Purple queen anthias(Mirolabrichthys tuka)
- Thread starter h20 freak1
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revaltion131
New member
Very nice job, Matt. I like the feeder idea for those that want seahorses and can't feed them multiple times a day also.
We have one local club member that managed to get a pair of tukas to eat fairly quickly, live brine mainly, but he only had them for a couple of months before he got his orders and had to move. I don't know what's become of the anthias, but his success getting them to eat was more luck than anything else. He didn't do anything special besides skipping the QT and just started trying different foods.
We have one local club member that managed to get a pair of tukas to eat fairly quickly, live brine mainly, but he only had them for a couple of months before he got his orders and had to move. I don't know what's become of the anthias, but his success getting them to eat was more luck than anything else. He didn't do anything special besides skipping the QT and just started trying different foods.
Matt_Wandell
New member
I dug up a much better picture of one of the males that Rich Ross took. This one was while they were still in a holding tank.
And the auto-feeder.
And the auto-feeder.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
well... I can no longer say I don't know of anybody having success with this species in captivity.
It makes me wonder why some Anthias species will snap up just about anything floating in the water column and other species are so fussy.
It makes me wonder why some Anthias species will snap up just about anything floating in the water column and other species are so fussy.
Matt_Wandell
New member
You also know Joe Yaiullo.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
thanks for reminding me<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14616810#post14616810 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Matt_Wandell
You also know Joe Yaiullo.
I stand corrected. For all practical purposes this species is best avoided by the vast majority of mere mortals and you guys are here to show us it can be done. I'll be referencing this thread in the future.
BangkokMatt
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14614476#post14614476 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Matt_Wandell
Hey Gary!
I have to give credit to the folks at MBA for the auto-feeder. I don't know if they created it first, but it's where I got the idea. I fill this with live enriched adult and baby Artemia every morning along with a bit of Phytofeast Live to keep them "topped up".
Parts are:
Brine shrimp hatching cone from AquaticEco.com
8 cycle digital water timer valve from Gilmour (this is the grey box, basically a poor man's actuated ball valve)
Associated plumbing is pretty self explanatory. In this picture I hadn't plumbed a fill line yet. There is a tee off the return plumbing so I can fill the feeder every morning with system water by opening a valve. There's also an airline inside to keep everything suspended.
It dumps in every hour for 8 hours a day. This is half the battle as they need to eat more than brine shrimp, even enriched, every day. So capelin eggs, chopped clam, chopped mysis, arcti-pods, etc. are all tossed in. At this point they will snap at anything small that floats by but it took a year to get to that point. Capelin eggs and very finely chopped clam may work as first foods after they are eating live stuff.
One other thing, QT and isolation for several months is imho a necessity. Even given proper conditions I would expect these guys to have died if they went straight into a community tank. Too shy, wimpy, and slow to figure out where the food is for the first few months.
So that's how you do it. Thanks for the insight Matt.
Matt_Wandell
New member
Looks like the old photo attachments are dead...
Here's the auto-feeder again.
Here's the auto-feeder again.
