Anyone know much about anthias?

mell

Member
So, I'm wanting to add some anthias for a nice splash of color in my 55 and my 125 gallon. What are the best kinds to get? Can you mix different kinds easily? And male and female combos okay? Please help! I found a local guy who can order me some tomorrow at wholesale prices and I'm trying to figure out what kind to order and how many.
 

meowzer

Moderator
YIKES....I think you have to be careful about mixing them.....and also where they come from....like west coast....east coast....I had gotten 5 Lyretails...and one by one they all died.....

Someone told me they are hard to acclimate...not meaning they die right away...mine took a couple of weeks....most disappeared...and the last one got what looked like a hole in its head...and then I saw the brittle star get it o.o
I also think they would need to go in the 125G. They are beautiful fish....and one day I SWEAR I will have some
I wish I could be more help.....BUT I guess what I am trying to say is DO SOME more research first......
 

aquaknight

Active Member
Anthias stress pretty easily, and they have rather high metabolisms, thus requiring frequent feeding. You'll hear the saying "need to be feed 3x daily" a lot. Unfortunately, the traditional collection/distribution process for aquatic industry, isn't so kind to them.
The only anthias I would say are "some what" hardy are in fact lyretails. Most anthias range from hard to keep, to impossible, even for a professional. Almost all anthias usually come in with some form of intestinal parasite. There traditionally is only one dominant male per species. You can mix some species of anthias in larger aquariums.
I don't have the faintest idea on the current fish in either of your tanks, but a blanket suggestion, would be a single Sunburst aka Fathead Anthias in the 55gal, and a male with two female Lyretail Anthias in the 125gal.
 

mell

Member
Cool, I was actually leaning more towards the lyretails anyway...and Meowzer, hopefully I'll have better luck...they're so beautiful!
 

mell

Member
What about the Bartlett's anthia? It's actually my favorite, and I've read that it's more hardy in captivity. The pics of them on this site don't show how intense the color is, but they're very beautiful!
 

btldreef

Moderator
Lyretails are by far the hardiest of the anthias. Bartlett's fair pretty well also. Neither is going to be suited for your 55G. I have three Maldives Lyretails in my 155, they're aggressive with each other, but not towards anyone else and they're by far the easiest anthias I've experienced thus far. Try to get all females if possible, one will eventually turn into a male. I've noticed that purchasing one that has already turned male usually results in death of the fish for whatever reason. Out of my three, one is noticeably changing to male, it's kind of cool to watch the transformation.
 

rlablan

Active Member
+1
I bought 3 females and watched 1 change to male. They were in a 55 for a long time, even through the transformation. If you can, get the females and watch one change. It's really interesting and I think that my male is WAYYY prettier than ANY I have seen in the stores. Since I gave him a good home and diet, he grew streamers and even has some green and yellow on him, in certain lighting. He is sooo gorgeous.
I don't feed mine a ton. I usually go for 1 cube of frozen and then just sprinkle in some meat or veggie pellets at night but there are some days when they only get fed once. They have been fine. I lost 1 female, due to jumping out of the tank. she was still alive when I found her on the carpet but, alas, she did not make it even 24 hours after I put her back in the tank.
My lyretails are in their new 150 wide reef home. They love it.
They do tend to get aggressive when they are kept in smaller tanks, and not just with each other. They will chase other fish, trying to claim territory. I did notice this after a while when they were in the 55.
I have always had luck with keeping them, but it could just be that. Luck. I enjoy them so much, and I think they are a wonderful addition.
Also not, I DO NOT keep them with aggressive fish and they are VERY susceptible to ich so I keep multiple cleaner shrimp and I see them get cleaned weekly.
 

mell

Member
Awesome! I'm totally stoked! Just got home from this new fish store I found and ordered my Bartlett's Anthias for $16 a piece! I ordered 5...all female! I also ordered a Purple Tang for $45!!! Can't wait to pick them up Tuesday!!!
 

cranberry

Active Member
Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3275449
Also not, I DO NOT keep them with aggressive fish and they are VERY susceptible to ich so I keep multiple cleaner shrimp and I see them get cleaned weekly.

I've never had this experience. They've always been my Ich free fish.
 

rlablan

Active Member
They are a lot better now. but when I first got them... I couldn't seem to keep them without a spot or two. Those and hippo tangs for me. I don't know what it is.
 

btldreef

Moderator
I've never had an ick problem with them. Only my sailfin tang when I fist bought her. That being said, my anthias get cleaned by the cleaner shrimp far more than any other fish in my tank.
 

mell

Member
Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3275804
They are a lot better now. but when I first got them... I couldn't seem to keep them without a spot or two. Those and hippo tangs for me. I don't know what it is.
Yeah, I've never had any trouble with ich except with those darn hippo tangs...I've had trouble with both of the ones I've gotten!
 
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3275898
I've never had an ick problem with them. Only my sailfin tang when I fist bought her. That being said, my anthias get cleaned by the cleaner shrimp far more than any other fish in my tank.
Ok question about this, from what I've read about Marine Ich, at the stage that you actually see it--they are no longer at the surface of the skin and are actually underneath the skin, therefore making any attempts by cleaner shrimp useless because they will not gouge through the skin. That is just what I've read. Any ideas on this?
 

btldreef

Moderator
Don't know. I quarantine everything. I will say this, my Sailfin tang that had ich really bad from what I could see, did not make it and the cleaner shrimp was all over it constantly (I used to keep a cleaner in my QT tank for new fish - don't like chemical treatments). Where have you found this information? Cranberry would probably know more about ich than me. I haven't really had to deal with many sick fish.
 

cranberry

Active Member
The shrimp can't get to the deep ones, but they clean off the surface ones. So it keeps the numbers down. I consider them helpful, just not a cure, of course.
 
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