Anthias experts: which species for my tank?
- Thread starter ThRoewer
- Start date
ThRoewer
New member
Quick update:
They are eating Hikkari Mysis and PE Calanus like little pigs now.
Tonight I also tried flakes, but after a quick sampling they decided that they don't like them - I'm gonna try again tomorrow at the first feeding when they are usually the hungriest.
Tank temperature is at around 24 °C (75 °F) and they seem to be fine with it.
They are eating Hikkari Mysis and PE Calanus like little pigs now.
Tonight I also tried flakes, but after a quick sampling they decided that they don't like them - I'm gonna try again tomorrow at the first feeding when they are usually the hungriest.
Tank temperature is at around 24 °C (75 °F) and they seem to be fine with it.
ThRoewer
New member
First feeding today:
Flakes
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/no-vNWmCb8A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hikkari Mysis
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LcXYkg7T6pI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I guess it's about time for a tank cleaning...
Flakes
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/no-vNWmCb8A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hikkari Mysis
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LcXYkg7T6pI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I guess it's about time for a tank cleaning...
ThRoewer
New member
What's the issue with purple queens?
With the ventralis I feel all you need to accomplish is to get one to eat and then the other just follow.
My 5 get along fairly well with not too much bickering. Only right after feedings it seems the largest two try to put the rest back in their corners.
In general I don't feel that these "ventralis" are very difficult once they start eating (the North Pacific are very likely a different species from the originally described ventralis in the South Pacific).
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With the ventralis I feel all you need to accomplish is to get one to eat and then the other just follow.
My 5 get along fairly well with not too much bickering. Only right after feedings it seems the largest two try to put the rest back in their corners.
In general I don't feel that these "ventralis" are very difficult once they start eating (the North Pacific are very likely a different species from the originally described ventralis in the South Pacific).
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davocean
Active member
Purple queens are just notorious for not eating and often just going inside rockwork and never coming out.
I've had my eye on ventralis for some time but see many have issues getting them to eat as well, I've been sticking w/ easy to moderately difficult to keep anthia, but I'd sure like to try them.
I've had my eye on ventralis for some time but see many have issues getting them to eat as well, I've been sticking w/ easy to moderately difficult to keep anthia, but I'd sure like to try them.
ThRoewer
New member
I feel that the key is live food. I would never have tried the ventralis if I have not had enough Tigger Pod cultures. For the first week I basically loaded up their QT with pods (and then left for 4 days). After that they went after frozen food as well. By now they come to the front for feedings.
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CoralsAddiction
Active member
I'm definitely a wrasse guy but those ventralis are nice.
davocean
Active member
Yeah I don't keep any wrasses for that very reason, that and pod competition, and I don't have time or space really to do pod cultures.
I also worry that giving live food can also have a negative affect, as in making some fish actually more finicky and only go for live food, so I really avoid that as much as possible, but I suppose a QT and getting new anthia started may be a needed thing and good idea.
I also worry that giving live food can also have a negative affect, as in making some fish actually more finicky and only go for live food, so I really avoid that as much as possible, but I suppose a QT and getting new anthia started may be a needed thing and good idea.
acesq
Premium Member
I lost 2 of my females in QT. we had a heat wave a couple of weeks ago and I don't have a chiller on my QT. I kept a fan on it but the temp still hit 81. The two died within a day of each other despite all four eating well. I quickly moved the other 2 to the DT. It was a risk I felt was necessary and pray won't come back to bite me.
That was 6 days ago. It took 4 days for them to join the other 4, but they finally worked their way into the group and are doing well. No aggression between any of them. The existing male has really started to color up.
That was 6 days ago. It took 4 days for them to join the other 4, but they finally worked their way into the group and are doing well. No aggression between any of them. The existing male has really started to color up.
ThRoewer
New member
Sorry for your losses.
My 5 are now always on the front when they see me and wait for food.
By now they seem to prefer Mysis over Calanus. The last days I didn't get to feed them all day long which seems to have increased their appetite a bit.
I'm still wondering how low with the temperature you can go in a reef tank without harming the corals and other fish.
It's not just for the ventralis, but also to cut down on energy consumption (every month when the PG&E bill arrives my wife reads me the riot act).
Those are absolutely beautiful Anthias you have there. I saw some at my LFS a month ago.
If you google 'high latitude reef" you should get a number of publications that might give you some useful info.
