Purple Anthias Eating Like Pig! But only if...
- Thread starter Angel*Fish
- Start date
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Thanks Samsky,
I was so sorry to see her go. The other one is still increasingly robust & has begun eating live adult brine which is good especially because I was loading them with the parasite medicine.
So far this fish shows no outward signs of having the parasites at all.
I was so sorry to see her go. The other one is still increasingly robust & has begun eating live adult brine which is good especially because I was loading them with the parasite medicine.
So far this fish shows no outward signs of having the parasites at all.
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Now 4 months - Good news, now he's eating frozen brine shrimp! I buy the kind that's gut loaded with spirulina, so that's a little more stuff to round out his diet. He's starting to look almost fat & healthy. I'm very encouraged. For the last month or so I've also been growing out the BBS for several days & loading it with Selcon or DT's. 
Also It's been at least 3 weeks or more since I've seen this fish resting on the sand. She's not superactive like the dispars, but always in the water column.
The worms (or whatever it was) seem to be absent from all the fish. I have to retreat again in 6 weeks... I lost 2 fish: the blackcap basslet & the sunburst anthias. There were a number of problems going on besides the worms, though . Our a/c went out & the tank got up to over 90 degrees twice. I was sure I would lose both the flames, the male was vertical & gasping. But they are looking great now. Much thanks to Leebco for posting links that helped me diagnose the problem.
Now I've got RO problems but those should be fixed as soon the new cartridges arrive.
Also It's been at least 3 weeks or more since I've seen this fish resting on the sand. She's not superactive like the dispars, but always in the water column.
The worms (or whatever it was) seem to be absent from all the fish. I have to retreat again in 6 weeks... I lost 2 fish: the blackcap basslet & the sunburst anthias. There were a number of problems going on besides the worms, though . Our a/c went out & the tank got up to over 90 degrees twice. I was sure I would lose both the flames, the male was vertical & gasping. But they are looking great now. Much thanks to Leebco for posting links that helped me diagnose the problem.
Now I've got RO problems but those should be fixed as soon the new cartridges arrive.
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Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Prazipro--I think the active ingredient something like praziquantel. I didn't put any directly in the water as opposed to the instructions --I either soaked their food (dry Hikari brine shrimp) or loaded some live brine shrimp with it.
To dose: I'd remove a huge serving of live brine with a turkey baster into another container & add about 6-10 drops of the Prazipro & let the brine eat it for about 5 hours & then strain & rinse really well.
When I soaked the dried brine I also rinsed, but many of the fish got to where they really didn't want the dried stuff. I would still use this method in conjuntion with the gut loading because I think they got a bigger dose of medicine in the dry food.
I was truly amazed that they got well, especially the ones that were really looking bad. The main symptom was that they were getting thin/hollow along the top side of their bodies just above the lateral line - like they were pinched. Some were getting bloated below the lat. line raising the scales a little.
To dose: I'd remove a huge serving of live brine with a turkey baster into another container & add about 6-10 drops of the Prazipro & let the brine eat it for about 5 hours & then strain & rinse really well.
When I soaked the dried brine I also rinsed, but many of the fish got to where they really didn't want the dried stuff. I would still use this method in conjuntion with the gut loading because I think they got a bigger dose of medicine in the dry food.
I was truly amazed that they got well, especially the ones that were really looking bad. The main symptom was that they were getting thin/hollow along the top side of their bodies just above the lateral line - like they were pinched. Some were getting bloated below the lat. line raising the scales a little.
i have a purple queen and it doesnt really eat anything that i feed to the tank. But when i'm watching from afar she/he comes out and looks like she/he's eating gulps of food from the water column but all i see is debris. I have no idea what she's eating or living on.
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Laurence,
I just found your post - sorry for the late reply.
Thanks! But I don't have a website or anything.
I still have her, BTW -- 5.5 months now I believe. I slacked off on feeding the live brine nauplii, occasionally skipping a day or feeding here and there in hopes she'd adapt more to the larger frozen adult brine & mysis. But she lost weight, so I'm back to the 2x day BBS regimen.
I found someone in Australia who keeps tukas apparently with no trouble - OZReef.com (or something like that) - he says he finds the tukas about as easy as other anthias - but that they are only 12 hours from collection to his tank. Is the trauma associated with collection and transport so damaging to these fish that they rarely recover? if the people involved in this handled these fish more gently would it make all the difference??
I just found your post - sorry for the late reply.
Thanks! But I don't have a website or anything.
How long have you had it? I can't imagine that it could possibly get enough food that way. I'm pretty sure it will starve if you don't find a way to get this fish to eat more. I found that mine does seem to prefer tiny foods (artemia nauplii) that she gulps as you describe.
