Ventralis Anthias Order

[Kinetic]

Hi LA,

I acclimated my 3 ventralis anthias today into my QT tank. On arrival one is floating a bit funny. A couple hours later I saw it stuck to the powerhead. The powerhead is a very weak 200gph powerhead and it can't even swim away from it.

The other two have zoomed into the holes of a pile of rocks I have for the QT.

Is this bad? I'm used to anthias being very good with high flow, but at 200gph she's being sucked in.

Right now I turned off the powerhead, and I'm using an extremely strong air pump instead.

The anthias now seems ok, but not leaving the powerhead. swimming a bit and perching on the powerhead.

Thanks!

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

Thank you for contacting us with the status on your order. It sounds like the one Anthias is quite stressed which is why it is hanging around the power head. We recommend to keep an eye on the fish and use Garlic Xtreme or Selcon enriched foods which should help the Anthias adjust quickly. We placed a note on your order please keep us informed on the status of the Anthias. Good luck with these beautiful fish.

Please feel free to contact us with any further questions or concerns.

Stacie R
Technical Support
Live Aquaria

 

[Kinetic]

Hi Stacie, thanks for replying to me.

Yeah the fish definitely was stressed. This morning I found her dead =( I quickly scooped her out and put her in a freezer bag and put her in the freezer just in case you guys want to take a look?

It's super sad! what a beautiful fish =(((

I did a water change on the QT tank with some water from my matured prop tank just to make sure it didn't start to decompose. The other two are still hiding in the rocks right now, which I guess is normal behavior for new anthias anyway =)

would you guys like to see the dead anthias? I don't mean to sound gruesome, but in the past I had a coral die and a representative asked me to send in the coral. Unfortunately I had thrown it out by then =(

thanks, I'll keep you updated on the other two =)

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

Thank you for letting us know. We apologize for the loss of the Anthias. It is never easy to loose a fish. We will issue a credit immediately to your account with us to use on a future order. You may dispose of the fish body. Back in August when you were working with the Supervisor she had requested for you to hold on to any Live Aquaria species that perish prior to contacting us.

When placing your next order over the phone, you may redeem your credit by simply notifying the agent that you would like to apply it to your order. If you are placing the order on the Internet, please put a comment in the "Notes For This Order" box at the end of the ordering process stating that you have a credit on file that you would like applied to your order. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please keep us updated on the remaining two Anthias. Yes, it is quite common they will hide when first introduced.

Stacie R
Technical Support
Live Aquaria

 

[Kinetic]

Hi Stacie,

Thanks for the fast response!! It's always comforting to know that I'm dealing with such a great stand up company =)

I'll definitely keep an eye out on the other two anthias. Hopefully they come out so I can start feeding them. I'll feed tonight to see if that will entice them to come out. I have an auto feeder ready to feed them 4x a day, but for now I'll do it manually.

 

[Kinetic]

Fed the tank tonight, turned off the pumps, no sign of the ventralis. they must have really burrowed into the rock work. The rocks are super extremely porous, there are holes where turbo snails could easily get into.

good news though, all my gobies are out and about eating. I doubt they are the ones scaring the ventralis though since they're tiny.

 

[Kinetic]

Exciting news, this morning I saw an anthias. it swam out but as soon as I walked over there it disappeared into the rocks. From the brief half second that I saw it, it seemed to look ok.

The second one is still nowhere to be seen. I closed all the blinds in the house so the tank is even darker.

I'll feed a few times tonight with Rod's Food and Mysis to see if I can draw them out.

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

Thank you for the update on your Ventralis Anthias. It may take some time for them to become comfortable enough to swim out in the open. It is good that you are keeping the lighting low in the aquarium, as this will help them to adjust. Please feel free to contact us with any further questions or concerns.

Felicia
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[Kinetic]

Great news, coming home from dinner tonight, I saw both of the ventralis!! I'm thawing some Rod's Food right now in a cup of the water from the tank, with some garlic, to try to feed them. I've fed the tank 3 times so far today with formula one flakes, hoping they would eat it, not sure if they have. Rod's food should tempt them out hopefully.

