Experience With Purple Queen Anthias - Must feed often

[ReefJunkie01]

Hey Guys. Just wanted to post an update on here. Last week I had picked up a third purple queen anthias from the local fish store, and, I'm happy to say, as of yesterday, the third purple queen is happy, doing well, and now eating frozen food along with my other two purple queens.

What people have been posting on this thread about anthias learning from each other seems to be definitely ringing true with this fish as well. I guess the key is to get the first ones to eat frozen.

To summarize the week:

Friday night - Acclimated fish and put it into the tank. It swam straight to the other two purple queens and they instantly started congregating together. On this night the fish did not seem to want to hide one bit, which I was very surprised by. I fed the tank that night, but she didn't eat anything.

Saturday - As of saturday morning, the fish had been hiding amongst the rockwork. Something must have spooked it. Seemed very good at hiding, my tank is only 46 gallons and only found her hiding under a crevice in a rock after about 20 minutes of looking. She kept hiding all of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Not sure if she was eating, as my baby brine shrimp feeder had been feeding on it's regular schedule, so she might have been eating, not sure.

Tuesday - came home from work. She was out, but hiding underneath the lifted piece of flat rock on the right side of my tank (flat rock lifted with two other pieces of rock to form a "bridge"), She stayed there all day, but, she would peck whenever the baby brine shrimp feeder came on, so at least it looks like she started eating.

Wednesday - she's fully out now, but, whenever I feed the tank and the fish frenzy commences, she just backs off, watches the other fish for a couple of seconds, then goes and hides. When the feeding stops, she comes back out.

Thursday - still out, but, she now stays out when the baby brine shrimp feeder runs, eating the bbs with all the other fish. She will still run and hide when I feed frozen though.

Friday - she's still eating the bbs, and much more actively now. Also, she stayed out tonight in the feeding frenzy while I fed frozen, and, she even pecked (and swallowed) about 3-4 small shaved pieces of gut loaded brine. Very happy about this.

Saturday (last night) - she's not as actively eating the bbs now, but, wouldn't you know it, when I fed the frozen, she ate the frozen as aggressively as my other two purple queens. I couldn't believe she took to it this quickly.

 

[ReefJunkie01]

So, looks like all three are doing well. Hoping it stays this way. Attached are pics of the three (one of the pics also shows my despar anthias clustered with them).

 

[ReefJunkie01]

So, I had made some modifications to this feeder system, and also made a duplicate system for a mandarin feeding tank I have going.

 

[ReefJunkie01]

more pics

 

[ReefJunkie01]

additional and final pics.

 

[johanasu]

Short Video, Purple Queen (Tuka) Anthias eating frozen Daphnia on day 1 in QT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cZOZJXgJQk

 

[Angel*Fish]

I just want to respectfully point out that the trick is not keep these fish alive for a couple of months to a year or so. That is not necessarily success. Seeing posts with success for that period of time is not reason to go out and "try" these fish.

 

[johanasu]

Are you saying we should wait to see them die of old age in captivity before trying to host them in our tanks?

I think seeing success of multiple months and/or years is exactly the reason we should follow the patterns of feeding and care that work.

A lot of the literature on Tuka Anthias states that they are actually quite hardy if you get them on a sustainable and consistent diet.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Are you saying we should wait to see them die of old age in captivity before trying to host them in our tanks?

I think seeing success of multiple months and/or years is exactly the reason we should follow the patterns of feeding and care that work.


A lot of the literature on Tuka Anthias states that they are actually quite hardy if you get them on a sustainable and consistent diet.

Any fish is hardy given the right conditions. But if not, they can die of malnutrition or slow starvation over a period of time. Mine lived 8 months, if I remember correctly.

My main concern is the inappropriate availability of fishes that are only for experts. If you buy a fish like this in the LFS, you're supporting the practice of selling animals doomed to die.

 

[johanasu]

You are assuming they are doomed to die, perhaps because that was your experience. Others have had their Tukas live for over a year and they are still alive.

There was a time when many other species were "doomed" and through hobbyist experience they have become much easier to care for.

If the species is not endangered or threatened, and they are being collected responsibly, I don't see the issue.

There are millions of saltwater fish dying in this hobby every year due to lack of user knowledge, this species is not unique in that regard. It is unfortunate, but if you believe the hobby should continue to exist then you are perpetuating the needless deaths of many animals as well.

I believe there is sufficient information available for us to keep these fish alive and potentially thriving. Time will tell.

 

[ca1ore]

I just want to respectfully point out that the trick is not keep these fish alive for a couple of months to a year or so. That is not necessarily success. Seeing posts with success for that period of time is not reason to go out and "try" these fish.

While I understand the argument, and have made variations thereof myself; ultimately it's a somewhat hypocritical one because by buying any marine fish, we are encouraging a practice that kills large numbers of fish prematurely. I have read anecdotes that suggest that for every 10 wild caught fish, only one lives for more than a year in captivity on average. Now, whether those numbers are correct or not, who knows; but if you think about the chain of custody, the ill conceived purchases, 'ich killed my tank' and so on, all of a sudden 10% doesn't seem like a reach. Maybe some fish do a bit better, and others worse; but I doubt any do well statistically.

