Anthias Frustration

[CHSUB]

Throwing my experience out there...

I had been keeping an eye on this thread and knew of the potential issues with anthias the past few months. Last week small ignitus were on sale at LA so I ordered 8. I ordered a bottle of nitrifuracin green the same day in case of issues. I do have experience keeping anthias (lyretail, squarespot, bimac, sunburst). The QT was setup with a dosing pump dosing live newly hatched brine shrimp throughout the day.

All arrived about 1.5". Out of 8, all were dead within a few days:
- 1 DOA, out of the remaining 7 only 2-3 really look good, some of the others showing ulceration on side and poor balance
- 1 dead end of first day (2 were out and eating, the rest hiding)
- 3 dead next day (3 left, 2 were eating, one hiding)
- 2 dead next day (last one has large red blotches on side)
- 1 dead next day

I did see signs of redness and ulceration on the sides of some of the fish. The Nitrofuracin arrived the day I found the last fish dead. If I were to try again, I would dose the NFG immediately upon receipt (wasn't an option this time as I didn't have it on hand) - but I don't think i'm going to try anthias again for a few months.

imo, ignitus are the worst...most die before making it to my DT and the ones that did died soon after. i have 2 lyretails in qt that are doing great and 3 more in the DT (1 male, 2 female) also doing well for about a year!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

imo, ignitus are the worst...most die before making it to my DT and the ones that did died soon after. i have 2 lyretails in qt that are doing great and 3 more in the DT (1 male, 2 female) also doing well for about a year!

This was my first experience with ignitus. They were honestly too small for my liking (I knew that when I ordered) but they were on sale and had a 2 week guarantee so I figured what the heck.

I will try something larger next time (preferably size "medium"). Not sure if I will do ignitus or a different species. I'm also interested in trying dispar, carberryi, resplent, or randalli.

I currently have two lyretails (left over from a group of 6 that had some social issues apparently, dwindled over ~2 years) and a sunburst in the DT. It's the least amount of anthias I've had in years and it's making me antsy but I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer.

 

[MammoDoc]

My experience with Ignituis is a little better -- just a little. 1st order of Anthias were small Ignitus -- only 1 of 6 survived. The 1 that did survive was showing the hemorragic area after about 1 week in QTbut that resolved. I used Paraguard, MetroPlex and Kanaplex as broad spectrum coverage and not truly knowing what pathogen I was dealing with. It then wsa treated with Prazi.

Ordered 4 more medium Ignitus-- only 1 survived. They are in my DT now and are doing really well, both fat and growing. Seeing all of these reports I think it is a combination of shipping stress and initial health that affects their survival from LA.

Interestingly I got 3 Carberryi and 3 Lyretails from DD and they are all doing well and never showed signs of disease.

 

[jadette]

Here's my success ratio with anthias that I picked up last December:
1) Ignitus from LiveAquaria (medium) - 10/15
2) Lyretails from local distributor (small) - 9/12
3) Randalls from local distributor (small) - 4/5
4) Evansi from local distributor (small, medium) - 3/9 (1 death ue to jumping)

The ones that died did so within the first 10 days.

I was bummed about the survival rate of the evansi. Just coudn't get the majority of them to come out and eat.

I did not see signs of disease on any of the fish I got. Not saying that they did not come in with disease - I just didn't notice anything on them.

I only QT'd with prazipro.

 

[ca1ore]

You've done much better than I on evansi. I get them through QT ok, but they just don't compete well in the display and gradually die off. I think the 'problem feeder' anthias like evansi, Princess and Tuka need a species tank.

 

[MammoDoc]

jadette, I think your geographic location helps with your survival too, being closer to the source and having good local suppliers. Not many if anyone around here carries more than Dispar and Lyretails and most of those are in rough shape when I've looked for them.

