Anthias
Many Anthias fish species are relatively hardy, but require food often in order to thrive in the home aquarium. Generally, they require a variety of plankton feedings because they have a high metabolism and small mouths. Mysis, fish roe, Nutramar ova, and cyclopeeze tend to work well with some taking black worms as well. Due to the complex social structure of Anthias, it is advisable to keep one specimen per tank unless you have a relatively large tank (e.g. greater than about 125 gallons. These fish are serial hermaphrodites with dominant females able to change into males. In large groups there will be one or more males and multiple females. Clearly these fish cannot be intermixed with fish that will eat them. Some species of anthias can be mixed while other highly peaceful ones cannot be mixed with aggressive ones.
Q. Can I keep anthias in my reef tank?
A. Yes. Anthias are planktivores which are well suited for a reef display. They will not bother corals or other invertebrates. The smallest shrimp may be in trouble with some of the larger species, but even that is unlikely.
Q. Do anthias need to be kept in groups?
A. Generally speaking, for many of the hardy, more commonly available species, no. Often the more aggressive, outgoing species are in fact better kept as single specimens, especially in the confines of a smaller tank. Most anthias have a complex social structure, which can lead to fighting in a home aquarium. More timid species do better in groups; providing them a sense of security which a single fish would lack.
Q. How many anthias can I keep in my tank?
A. This will depend on the species, tank setup/equipment, and husbandry/maintenance. While many species are small, relative to other commonly kept marine fish, their feeding requirements can put a significant strain on a system. Often, one will run out of biocapacity due to increase in the bioload of the tank before they run out of physical space for the fish. They are also very active, constantly swimming.
Q. Do I need to QT anthias?
A. Yes. Acclimation to captivity is the first reason. Newly imported anthias are often starved, and unaccustomed to eating prepared foods. They will often only accept the smallest, frozen meaty foods, and then, only in tiny portions, very frequently. They must be adapted to eating larger foods, eating more food per feeding, and competing for food with other fish. This is all much easier to do in a separate QT system, without the presence/intimidation from other established, more aggressive feeders. Of course, the second reason to QT is to observe the fish for disease. Bacterial infections, as well as worms/flukes are not uncommon.
Q. Can I keep multiple species of anthias in the same tank?
A. Generally, yes, depending on the species and the size of the tank. Anthias will pay much more attention to conspecifics, than to other species around them. Even males of multiple species will often live together without problem, especially if they have females to occupy their time.
Q. How do I tell females from males?
A. Depending on the species, some can be very easy to tell apart (ie orange female lyretails vs red/purple males) while others have only subtle differences, like dispar anthias.
Q. Why are my anthias fighting so much with each other?
A. Anthias all start as females. The most dominant fish will turn into a male. If that male dies, the next most dominant female will turn into a male. Because of this dynamic, each fish is always trying to keep its place in line, or advance to the next higher position in the group. In an ideal situation, amongst a group of females, one will be clearly dominant, and turn male; and the other females will have established places in the hierarchy as well. Complications arise when females that have already begun to turn male (not easily visible to us, if at all) are placed in a tank with a full male, or even another changing female. Adding new fish to already established fish can also cause issues. It is best to add a group one species all at once. If adding more fish to an already established group, it is best to only add small females, so there is no question to their sex, or their place in the group (bottom of the totem pole). New fish must be in excellent health. Anthias will detect and attack sick individuals, regardless of size or sex.
Q. Can anthias be kept with other fish?
A. Anthias get along with most other fish. More aggressive anthias species can bother very timid fish, and of course small species can be swallowed by larger predatory fish. But otherwise, they play well with others.
Q. Do anthias need to be fed five or more times a day?
A. Anthias do best when fed small amounts of food often. Many of the hardy, more commonly available species can be acclimated to each larger amounts, less frequently, and do just fine. Again, QT is invaluable for this process. It may take weeks to months for newly imported specimens to regain their proper body mass, so frequent feeding may be critical at first.
Q. What should I feed my anthias?
A. Any and all manner of small meaty foods can be fed. Finely minced frozen shrimp, squid, scallop, clam, mysis, plankton are just a small sampling of easily obtained foods. More finicky species may require live foods at first, or even throughout their time in captivity. High quality dry foods may also eventually be accepted.
Q. My anthias won't eat, now what?
A. Try every food you can get your hands on. Also, fast movement of the food can often trigger a feeding response. Food blown out of a powerhead is an excellent way to achieve this. Live foods may need to be tried as well. Try mysis, capelin fish roe, cyclopeeze, nutramar ova
Q. Do anthias jump?
A. Like all fast moving, active fish, anthias have the capability of jumping out of the tank. Often this can happen when individuals get excited about the prospect of being fed. This can also happen during quick chasing incidents from other fish. Otherwise, generally speaking, anthias don't bolt for the surface haphazardly.
Q. Why did I have more than one anthias turn into a male?
A. There is no easy answer. Perhaps the “femalesâ€Â were already in the process of changing, at least internally. Perhaps whatever stimuli keeping the females from changing were not present with only one male in the system. Sometimes multiple males will change, and still be able to live in the same tank. Other times, one or more fish will have to be removed, or risk death.
