Anthias

Hydrus

Hydrus

New member
I've always really wanted an Anthias but in the 22 years I've been keeping saltwater I've never bit the bullet and bought one. I've done research and everything I've read say they need to be fed at least 3 times a day.

My reef lights don't come on till after I've left for work and I'm not home until 5:30. I feed my fish right before dinner. Therefore they only eat once a day.

I see so many posts on RC with Anthias in their tanks... my question I guess is does everyone feed them that often? Am I just doomed to not have one if I have a job? How does everyone work around that?

Thanks for any input!
 
They aren't as hard as people say at least the 3 species I keep
Bartlett's
Lyretail
bimaculatus.

I have 20 combined in my 265. I do feed twice a day though You know you can feed your fish in the morning before the tank lights go on

I feed my fish at 9 am lights go on at 2 pm. They are awake because House lights are on then I feed them at 10 when I go to bed





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The PE Mysis pellets were something my Scribble Anthias would eat, so you can use an auto feeder as well. Prior to that they were fine eating once a day.
 
Like Anthony pointed, you can feed them before the light turn on. Just turn on the light of that room. First few weeks they will probably be skittish and be hesitant to come out and eat. But eventually they will get used to it. I feed my tank two times a day, once before i leave for work and one time when i return home. I feed them flake food.

Getting them to accept flake food is hard, but, in long term, I only had success with anthias that accepted flake/pellet foods. So my main suggestion would be to wean them to flake or pellet foods. The ones that only eat frozen food never survived long term, atleast for me, regardless of how much I feed. I think flake/pellets foods are more nutrient packed so anthias can get more nutrition from smaller portions.
 
Thank you guys so much! I'm excited to get one on my next order :) I can add a feeding in the mornings no problem. I guess I just thought no one would eat as they would be sleeping. My Wrasse doesn't even come out of the sand until like 9am and my tang stays wedged in the rocks until about then also. I'm sure they will wake up when they smell food in the water lol. I know my decorator crab sure gets a fire under her butt when I feed no matter what time of day.
 
Hydrus said:
Thank you guys so much! I'm excited to get one on my next order :) I can add a feeding in the mornings no problem. I guess I just thought no one would eat as they would be sleeping. My Wrasse doesn't even come out of the sand until like 9am and my tang stays wedged in the rocks until about then also. I'm sure they will wake up when they smell food in the water lol. I know my decorator crab sure gets a fire under her butt when I feed no matter what time of day.
Click to expand...

Yeah just turn on the light of that room as soon as you wake up and feed the fish before you leave. This way they will have some time to "wake up".
 
Also be advised that if you buy a single female anthias, most likely she will not change into a male. That's ok with me because a female lyretail is pretty.


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What size tank do you have. My advice with lyertails is big tank and buy 1 male and a lot of females. The male in a smaller tank will harass your female until age dies. Even in my 265 my male is a chaser but with 8 females none gets too much attention


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anthonys51 said:
What size tank do you have. My advice with lyertails is big tank and buy 1 male and a lot of females. The male in a smaller tank will harass your female until age dies. Even in my 265 my male is a chaser but with 8 females none gets too much attention


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Click to expand...

I only have a 75, so I figured I'd only be able to get just the 1.
 
You can get 3 bimac.
Lyertails I put 4 in my 57 3 foot tank. It ended up with 2 in a month. Those 2 lasted for 3 years. Now they are in my 265.


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That's awesome news! I didn't think I could do that many because all the websites show a min tank of 125+. I can't wait now :)
 
I am no expert so I will only give you my opinion and what worked for me.

I also have a lot of fish and rocks. They are more fish they are hiding

Probably have 50 Fish
59ef1f4cc05dc9d4daba2273130d057d.jpg



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I wish I had the same experience as anthonys51, every time I have put a group of anthias in my tank, one would always turn male. Then it would spend all of its time chasing the females, never stopping to even eat much. Then it would die, and the next most aggressive female turned male only to act the same way and meet the same fate.
 
What size tank do you have. Do you have other fish. Also do you have enough rick for them to hide


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168 gallon tank with lots of rock, my other fish ignored the anthias, they were always the first fish out in the morning, and last fish to bed. Started out with five female anthias, dwindled to one, got four more,and now I have one female. She was the smallest and least aggressive, and now the soul surviver.
 
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