 

[davocean]

Dispars and lyretails are about all I see around here lately too, could be due to area of collection and conditions at this time maybe?
I also have noticed they seem pretty beat up, nothing like asking my LFS if they got in any anthias and having them excitedly point to a tank and then going, ooh, yeah...gotta pass on those.
For this reason I almost ordered some of those ignitus on sale at LA, which I'm not crazy about doing since I like to actually see them, and the fact they were that small even more so hesitant.
It's a bummer to see someone like Lobster of justice have such a dismal survival rate of those guys, ignitus should not be that difficult in receiving healthy specimens and keeping of them.
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for both ignitus and carberryi's

 

[shred5]

Agree with ca1ore that somewhere in the supply chain there is a ulceration/uronema issue going on as I've seen bunches show up like that across the internet as I contemplate adding to my anthias group. I'm holding off this season and may try again next time some of my favorites come available.

I have been saying this for a while..
Actually Quality Marine is claiming it is a seasonal issue with some anthias.
I have posted this in several threads now.

 

[shred5]

Dispars and lyretails are about all I see around here lately too, could be due to area of collection and conditions at this time maybe?
I also have noticed they seem pretty beat up, nothing like asking my LFS if they got in any anthias and having them excitedly point to a tank and then going, ooh, yeah...gotta pass on those.
For this reason I almost ordered some of those ignitus on sale at LA, which I'm not crazy about doing since I like to actually see them, and the fact they were that small even more so hesitant.
It's a bummer to see someone like Lobster of justice have such a dismal survival rate of those guys, ignitus should not be that difficult in receiving healthy specimens and keeping of them.
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for both ignitus and carberryi's

I have seen allot of queens, squarebacks and lyretails.
The lyretails are very beaten up.

Edit just checked with my local guy who orders me everything.
Right now he has Dispar, queen and lyretail.

 

[suta4242]

Locally at least, anthias on offer are in their best health when freshly caught. We have a mandatory quarantine before imports are released to the domestic market. The uronema and systemic bacterial infection is a regular thing with imported anthias that have been held a while in less than optimal conditions and without proper feeding.

Since these guys are typically eating until the day before they die, adding Flagyl to their frozen food may help.

:wave:

 

[64Ivy]

Day #19. Awoke to cloudy tank and AquaClear filter not working. One female Resplendent dead. Attributing this to a possible power hit due to a line of severe weather that came through here day before yesterday and my failure to notice the filter problem until this morning. Removed and cleaned out filter, reusing sponge, and as I am not medicating, added a carbon insert and restarted the thing. Also did a 50% water change. Remaining 7 fish look good and ate during noontime feeding of Cyanus and R.O.E.

 

[64Ivy]

Day #26: All is well. Everyone eating, looking good. Anyone else grab a few Resplendents from DD about a month ago that came in in particularly good shape?

 

[maxxII]

Any updates? How are your anthias doing Michael?

 

[64Ivy]

All 7 doing Fine. Two weeks of QT left. Still eating 3 times a day from a selection of mysis, calanus, and R.O.E. Best Resplendent order I've ever gotten from LA.

 

[maxxII]

Good to hear. I've got a pair of Lyre Tails in QT from a local store. They had them for several months before I picked them up. Neat fish. Starting to really enjoy anthias more.

 

[64Ivy]

Found two more dead yesterday. Water was cloudier than normal and death seemed due to asphyxiation. Did a large water change. Remaining 5 seem fine and are eating heartily. With the eighth week of QT coming up soon, I have to decide whether to transfer the 5 on schedule or hold them longer even though there is no sign of disease or other issues. What would you do?

 

[jacobl]

anyone experience with Tuka? could they be switched to pellet food?

 

[shred5]

anyone experience with Tuka? could they be switched to pellet food?

One of the hardest anthias to keep.. You are lucky if they are eating frozen food. They require lots of feedings.

 

[ca1ore]

Found two more dead yesterday. Water was cloudier than normal and death seemed due to asphyxiation. Did a large water change. Remaining 5 seem fine and are eating heartily. With the eighth week of QT coming up soon, I have to decide whether to transfer the 5 on schedule or hold them longer even though there is no sign of disease or other issues. What would you do?

If I lose any fish in QT, regardless of where I am in the process, I hold off moving them to the display for at least tow 'clean' weeks. Just not worth the risk IMO.

 

[ca1ore]

anyone experience with Tuka? could they be switched to pellet food?

No chance. Like shred says, lucky if you can get them to eat anything; and they will not do well in a competitive tanks even if you can get them eating.