When I did my dives on the GBR (winter) it was 75F. There are high latitude reefs that have winter temperature much lower than that. The mix of coral species is different though.
If you google 'high latitude reef" you should get a number of publications that might give you some useful info.
zooman72
New member
Nice fish (bit of an understatement I know...), and nice work getting them fat and healthy.
Do you have air conditioning? Best thing I ever did was put central air in my last two homes, including the one I just finished building and moved into 2 weeks ago. It is so much nicer for me and the family, and makes keeping the aquariums so much easier!
Although I live in Western NY, near a large hydroelectric source, and think our electric bill is fair - you guys over there on the West coast seem to mention electric costs quite a bit (although you also seem to mention all of the nice LFS access too)...
Do you have air conditioning? Best thing I ever did was put central air in my last two homes, including the one I just finished building and moved into 2 weeks ago. It is so much nicer for me and the family, and makes keeping the aquariums so much easier!
Although I live in Western NY, near a large hydroelectric source, and think our electric bill is fair - you guys over there on the West coast seem to mention electric costs quite a bit (although you also seem to mention all of the nice LFS access too)...
ThRoewer
New member
With the electric bill out here it's such a thing. Normally if you buy more of a thing at a constant and predictable rate you get a price break. And that is (as far as I understand) true here with electricity as well - if you are a commercial consumer. Though residential consumers get penalized with a higher rate if they go over certain thresholds. While this sounds like a green thing, it's just monopolism and corporate greed in action.
Unlike in Germany, where you are free to buy your electricity from wherever you want and where the nets are open by law, here you have no choice but to get your utilities from the local monopolist.
The only alternative you have here is to go off the grid with solar or your own generator - both are rather unlikely to save you any money, and are not an option at all if you just rent. And to buy a house here these days you need to be a millionaire (thanks to the mainland Chinese with too much cash on their hands).
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Unlike in Germany, where you are free to buy your electricity from wherever you want and where the nets are open by law, here you have no choice but to get your utilities from the local monopolist.
The only alternative you have here is to go off the grid with solar or your own generator - both are rather unlikely to save you any money, and are not an option at all if you just rent. And to buy a house here these days you need to be a millionaire (thanks to the mainland Chinese with too much cash on their hands).
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ThRoewer
New member
Yesterday morning all 5 were fine and eating well, though in the evening they were not as hungry as usual and also behaved a bit abnormal.
This morning I found the male and two females dead. One female was still alive and one I couldn't find even after emptying out the tank.
At first - given the fast demise - I thought it may have been velvet so later in the day I put the sole survivor under the microscope to check, but rather found her covered with flukes (easy to tell since they were moving around).
I put her into RO water and observed what happened under the microscope. Some of the flukes balled up and a number of those actually fell off. But a good number was actually underneath the scales and therefore fairly well protected.
After about 10 minutes only a few flukes had actually come off and those were hardly to see without the naked eye, let alone to identify. Even underneath the microscope the ones that came off were rather difficult to recognize since they were just tiny milky white balls.
Right now I'm treating the survivor with PraziPro, mostly to see if it is actually effective against these flukes.
I suspect now that the starcki damsels I got from LA earlier also died of flukes - the appearance and symptoms would fit.
These flukes can look a lot like ich, especially if a fish slimes a lot.
This was an expensive lesson, but from now on every new fish gets a microscopic examination.
This morning I found the male and two females dead. One female was still alive and one I couldn't find even after emptying out the tank.
At first - given the fast demise - I thought it may have been velvet so later in the day I put the sole survivor under the microscope to check, but rather found her covered with flukes (easy to tell since they were moving around).
I put her into RO water and observed what happened under the microscope. Some of the flukes balled up and a number of those actually fell off. But a good number was actually underneath the scales and therefore fairly well protected.
After about 10 minutes only a few flukes had actually come off and those were hardly to see without the naked eye, let alone to identify. Even underneath the microscope the ones that came off were rather difficult to recognize since they were just tiny milky white balls.
Right now I'm treating the survivor with PraziPro, mostly to see if it is actually effective against these flukes.
I suspect now that the starcki damsels I got from LA earlier also died of flukes - the appearance and symptoms would fit.
These flukes can look a lot like ich, especially if a fish slimes a lot.
This was an expensive lesson, but from now on every new fish gets a microscopic examination.
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