I still have her, BTW -- 5.5 months now I believe. I slacked off on feeding the live brine nauplii, occasionally skipping a day or feeding here and there in hopes she'd adapt more to the larger frozen adult brine & mysis. But she lost weight, so I'm back to the 2x day BBS regimen.
I found someone in Australia who keeps tukas apparently with no trouble - OZReef.com (or something like that) - he says he finds the tukas about as easy as other anthias - but that they are only 12 hours from collection to his tank. Is the trauma associated with collection and transport so damaging to these fish that they rarely recover? if the people involved in this handled these fish more gently would it make all the difference??
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
I hijacked this photo from maxpower2112's gallery....
This is not a tuka or pascalus but they should look plump like this fish if they are robust
I couldn't find a photo of a healthy looking purple anthias - If you check out the previous photos of my tukas in this thread you will see very thin ones
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Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
- I couldn't find a picture of a fat tuka, but I have seen tham at the LFS - Sorry for the confusion, I was just trying to let you know how "fat " their bodies can look, in case you hadn't seen one
If you look at the earlier photos of my fish in this thread, you'll see mine do have a slight yellow stripe (though still not to be confused with maxpower2112's fish just above) Those are female Pseudanthias tukas. The male P.tuka lacks the yellow stripe. Female & male Pseudanthias pascalas also lack the yellow stripe but the male will have a dark red patch of color on his dorsal fin which you will not see in the male P. tuka. The 2 species are very similar fishes with, as far as we know, similar care requirements.
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Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
6 mo- Feeding the live artemia nauplii a little less often
The fish has remained female..
I think she might be more comfortable in the tank with a couple of other anthias of her species - she doesn't really interact with any of the other anthias.
My lights must be on too long for her because she goes to bed about a half hour before lights out. There is never any bottom resting any more --
She'll eat live adult brine, frozen mysis - still dosn't like cyclopeeze.
The fish has remained female..
I think she might be more comfortable in the tank with a couple of other anthias of her species - she doesn't really interact with any of the other anthias.
My lights must be on too long for her because she goes to bed about a half hour before lights out. There is never any bottom resting any more --
She'll eat live adult brine, frozen mysis - still dosn't like cyclopeeze.
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
OK thanks I was just searching the photo gallary
Pseudanthias tuka - This is a male with a female in the background
Pseudanthias tuka - This is a male with a female in the background
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
7 month BD - fed live brine with a turkey baster today - didn't know so much food could fit into one fish - not very nutritious - but it was a treat - she's been eating frozen mysis
Her appetite is starting to be more like the other fish
She always looks lonely & doesn't associate with the other anthias- so I bought her a friend
I'm not sure but I think it's a female P. pascalus??? The bicolor has been picking on it, so I've been trying to catch him and send him to the refugium. Maybe better luck tomorrow. I guess he's a "supermale" - he terrorizes the whole tank
Her appetite is starting to be more like the other fish
She always looks lonely & doesn't associate with the other anthias- so I bought her a friend
I'm not sure but I think it's a female P. pascalus??? The bicolor has been picking on it, so I've been trying to catch him and send him to the refugium. Maybe better luck tomorrow. I guess he's a "supermale" - he terrorizes the whole tank
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Well she only made it 8 months. 
The other purple anthias I recently added was MIA the very same day.
For posterity here's what I think contributed to her death
1) The addition of another purple anthias - I believe strongly that this fish brought the parasites/disease that did her in. This is the second time I added a purple anthias to an apparently healthy one only to lose them both in a short time. I was afraid to add this fish because of this and should have quarantined it. Big mistake that, in my opinion, is the primary cause of the timing of her death.
2) Recent tank stresses - too much heat and sand addition to the refugium causing very cloudy water about 3 days before
3) Got a little lazy with the brine nauplii the last 3-4 weeks during home remodeling - Still supplied some every day - but maybe half of "normal" amount
4) Long term lack of proper nutrition - She gradually lost her color and became a much paler pink than is normal. I assume the cause of this was nutritional deficiency - She was eating mysis in addition to the live naupli which was occasionally enriched with Selcon. She didn't care for most other foods including Cyclopeeze. She would eat enriched frozen brine and live adult brine also.
Won't be "saving" any more of these from the LFS :sad1:
If anyone is an expert or has experience or success with these fish I'd appreciate a post/feedback even when this thread is old.
It has been a period on my little reef that I won't forget & will always have an interest (though not a hand) in.
