Purple queen anthias (tuka)

[ReefTeacher]

I have been in this hobby for about 40 years. EVERYTHING in the 70's was best left in the ocean. But we learned and discussed and compared. Now we keep all sorts of coral and fish that were impossible then, because of shared information. There is increasing success with tuka anthias, so I no longer label them BLITO. They might be a bit harder than a Regal Angel or an Achilles tang, but I think it is time to move them to the "expert" category. Certainly not for beginners but a beautiful fish worth working hard for.

Now if only we could make such progress with coral eating butterflies........

 

[eastlake]

I think there is a sticky somewhere in the fish section, if not you could search for it. I'm pretty sure I read in it that one way to help with the multiple feeding solution is to hook up a dosing pump to something like a rotifer, baby brine, brine shrimp, culture and set the doser to go off however many times need throughout the course of the day.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

i have a school of healthy purple queen anthias and I've had them for two years. The secret to keeping them is to start feeding them cyclops by omega one 4 to 5 times a day so they are eating. them use a food processor to grind up brine shrimp into tiny bits and add that to the cyclops. the anthias will be fooled and they'll start to eat both. after awhile you won't have to grind up the shrimp anymore cuz they'll start to eat the full size brine.that will fill them up cuz their food is larger. i feed them 2 to 3 times a day and their nice and fat. Now they eat mysis,brine,krill and just about anything i throw in the tank. Also i soak all their food in selcon which makes their beautiful purple color shine brightly. WONDERFUL fish to keep

 

[Callum96]

I have been in this hobby for about 40 years. EVERYTHING in the 70's was best left in the ocean. But we learned and discussed and compared. Now we keep all sorts of coral and fish that were impossible then, because of shared information. There is increasing success with tuka anthias, so I no longer label them BLITO. They might be a bit harder than a Regal Angel or an Achilles tang, but I think it is time to move them to the "expert" category. Certainly not for beginners but a beautiful fish worth working hard for.

Now if only we could make such progress with coral eating butterflies........

My views also, in 10 years or so tuka's will probably be classed as just as easy as the rest of the anthias to care for soon as someone starts selling an automatic feeder. If people don't try there best with these fish and all work to be able to care for them properly we'll never get any better at keeping these stunning fish. We could all just say best left in the ocean, even though they'll always be caught for the hobby due to there colours and leave the success rate as low as it is and just let them all die off because no ones found a way to care for them properly.

 

[Callum96]

i have a school of healthy purple queen anthias and I've had them for two years. The secret to keeping them is to start feeding them cyclops by omega one 4 to 5 times a day so they are eating. them use a food processor to grind up brine shrimp into tiny bits and add that to the cyclops. the anthias will be fooled and they'll start to eat both. after awhile you won't have to grind up the shrimp anymore cuz they'll start to eat the full size brine.that will fill them up cuz their food is larger. i feed them 2 to 3 times a day and their nice and fat. Now they eat mysis,brine,krill and just about anything i throw in the tank. Also i soak all their food in selcon which makes their beautiful purple color shine brightly. WONDERFUL fish to keep

Thanks for the info. Will get some of that I'd give it a try when the time comes.

 

[Callum96]

I had 4 for more than 2 years without problems, eventually a tank crash ended them.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=695884&page=4&highlight=tuka+purple+queen

Thanks have had a read through the thread very helpful. Such a shame about the crash.

 

[Scoobysnack77]

Thanks for the info. Will get some of that I'd give it a try when the time comes.

ok cool, getting them to take larger food is the ultimate goal. since none has the time to feed them 27 times a day.

 

[photoblepharon]

The oldest one at Steinhart is now around 9 years.

I know the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco has been able to keep them for several years, but they have the luxury of being able to feed the tank on a nearly continuous basis since they constantly flush the tank with fresh saltwater. It is close to impossible to keep them without putting so much food into your tank it fouls the water.

The tank they are in at Steinhart is actually not constantly flushed with saltwater. It's a closed system just like a home aquarium but with the luxury of very easy to do water changes and a large supply of saltwater. The tank gets about a 30% change once a week but more importantly it has a large skimmer and the filter sock is cleaned daily to remove any uneaten food.

:thumbsup:

 

[Callum96]

I have 20 coming on Wednesday, bit nervous.

 

[ReefTeacher]

Callum96

good luck! They are a great fish! Enjoy them as watch for the transition to males...they are stunning.

Are you prepared with cyclops and other foods?

 

[Callum96]

Callum96

good luck! They are a great fish! Enjoy them as watch for the transition to males...they are stunning.

Are you prepared with cyclops and other foods?

Thank you.

I have:

nyos gold pods
nyos Chromys ?
nyos Artemis ?
mysis RS
mysis PE
Cyclops
lobster eggs
red plankton
nyos wild Goji (worth a go?)

can you you think of ANYTHING that's missing or has ever worked for you in the past?

 

[Bent]

Dude. Some fish just are too much work. There are tons of other anthias out there that won't make you hate your life.

 

[Callum96]

I like a challenge, and I've had most of the other anthias.

 

[Bent]

I like a challenge, and I've had most of the other anthias.

Maybe it's just me, but the fine line between challenging and annoying is crossed with a fish that needs fed constantly.

Take lots of pics when u do this, more power to ya.

 

[Callum96]

All in your opinion of course, will add some pic's to this thread when I get them.

 

[Nanighan]

I have 20 coming on Wednesday, bit nervous.

Where did you order from? Locally or online?

 

[ca1ore]

I've tried Tuka on a few occasions. Have had success with most pseudoanthias species, but not them. Certainly the greater range of frozen choices makes them at least possible today, versus impossible in the past, but they require a major effort to feed enough. They also will not compete effectively in a community aquarium - at least, most individuals will not. They get spooked too easily.

I did keep a group of five for a few months recently in my NPS tank that was fed many times a day, and they did ok. Unfortunately body ulceration problems took them all down.

 

[mowhawk]

Hi

I have kept tukas in that past with varying degrees of success. I found the smaller tukas are more difficult as they require constant food.

Then I got a batch of bigger tukas and they were much easier to feed. I had a constant supply of copepods which they ate readily and had wonderful purple colouration.

Sadly I added a group of evansi anthias to the group and they all died from body ulcers.

I am going to set up a system which houses these beautiful fish. Will be interesting to see how you get on with yours, best of luck. Sanj

 

[ReefTeacher]

Callum96,

how is it going? Did they arrive? Are they doing well?

 

[ca1ore]

Sadly I added a group of evansi anthias to the group and they all died from body ulcers.

That's too bad. Ulcerations seem to be a big problem at the moment. Last group of resplendents I got all died from the same thing; after the first batch all lived. Strange.