Good beginner anthias?

leveldrummer

leveldrummer

New member
Ive got a 250 gallon DD tank, its opening up possible fish that Ive never had the chance to keep before, Id like to get 3-5 anthias, or even 3-5 of 2 different anthias, Ive never kept them before, Im aware of their needs and have no problem feeding often.

What is a good (not super expensive and hardy) fish for a first time anthias keeper? I was looking at bartletts, lyretails, squarebacks, squammis, etc. any others I should consider?
 
I dont have a ton of experience by I really like my Lyretail, he is very personable, a beatiful orange with blue marks and plays well with others(clown/gramma/firefish). It has also helped that a lot of stores in the area have been having sales on them for 15-20 each.
 
Bartletts or Lyretails (which are squammis) are probably the easiest, though the former can get a bit chippy.
 
eatbreakfast said:
Dispars and ignitus are hardy and peaceful. They are my top choices for a first time anthias.
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If they are shipped well, I agree. Back in the day, for whatever reason they were so hard to keep alive. They still often come in skinny with sunken in bellies. Now I think they come in fatter and healthier, overall though. If you have the room, lyretails are my first choice.

In the OP's size tank. I'd do lyretails and ignitus.
 
currently keeping 5 dispars doing well. usually get 3 for $60.
my first anthias attempt was lyretails.. had an issue with one turning male and eveyrthing ended quick once out of quarantine.
 
I have 3 lyretails that I got from DD and really like them. 1 male and 2 females. They get along fine with my yellow coris and 5 banggai.
 
SDguy said:
And just aggressive in general... I wouldn't recommend them.
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You experienced aggression too from Barlett's? I had one a while ago and it was aggressive towards my clowns that were added before the Anthias. So I took it out. Thought it was abnormal.
 
CoralsAddiction said:
You experienced aggression too from Barlett's? I had one a while ago and it was aggressive towards my clowns that were added before the Anthias. So I took it out. Thought it was abnormal.
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CoralsAddiction said:
Otherwise it ate like a pig and was very active.
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Yup... it got really bad when he was alone. Just decided to try to kill all the other species of anthias in the tank. Yanked him out of there quickly.
 
I've kept all sorts of anthias for the last 8 years now, and have only recently acquired Carberryi anthias in my harem of ignitus/dispars/evansi/purple queens.

Now I'm hitting myself in the head for not attempting them earlier (more b/c of their random availability).

If you see any for sale, I would definitely recommend them. Their muted yellows and pinks remind me of all the colors of a bartlett, without the aggression.

They are bold too, quickly acclimating to existing anthias, but done in such a peaceful way.

Another thing to note about them is, I have never seen a skinny carberryi. All the ones that I have had chanced upon were fat and healthy. This may be just my luck, but it is my experience.

I agree with SDguy that ignitus and dispars will sometimes come in with sunken bellies. They are often seen in the aquarium trade, so take your time and make sure you pick fat ones to begin with.

My experience with lyretails have been negative. So negative that the thought of putting another lyretail in my tank gives me the chills. It was a large female turning male, and it not only killed all the other lyretails in my tank, it grew so big and aggressive that it would even harass the large wrasses in my tank. I had to tear down my entire tank to catch it.

But it looks like other people did not have similar experiences with lyretails.
 
I've kept all kinds, of reef fish, but never any anthias.
As a newbie to anthias, what would you guys reccomend for a 120 gallon (48x24x24), with other fish to include a Tomini Tang and a Blue Line angel? Should the Anthias be introduced before the other fish, or is it okay to put them in afterwards?

120 isbeing rebooted, Blue Line & Tomini are juvi's and are not in the 120 yet...yes Anthias would be QT'd before, going into the tank...I'm anal like that.
 
maxxII said:
I've kept all kinds, of reef fish, but never any anthias.
As a newbie to anthias, what would you guys reccomend for a 120 gallon (48x24x24), with other fish to include a Tomini Tang and a Blue Line angel? Should the Anthias be introduced before the other fish, or is it okay to put them in afterwards?

120 isbeing rebooted, Blue Line & Tomini are juvi's and are not in the 120 yet...yes Anthias would be QT'd before, going into the tank...I'm anal like that.
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Anthias can be added at any step. Dispars and ignitus are my top recommendation for first time anthias, they are hardy and peaceful. Squamipinnis and bartletts are hardy, but can be a little aggressive towards one another.
 
Other than the few hyper-aggressive Tangs, neither they nor Angels are likely to pay much attention to anthias.
 
Lyretails, I had M-F-F as my first set of Anthias, and even added another F-F-F trio without any aggression... Broke my heart when I moved and had to rehome them.. Absolutely love them and their activity/color addition to the system.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. What are you feeding your anthias? Any tips/tricks to getting eating prepared foods? What sort of diseases are they prone to?
Any QT concerns or things to watch out for? I know they need to be fed regularly, but would a regular diet of NLS pellets supplemented with the occassional feeding of frozen food (3x-5x a week), be a problem in long term health?

I work a rotating shift so I currently have fish that dont need to be fed daily and can get away with feeding my tank 3x-5x weekly with no ill effects on the fish. Obviously anthias,(or any planctivore), are not going to be able to handle that so an automatic feeder would be a potential solution...assuming you guys feel it would be doable.
 
maxxII said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. What are you feeding your anthias? Any tips/tricks to getting eating prepared foods? What sort of diseases are they prone to?
Any QT concerns or things to watch out for? I know they need to be fed regularly, but would a regular diet of NLS pellets supplemented with the occassional feeding of frozen food (3x-5x a week), be a problem in long term health?

I work a rotating shift so I currently have fish that dont need to be fed daily and can get away with feeding my tank 3x-5x weekly with no ill effects on the fish. Obviously anthias,(or any planctivore), are not going to be able to handle that so an automatic feeder would be a potential solution...assuming you guys feel it would be doable.
Click to expand...

Definitely going to need to be fed multiple times per day. There have been some negative comments on bartletts but IMO they are beautiful and eat like a pig. After becoming acclimated to my QT they will eat anything I put in the tank.

I feed my bartletts twice a day but will often sprinkle some food in if I'm walking by. Their main foods include mysis, brine, chopped krill, cylopeez, fish eggs and two types of pellets (NLS and Omega one). Usually the pellets are just added throughout the day when I'm passing by and the frozen/refrigerated stuff are their main meals.
 
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