Purple Queen Anthias

[mflamb]

What are your experiences with the Purple Queen Anthias? I will be getting some Anthias in the late summer, and am going to start asking questions about the ones that I like.

 

[BangkokMatt]

These are possibly the worst choice of anthias to be kept in an enclosed system. It is very rare that any survive. They don't adjust at all weel to captivity and virtually never accept food. They really should be left in the ocean.
I don't understand why they are collected in abundance.

 

[mflamb]

Thank you Matt. I read the difficult species list at the top of this forum, and nothing was said about these fish. Maybe something could be added.

 

[BangkokMatt]

They definitely should be spefically added to the list. Maybe I will do it later.
Lyretails, Bartlets and to a certain extent dispar (though some will dispute dispar's) anthias are considered the hardiest. IME the fathead anthis (sunbursts) have done very well for me (and are my personal favoutites). I currently keep 4 and have never had any problems with them (though they can be a little bit shy at first.

 

[SDguy]

I would definitely dispute dispars Feeding can be a problem, and wormy stringy poop is common

Bartlett, lyretail, redbar, redstripe, huchtii, hypselosoma, resplendent are all hardy, IMO.

 

[BangkokMatt]

I think the Dispay debate has a lot to do with location. A lot of reefers keep them successfully here in Thailand. However, they don't have to travel far before they are in the LFS. (They are mainly collected from Indonesia I believe). This probably has a lot to do with it. So...if you are living in the USA then maybe not a good idea to keep them

 

[ezcompany]

The only food I've seen the purple queens eat is frozen cyclopeeze. They are true planktivores, and take in minute quantities throughout the day. Most aquatic systems are not set up for this and cannot handle the extreme bio-load from the food.

 

[poknsnok]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12633645#post12633645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
Thank you Matt. I read the difficult species list at the top of this forum, and nothing was said about these fish. Maybe something could be added.

I have some redstripes Ill make a deal on

 

[snorvich]

Yes, it is almost impossible to get them to live in our type aquaria. You would have to have nearly a constant source of plankton which brings up bioload problems.