times a day, but never had any issue with any kind of fin nipping or other damage. Mostly seems like standard hawkfish territorial kind of behavior. The bangaii keeps the hawkfish in check, basically making a half lunge at him now and again, but pretty tame overall. No aggression from anything else that I have seen.
My hesitation with pulling the trigger on a Sunburst anthias is for two reasons. First, I'm apprehensive about whether it would get bullied by the current "hierarchy." 2 months ago ro so I added a ~1 1/4 inch blue/green chromic and everything beat the crap out of it, so much so I had to net him within the hour and put it in the sump until I could get him back to the LFS. Even the assessor was aggressive to it, which I've never seen in 5+ years of having one. Obviously these anthias tend to come in bigger than that chromic was, and there is next to no aggression on a day to day basis as things stand, but I know that these fish can take awhile to acclimate and feel comfortable in their surroundings. I'm not sure if even that limited day to day territorial behavior would be an indication that the new addition could get bullied initially at least, long enough for it to wither away from stress.
My other question is about general acclimation. Does it make more sense to order one locally (the LFS in mind has an extensive QT regimen, albeit it's a bit of an uncharge) or order from a TSM Aquatics / DiversDen? I've read the latter two QT but I wonder if the shipping process negates that to some degree by stressing the fish out with a further round of shipping (as opposed to a 20 minute trip home from my LFS).
Otherwise just looking to hear about any experiences with this fish if you have them! Thanks in advance.
For months I've been thinking about a sunburst anthias, but looking to hear about people's experiences with them first. My current tank is an established Red Sea Reefer 300XL with a 65 gallon display and 15 gallon sump with some chaeto.
Stock list (in order of when they were added):
Longnose hawkfish
Pearly jaw-fish
Yellow Assessor
Pair of large Ocellaris clowns
Shrimp Goby - pistol shrimp pair
Large Bangaii cardinal
Tiny Biota green mandarin
Some notes- female clownfish is definitely the boss of the tank, but doesn't really bother anything. The hawk will chase the assessor for maybe 6 inches a few times a day, but never had any issue with any kind of fin nipping or other damage. Mostly seems like standard hawkfish territorial kind of behavior. The bangaii keeps the hawkfish in check, basically making a half lunge at him now and again, but pretty tame overall. No aggression from anything else that I have seen.
My hesitation with pulling the trigger on a Sunburst anthias is for two reasons. First, I'm apprehensive about whether it would get bullied by the current "hierarchy." 2 months ago ro so I added a ~1 1/4 inch blue/green chromic and everything beat the crap out of it, so much so I had to net him within the hour and put it in the sump until I could get him back to the LFS. Even the assessor was aggressive to it, which I've never seen in 5+ years of having one. Obviously these anthias tend to come in bigger than that chromic was, and there is next to no aggression on a day to day basis as things stand, but I know that these fish can take awhile to acclimate and feel comfortable in their surroundings. I'm not sure if even that limited day to day territorial behavior would be an indication that the new addition could get bullied initially at least, long enough for it to wither away from stress.
My other question is about general acclimation. Does it make more sense to order one locally (the LFS in mind has an extensive QT regimen, albeit it's a bit of an uncharge) or order from a TSM Aquatics / DiversDen? I've read the latter two QT but I wonder if the shipping process negates that to some degree by stressing the fish out with a further round of shipping (as opposed to a 20 minute trip home from my LFS).
Otherwise just looking to hear about any experiences with this fish if you have them! Thanks in advance.
