twin spot anthias advice

[ksicard]

I recently purchased 3 twin spot anthias or Bimaculatus Anthias, and 2 of the 3 have some scarring on their sides that first appeared today after being in the tank for a week now. Its not a parasite or bacteria infection, it more looks like aggression from the 3rd perfectly healthy anthias.

My fish list includes:
2 maroon gold striped clownfish
1 golden dwarf moray eel
1 powder brown tang
3 twin spot anthias

I unfortunately do not have a QT system, so i'm looking for suggestions and advice on how to proceed with the hurt fish.

The odd thing is I haven't noticed any overly aggressive behaviors exchanged between the anthias other than an occasional chase and nip. The two hurt anthias are being more reclusive then when they were first added but they do come out for a brief time for feedings, and the 3rd anthias is just out and about with no issues.

 

[ca1ore]

Are they all females?

I know you say you don't QT, which it too bad, because anthias can benefit greatly from continuous uncompetitive feeding. I have 5 bimacs in my tank and have no aggression issues. 'Scarring' sounds like it might be injury from your powder brown tang. The 'scalpel' that gives them their name can certainly inflict vertical scars.

 

[ksicard]

Yes all three are females, and they all have been eating quite well since day 1. New Life Spectrum Pellets, frozen PE mysis, and rods food. I'm aware that tangs have scalpels but I haven't seen any aggression exchanges between the anthias and the tang. I will keep a closer eye on them to see if I notice any aggression.

 

[ca1ore]

Maybe you can show a picture. That they are eating pellets is a good sign. None of mine would initially, and it took many months before some would (still not all of them).

 

[ksicard]

The two that have the scarring are really being more reclusive and staying in the rockwork and I have LEDs so I'm not sure i'd be able to get a picture with the detail that would be needed to see the scaring accurately. I can try, but the leds have a tendency to produce crap pictures with my limited photography abilities. And you mentioned the tang makes vertical scars, in this case the anthias have horizontal scars.

Do you think they could have been startled while sleeping and scraped up against the rockwork? I went with a minimalist mentality for my rock scape this time around and I wonder if there was some jostling at night with the fish trying to claim a sleeping place and maybe they got startled and scraped up against the rock.

 

[ca1ore]

Ha, yes, I can relate to the photography challenges. Scrapes could certainly be from the rockwork. That they are hiding may simply be a result of them feeling a bit bullied. When I introduced my five, two stayed hidden for a while. It was probably 2-3 weeks before they were out an about regularly. That, BTW, is an underappreciated benefit of QT. You can feed new fish almost constantly without worrying about waste buildup, thus enabling them to survive a few weeks of hiding in the display.

 

[ksicard]

I've got one last question I'd like to pick your brain with. If the powder brown tang is the culprit of the scars is there anything I can do to decrease the aggression between them or do I simply have to part with either the anthias or the powder brown? I would really prefer not to have to give either of them up. And after further inspection they were vertical scars and not horizontal, I was mistaken in my previous statement.

 

[ca1ore]

Well, as long as the fish are coming out to feed, I'd be inclined to give it a bit more time. I'm not all that experienced with the Powder Brown, preferring the blue, which can be very aggressive, so it may be OK. It also may be that you'll have to remove the Tang. How big is the tank?

 

[ksicard]

The tank is only a 90g, I figured if I only kept 1 tang and 3 anthias they would be alright. I think I might need to re home the powder brown tang. 1 of the anthias didn't make it and I like the anthias more than the tang. I've had a number of tangs and anthias over the years and i've never had a problem between the two so i'm kinda scratching my head on this one. I appreciate your speedy replies and advice.