 

[Kinetic]

I fed 4 times today, flake food, formula two pellets, and rod's food.

Finally both anthias came out under low light, one swims a bit sideways, but perhaps that's because of the flow. The one swimming sideways actually ATE today! On top of that, she ate twice. She ate some bits of rod's food that floated around, but ignored most of the other pieces. I'm not sure, maybe they're just THAT selective, but those bits of food looked all the same to me, not sure how they can figure out the differences.

The other anthias won't eat anything, even tiny mysis that float right by her face.

I'm going to try straight mysis tomorrow since I believe that's what you guys feed. I might do brine and mysis together, since through experience fish like to eat brine more... (but yes, mysis is more nutritious).

Hopefully tomorrow I can get them to eat consistently.

It's almost a week, I think the one that's not eating is starving =(

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

Thank you for keeping us informed on the progress of your Ventralis Anthias. It is very good that one of them is eating prepared foods now. The one that is not eating is most likely surviving on natural foods that are present in your aquarium or is eating the prepared foods after you walk away. We feed the Ventralis Anthias frozen mysis and brine shrimp soaked in Garlic Xtreme and Selcon. Please keep us updated on their progress and don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Felicia

LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[Kinetic]

I tried Garlic Xtreme, but my gobies didn't even touch the food when soaked in that, so I stopped using it. That's when that one ventralis finally ate. Perhaps the garlic xtreme batch I have has gone bad.

I'll pickup some frozen Mysis and Brine today =)

I did add tons of Reef Nutrition tigger pods, so the ventralis should be eating some of those guys.

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

Thank you for your reply. If your Garlic Xtreme goes bad, it will smell very rancid. It normally has a strong garlic smell. It was a good idea to add the Tigger pods to your aquarium, as this will help the Anthias acclimate. We also feel that your Anthias will enjoy some frozen Mysis and frozen Brine Shrimp. Let us know if you have any more questions or concerns.

Felicia
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[Kinetic]

Well, it just smelled like garlic, I'm used to smelling it when I feed my fish. I tossed it just to be sure, since when the food was soaked, the gobies didn't even go for it. I'll grab another bottle later.

Today I bought frozen mysis from Hikari, thawed it in tank water for like 15 minutes (I forgot I was thawing them, haha) and then turned off the lights and the two anthias came out, definitely ready for food.

I fed a bit of mysis, and one of them ate (the one that ate yesterday). THe other just sorta lets the food pass by.

I'll try again in about an hour.

 

[ezcompany]

According to Lee Birch garlic benefitting fish is a simple myth.

"Garlic. It does nothing to improve a marine fish's immune response or immunity. It was a rumor began by people who can't read the bad technical experiment conducted by Colorni et al. Please don't spread this rumor."

 

[dfs/la2]

Ezcompany,

In the industry, there are many opinions regarding the care of aquatic specimens. We have found through our own personal experience and that of our customers that this product has worked for them. We certainly appreciate your input and do not wish to contradict as every opinion is valued.

Mike S.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

 

[Kinetic]

How much does an anthia eat per feeding? I'm dousing my tank with tons of food at a time, but I only see one of the two eat about two mysis and then stop. The other one I have yet to see feed, but I can't imagine her still being alive after a week and 2 days without eating. She is very thin compared to the one that eats one or two mysis per feeding.

I've been feeding 4 times a day, my skimmer is going nuts =)

 

[dfs/la2]

Kinetic,

We would recommend feeding as much as the Anthias will eat within a couple minutes, multiple times a day. As you are feeding more than once a day, you can vary the types of food offered without feeding every type of food at each feeding.


Tina C
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

 

[Kinetic]

yes, I'm way overfeeding right now, they only eat a few pieces for a minute, and then just let all the other pieces flow around them.

I've noticed they'll come out when they're hungry, but hide again after a little while.

I'm trying to see if they'll eat flake food, so I mix that in. I'm also going to try formula one small pellets tomorrow.

 

[ezcompany]

For difficult feeding anthias such as purple queens, i found cyclopeeze frozen to work well. you should try that buddy