Anthias and pellets?

phenom5

phenom5

Member
Anyone have any good tips on getting anthias to eat something other than frozen food?
I've tried a variety of sinking pellets. Soak them in Entice and/or Vita-Chem. I think I saw one of them eat some PE Mysis once, but it might have been by accident. I also usually mix it in with frozen to see if I can encourage then to eat the pellets, or get them to eat it by accident, but it just doesn't seem to work. I don't he any problem don't them frozen, but would love it if I could get to be a mix, and not have it be multiple feedings of then every day.
 
Sorry, I don't have any suggestions as I haven't had Anthias in a long time and I have always fed frozen.

@leebca has a great article on fish nutrition (including a recipe for homemade food) here. If you want to read the article, click the Download button at the top right of that page.

Maybe @Dr. Reef or @HumbleFish might have some suggestions on the pellets.
 
I find Anthias like this pellet in small size

All fish devour it and it really enhances coloration
High nutritional value
 
phenom5 said:
Anyone have any good tips on getting anthias to eat something other than frozen food?
I've tried a variety of sinking pellets. Soak them in Entice and/or Vita-Chem. I think I saw one of them eat some PE Mysis once, but it might have been by accident. I also usually mix it in with frozen to see if I can encourage then to eat the pellets, or get them to eat it by accident, but it just doesn't seem to work. I don't he any problem don't them frozen, but would love it if I could get to be a mix, and not have it be multiple feedings of then every day.
Click to expand...
I've never been a big supporter of pellet and flake foods. The post griss mentioned is worth the download and reading, the Fish Nutrition document. Some pellet recommendations are listed in that post.

Anthias should be fed often throughout the day. In the wild they eat very frequently (if not all the time).
 
griss said:
Sorry, I don't have any suggestions as I haven't had Anthias in a long time and I have always fed frozen.

@leebca has a great article on fish nutrition (including a recipe for homemade food) here. If you want to read the article, click the Download button at the top right of that page.

Maybe @Dr. Reef or @HumbleFish might have some suggestions on the pellets.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I will definitely check it out.
mellotang said:
I find Anthias like this pellet in small size

All fish devour it and it really enhances coloration
High nutritional value
Click to expand...
I've been looking at that, worth a shot.
ct_vol said:
Only thing my Anthias will eat other than Frozen is ON Formula One Flake.
Click to expand...
I'm okay with the idea of flake, but so far my anthias show no interest in anything floating on the surface.
leebca said:
I've never been a big supporter of pellet and flake foods. The post griss mentioned is worth the download and reading, the Fish Nutrition document. Some pellet recommendations are listed in that post.

Anthias should be fed often throughout the day. In the wild they eat very frequently (if not all the time).
Click to expand...
Yep, agreed. 99 times out of 100 I am perfectly happy to give the tank multiple feedings throughout the day, frozen food and whatnot. Would just be super helpful if I could not be dependant on someone coming by and feeding frozen everyday, if we head out of town. Normally I'm 100% work from home, and the tank is in my office, so not a problem.
 
When feeding flake I use tweezers and put the food next to my MP40. I don't like it on the surface either. Too much gets sucked down the overflow. I've found this mostly prevents that from happening. I feed frozen that way too though.
 
Attach this to your Eheim auto feeder then the fake and pellet won’t float on surface

They fall subsurface resulting in happy fish
 
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You're going to have to experiement to see what you anthias like. I've had moderate success using Spectrum pellets in an autofeeder mixed with 2 little fishes ZoPlan.
 
phenom5 said:
Thanks! I will definitely check it out.

I've been looking at that, worth a shot.

I'm okay with the idea of flake, but so far my anthias show no interest in anything floating on the surface.

Yep, agreed. 99 times out of 100 I am perfectly happy to give the tank multiple feedings throughout the day, frozen food and whatnot. Would just be super helpful if I could not be dependant on someone coming by and feeding frozen everyday, if we head out of town. Normally I'm 100% work from home, and the tank is in my office, so not a problem.
Click to expand...
I would have to travel about 1 week out of every 4 weeks. My neighbor would feed my fish. They will usually be okay with a twice/day feeding, but Anthias are more challenging. While you are away a twice/day feeding should be okay for a short term.

Anthias are prone to Uronema/bacterial infections. That adds to their maintenance challenge.

Flake and pellets can be added to a portion of tank water in a cup and 'forced' to sink, before adding to the aquarium.
 
phenom5 said:
Anyone have any good tips on getting anthias to eat something other than frozen food?
I've tried a variety of sinking pellets. Soak them in Entice and/or Vita-Chem. I think I saw one of them eat some PE Mysis once, but it might have been by accident. I also usually mix it in with frozen to see if I can encourage then to eat the pellets, or get them to eat it by accident, but it just doesn't seem to work. I don't he any problem don't them frozen, but would love it if I could get to be a mix, and not have it be multiple feedings of then every day.
Click to expand...


First of all what kind of anthias? Odd no one asked this question.

Some wont eat anything but live and some only frozen. Others like Lyretails are easy to get on pellets or flake.

I have had some anthias like ignitus out of the same batch, some will eat dry food and others would never touch anything but frozen.

I have always found flake easier to get anthias to eat than pellet's..

What I do is soak them with the frozen food and feed all at once. Eventually they start grabbing pellets in a feeding frenzy.

Most anthias are planktonic feeders and prefer small moving food. So sometimes feed in front of a power head can force a strike.
 
They are ignitus.
Kinda been my gameplan to mix the pellets in with the frozen and some Entice. Haven't tried flake. Was hoping to get them on something I can use an auto feeder with, and they have no concept of food at the surface. But maybe as an intermediate step. Also have a ring that can maybe force the flake down?
 
phenom5 said:
They are ignitus.
Kinda been my gameplan to mix the pellets in with the frozen and some Entice. Haven't tried flake. Was hoping to get them on something I can use an auto feeder with, and they have no concept of food at the surface. But maybe as an intermediate step. Also have a ring that can maybe force the flake down?
Click to expand...


Ignitus are a great anthias. They can be hard to keep at first but once established are pretty hardy.
They will shoal unlike allot of other anthias in a reef tank. Also males and submales get along pretty well.
I have kept allot of these and about maybe 15 percent wont eat dry foods but most will. These do react to food moving.
They also require more feedings than a lyretail or they can get thin.
They like their food small.

PE calanus is a great food to start with. Reef nutrition tigger-feast or artic-pods would also probably work well.
 
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