 

[Angel*Fish]

You are assuming they are doomed to die, perhaps because that was your experience. Others have had their Tukas live for over a year and they are still alive.

There was a time when many other species were "doomed" and through hobbyist experience they have become much easier to care for.

If the species is not endangered or threatened, and they are being collected responsibly, I don't see the issue.

There are millions of saltwater fish dying in this hobby every year due to lack of user knowledge, this species is not unique in that regard. It is unfortunate, but if you believe the hobby should continue to exist then you are perpetuating the needless deaths of many animals as well.

I believe there is sufficient information available for us to keep these fish alive and potentially thriving. Time will tell.

I would rather not argue about the about the future of husbandry for tukas. I don't object to a person who is both dedicated and qualified having them. I never said they must all stay in the ocean. I'm saying that they should not be for sale at the LFS.

I assume you're aware, but for anyone reading this who doesn't know, it can be relatively easy to obtain a fish like a tuka from a supplier who will specifically get some for you. They won't be unobtainable if they aren't stocked at the LFS or online stores.

And I definitely do not believe the hobby should continue to exist as it does today. What happens to get these fish to the hobbyist is, in so many cases, unconscionable.

 

[johanasu]

Yet you support those practices by having saltwater fish? I understand where you are coming from but it seems a little hypocritical.... perhaps I'm confused

 

[Angel*Fish]

While I understand the argument, and have made variations thereof myself; ultimately it's a somewhat hypocritical one because by buying any marine fish, we are encouraging a practice that kills large numbers of fish prematurely. I have read anecdotes that suggest that for every 10 wild caught fish, only one lives for more than a year in captivity on average. Now, whether those numbers are correct or not, who knows; but if you think about the chain of custody, the ill conceived purchases, 'ich killed my tank' and so on, all of a sudden 10% doesn't seem like a reach. Maybe some fish do a bit better, and others worse; but I doubt any do well statistically.

And that is exactly why I'm out of the hobby. I do have a 100g still running with just some snails and algae. I may populate it with coral frags when I have time.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Yet you support those practices by having saltwater fish? I understand where you are coming from but it seems a little hypocritical.... perhaps I'm confused

So your best answer is an attack on my ethics?

 

[ca1ore]

And that is exactly why I'm out of the hobby. I do have a 100g still running with just some snails and algae. I may populate it with coral frags when I have time.

Fair enough; though you ought to change your sig then :lol:. While I think the ornamental trade probably get unfairly criticized for it's impact (versus other, better funded industries ), clearly it has an impact.

 

[johanasu]

Not intending to attack, my apologies, I was simply questioning your place in criticizing those who buy fish from LFS because it supports something illicit or "bad".

We harvest/fish and kill billions of fish to eat them, as Simon said, so I don't necessarily see the negative to the hobby as others might. Again, as long as the fish is not threatened or endangered, I don't see the need to call others out (as you originally did) for buying Tukas.

 

[Zaffor]

Guys lets not let this thread get too far off track, there may be others (myself included) who are working with these fish and could use the information provided.

Thanks

 

[Zaffor]

Ill go ahead and post my story with tukas so far. I had ordered a batch of 3 purple queens from a distributor but received a trio of pascalus anthias instead. These were extremely small (barely an inch or so long) fish and one didnt make it though the night. After some reading I found these to require similar care to the tukas which I was prepared for. I am using a biocube 29gal with an mp10 for circulation combined with some marinepure ceramic bio media to handle the frequent feeding. This tank has been setup as my QT tank for some time now and thus already cycled. I began breeding baby brine to start these fish eating, and they took to it fairly quickly. They would not even consider anything else although i tried cyclopeeze, medium brine, and frozen rotifers. I would try to refrigerate the brine as soon as they hatched to preserve the nutrition. I figured since I was already going through the motions, i picked up a larger trio of purple queens and fed them the same concoction. I purchased the "Hobby artemia breeder" from brine shrimp direct, this device made constant breeding and collecting a breeze. I had purchased some Oceans Nutrition ROE (fish eggs) and after several days the anthias started eating the eggs readily (one first and them slowly all of them). They started getting used to the frequent feeding and would actually gather when they saw me in front of the tank. Every morning I would add some .5mm pellets soaked with some other food and surprisingly one of the pascalus began eating these as well. Shortly after adding the queens I purchased some live brine and setup a small tank with an air stone and fed them phyto. The anthias started taking the live adult brine very eagerly so I would include some frozen brine which they ate as well. Now I have them graduated to frozen mysis (its been about 2 months or so for pascalus and a month for queens). I now feed several different foods several times a day always starting with pellets or ground up flake in the morning. It does seem that you need water movement to entice them to eat, and even the smaller anthias are comfortable swimming in the currect created by the powerhead.

Sorry for the long post, I just want to perhaps help anyone else who may be trying to keep these beauties succeed. I will update as time passes.

Wish me luck!

 

[Zaffor]

Here is a video of the fish in the QT tank. There is also a Potters wrasse in there (thus the bowl of sand)

http://youtu.be/iqRRs_kEDxo