Reefpilot11
New member
Could it have anything to do with the water treatment this month from Pinellas county?
I agree with Paul. Anthias are tough because we want to introduce a harem together, but that means a lot of fish in a small qt with not enough bacteria and not to mention these fish need to be fed often. At least 2-3 times per day. I would consider adding live rock and observing the fish for 6 weeks instead of prophylactically treating them where most meds kill off the bacteria. If signs of disease pop up then I would remove the rock. Also have a lot of water on hand for lots of water changes and also some Prime. I would do frequent water changes regardless what a test kit shows. Hopefully by then enough bacteria would have colonized the tanks surface and filters. Hobby test kits are helpful, but the margin of error is still present.
If you approach these fish differently with the focus on bacteria and ammonia elimination and they survive, I think it would be safe to assume it wasn't disease that killed the first set. If they meet the same fate after aggressively eliminating ammonia then perhaps John is right and you have velvet in the system.
Especially on a cycled tank that been cycled for months now?
A "cycled" tank does not stay cycled unless food is continousely available to the bacteria. If you remove the fish, the tank will revert to an uncycled tank. It is not Ghost ammonia, just that ammonia is quickly reduced. Not quickly enough to keep the fish alive but in a day or two as it is constantly removed, just in your case, not fast enough for those few fish.
They do not look like that from parasites, bacteria or an alien invasion.
I don't recall the mouth position on death, but I bought 5 anthias a while back and ended up with one. Mine were over a 2 month period though. One jumped and three went from fat and happy. To hiding for a day then dead the next day. Colors were normal and they did not look sick at all. I assumed it was due to being captured with chemicals/cyanide.
It definitely wasn't ammonia because I have a dozen other fish 2,3,5,9 years old and a bunch of sps doing great.
A few examples of a known pathogen present. Why the open mouth? Hypoxia! Respiratory distress brought about by a PATHOGEN. Much like pneumonia killing those infected with HIV that has progressed into AIDS.
Psst, Pfiesteria is a Dinoflagellate.![]()
Cypriniiform with a possible "alien invasion" by a nematode.
this parasite is also very difficult to distinguish on pale-colored fish
This is a very common, not always, description of what happens with anthias in our captive systems.
The anthia harem usually consists of the large dominant male, a large dominant female that is allowed more free rein than the rest of the smaller females within the group. The male predominantly keeps the harem in check while the large female is back up, so to speak, keeping others in check to an extent. When the male dies the large female will change sex and take his place. The greater the number and correct sex of the harem is important in captivity. The more females the better. This way the "beatings", for lack of a better term, are spread out amongst all of the fish rather than just 1-3. If you end up with more than one male it usually doesn't end well.
In my experience a "minimum" of 5 anthias (1 male, 4 females) will yield good long term success. What likely happened with yours was the dominant male and female beat up the remaining two until they both succumbed. Once those two died, the last female's fate was sealed.
That's the way I understand the typical anthia hierarchy from my research. I have 5 Bartletts so this is also from my experience and observations.
This is a very common, not always, description of what happens with anthias in our captive systems.
The anthia harem usually consists of the large dominant male, a large dominant female that is allowed more free rein than the rest of the smaller females within the group. The male predominantly keeps the harem in check while the large female is back up, so to speak, keeping others in check to an extent. When the male dies the large female will change sex and take his place. The greater the number and correct sex of the harem is important in captivity. The more females the better. This way the "beatings", for lack of a better term, are spread out amongst all of the fish rather than just 1-3. If you end up with more than one male it usually doesn't end well.
In my experience a "minimum" of 5 anthias (1 male, 4 females) will yield good long term success. What likely happened with yours was the dominant male and female beat up the remaining two until they both succumbed. Once those two died, the last female's fate was sealed.
That's the way I understand the typical anthia hierarchy from my research. I have 5 Bartletts so this is also from my experience and observations.
Again it pays to have a LFS who does quarantine and makes sure the fish are eating properly before they sell them to you. I made that mistake by buying a cheap sand shifting Goby from a LFS off Dale mabry and didnt think anything of it. The Goby was the ONLY thing added to the tank for at least 4-6 months and died a week or so later. It was like a bomb went off, fish died over night and they all were eating 2 times a day.