Thanks
The other purple anthias I recently added was MIA the very same day.For posterity here's what I think contributed to her death
1) The addition of another purple anthias - I believe strongly that this fish brought the parasites/disease that did her in. This is the second time I added a purple anthias to an apparently healthy one only to lose them both in a short time. I was afraid to add this fish because of this and should have quarantined it. Big mistake that, in my opinion, is the primary cause of the timing of her death.
2) Recent tank stresses - too much heat and sand addition to the refugium causing very cloudy water about 3 days before
3) Got a little lazy with the brine nauplii the last 3-4 weeks during home remodeling - Still supplied some every day - but maybe half of "normal" amount
4) Long term lack of proper nutrition - She gradually lost her color and became a much paler pink than is normal. I assume the cause of this was nutritional deficiency - She was eating mysis in addition to the live naupli which was occasionally enriched with Selcon. She didn't care for most other foods including Cyclopeeze. She would eat enriched frozen brine and live adult brine also.
Won't be "saving" any more of these from the LFS :sad1:
If anyone is an expert or has experience or success with these fish I'd appreciate a post/feedback even when this thread is old.
It has been a period on my little reef that I won't forget & will always have an interest (though not a hand) in.
Thanks
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adddo
“Goodnight, tiny humans.â€
I have 3 of these, they eat like hogs all 3 of them. The LFS started them with live mosquito larvae i think and then weened them into taking frozen artemia.
I now feed them frozen artemia and cyklopeeze and a couple of times a wek i put in some phytoplankton (they like that). they get fed 2-3 times a day and all are reasonably fat and healthy.
Beatiful fishes.
I now feed them frozen artemia and cyklopeeze and a couple of times a wek i put in some phytoplankton (they like that). they get fed 2-3 times a day and all are reasonably fat and healthy.
Beatiful fishes.
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
Thanks for the post!
The person that I know of that has kept these successfully is in Germany I think - But I really need to double check on that. I know of a person in Australia who claims success and figures our problems here in the states are due to shipping stress.
I had one that ate anything and lots of it- then one day all of a sudden it went crazy swimming backflips and died
One thing that may have had a significant detrimental affect on mine was tank temp. Though these fish live in deep water they also come up into the shallows to feed so I thought my warm tank would be ok--maybe not (82-83 & 84 F)
How long have you had yours, BTW & what's your tank temperature? In Sweden are they considered extremely difficult fish?
The person that I know of that has kept these successfully is in Germany I think - But I really need to double check on that. I know of a person in Australia who claims success and figures our problems here in the states are due to shipping stress.
I had one that ate anything and lots of it- then one day all of a sudden it went crazy swimming backflips and died
One thing that may have had a significant detrimental affect on mine was tank temp. Though these fish live in deep water they also come up into the shallows to feed so I thought my warm tank would be ok--maybe not (82-83 & 84 F)
How long have you had yours, BTW & what's your tank temperature? In Sweden are they considered extremely difficult fish?
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adddo
“Goodnight, tiny humans.â€
Hello Marie.
These 3 girls have been with me for only 2 months so far so they are still kind of new. But as i said im happy with the way they are eating and behaving, always out swimming in the water column, they often stand in the current all 3 of them and shifting places.
My tank temperature is very stable on 26 degrees Celsius i think that is 78.8 Fahrenheit( i run a chiller to keep it stable.)
I havent seen them in any LFS for the past couple of years so i really didnt know much about them until my favourite LFS got them in a shipment, i then started reading up about them and got the impression that they are a bit more demanding than the regular Anthias, but still not 'impossible'. At the LFS they conceded that they werent experts on this very fish but from what they knew it should be no harder than any other as long as they start eating.
Reason i felt somewhat comfortable buying them is the fact that i have my chiller keeping my tank at a stable temperature. Since from what i've read about these they generally live in deeper waters just as you say.
I'll keep you posted with updates of my progression on these beautiful fishes if you wish.
These 3 girls have been with me for only 2 months so far so they are still kind of new. But as i said im happy with the way they are eating and behaving, always out swimming in the water column, they often stand in the current all 3 of them and shifting places.
My tank temperature is very stable on 26 degrees Celsius i think that is 78.8 Fahrenheit( i run a chiller to keep it stable.)
I havent seen them in any LFS for the past couple of years so i really didnt know much about them until my favourite LFS got them in a shipment, i then started reading up about them and got the impression that they are a bit more demanding than the regular Anthias, but still not 'impossible'. At the LFS they conceded that they werent experts on this very fish but from what they knew it should be no harder than any other as long as they start eating.
Reason i felt somewhat comfortable buying them is the fact that i have my chiller keeping my tank at a stable temperature. Since from what i've read about these they generally live in deeper waters just as you say.
I'll keep you posted with updates of my progression on these beautiful fishes if you wish.
