Let's see those Anthias!!!!

[Reefing Newbie]

I plan on keeping a group of 5 anthias in my 125 gallon tank and originally planned for resplendent(still a distinct possiblity), but started looking at other species like ignitus, dispar, carberryi... I am trying to stick to species that are between 3-4" max(I don't think 5 5" fish plus a trio of 5" fairy wrasses will make my tank look very big). Should be easy to care for(no purple queen anthias) because I only have experience with damsels and clowns thus far. Please show pictures of your anthias and please state the species! Online sites pictures vary from every website and don't have the normal home aquarium lighting.

 

[freetareef]

this should be good!!

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I hope so lol. Thing is that my lfs never have a huge variety of the fish I want when I am there and I don't want to order things and not like them. I have only seen purple queen anthias(only one) and it wasn't eating...

 

[sjwitt]

Female Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) Started with 2 females and 1 male. Only this one survived QT.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Thanks sjwitt! Nice picture!

 

[Six line]

They have them (resplendent) ~$33 a piece on liveaquaria and honestly I'd go for it. Finicky as anthias are their 30 day guarantee might come in handy. Might give you an excuse to buy a coral, too, to get the free shipping at $225.

Wish shipping wasn't so much, I have a nano so I can't justify spending $40 on shipping for a fish and a 2" colony.

 

[LinkinReef]

If you're planning on adding lyretail you might want to add them as last fish because they are very aggressive. I have 3 in my 210g, 2 females and one male. The male is a extremely aggressive as he attacks both females, my midas blenny and any other smaller fish. he doesn't mess with my tangs though. I'm attempting to take him out as well as the females as I regret putting them in the tank. Once I'm able to get them out, I will stock with peaceful anthias such as dispar, ignitus, resplendent and evansi. Leter on I might add some crabberyi and "maybe" some lyretail.

Here's the male:

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I like the lyretail anthias' coloration, but it simply doesn't make up for the aggressive bahavior. They also get to be 5" I believe and I don't want a group of 5 fish that are that big.

 

[elegance coral]

I've never seen a lyretail that was five inches. Three to four maybe. I've seen it listed that they reach five inches, but I highly doubt it. IME they are no more aggressive than any other anthias.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I guess I will take that into consideration before making a decision. Still waiting to see pictures of other species like resplendents, dispar, ignitus, etc... SDguy and snorvich have quite a bit of experience with them and have several species. It would be great to see if they have pictures!

 

[aecasasus]

Here are our Dispar Anthias... They are VERY colorful! Since you want 5 of them, they are perfect because they can be very shy and some won't come out unless they are in a large group. We started out with three and one would always hide until we got a fourth one. Now, they all come out. We like them so much, that we're planning on getting two more.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Thanks for the pictures of your Dispars aecasasus! They look gorgeous, I really started second guess them when I saw a picture of a few where they were mostly white lol. Like I said, better to get pictures from other hobbyists as it is more realistic than the retailers specially lit aquariums.

 

[aecasasus]

Thanks for the pictures of your Dispars aecasasus! They look gorgeous, I really started second guess them when I saw a picture of a few where they were mostly white lol. Like I said, better to get pictures from other hobbyists as it is more realistic than the retailers specially lit aquariums.

Thanks! Wish the picture would make good justice, they look even better in person. They have an orange/pinkish/peach body and yellowish tail. I think any hobbyist that owns Dispars can tell you the same. Also, they school.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

The group effect is what I am looking for. I don't like tanks with just single specimens of various varieties of fish, I am more so for multiple small groups where I can such as anthias.

 

[aecasasus]

The group effect is what I am looking for. I don't like tanks with just single specimens of various varieties of fish, I am more so for multiple small groups where I can such as anthias.

:thumbsup: You might then enjoy the Dispars!

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Keep the pictures coming, still haven't seen ignitus, repslendents, or carberryi anthias. Would love to be able to compare the pictures.

 

[A_Z]

The group effect is what I am looking for. I don't like tanks with just single specimens of various varieties of fish, I am more so for multiple small groups where I can such as anthias.

freshwater has so many grouping fish compared to saltwater and so few single fish , I myself prefer diversity.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Actually saltwater probably has more grouping fish, it's just that we are unable to provide enough space for them. Tangs school or shoal in the wild, we just are unable to to provide the space to get the grouping affect. Sure we can hold multiple tangs, just not able for them to swim tightly together.

 

[KSzegi]

Thread is a little old so you might have chosen your anthias already - but if not, here are a couple ignitus.

 

[solitude127]

Here are a few of mine.