What species of anthias is this?

jbvdhp said:
Thanks for the tip and suggestion, Simon! Surprisingly, none have turned to male yet. I see no indication of that, but I hope one does to keep all other females in check. I do notice three are a tight group while one is a loner and joins them occasionally, and is sometimes chased by the other three.
Click to expand...

That's the problem I always seemed to have with Lyretails. They'd pick on the lowest female, which would gradually lose weight and then die, then the next lowest, and so on. An 'easy' anthias to keep initially, but a pain if you aspire to a long-term group. I always wondered if they just didn't need a VERY large tanks to be able to keep a group for long periods of time. Lyretails are in the Franzia sub-genus with Hutchii, and probably the most aggressive anthias. I now favor either squares or bimacs.
 
jbvdhp said:
During ttm, my Lyretails barely ate mysis, but they would. Maybe it's the slow drift that didn't stimulate their appetite. Once I had them in higher flow qt, and now the DT with fast flow, they go after everything, even huge ocean plankton pieces.

I did note, however, they LOVED going after cyclops and pods. I think the arctic pods will get them going!
Click to expand...

I am wondering about the environmental flow difference between lyretails and resplendents, with resplendents maybe being found a bit deeper along reef walls, and lyretails maybe found in a more energy-rich environment? I can always add flow to the QT though if necessary...
 
ca1ore said:
That's the problem I always seemed to have with Lyretails. They'd pick on the lowest female, which would gradually lose weight and then die, then the next lowest, and so on. An 'easy' anthias to keep initially, but a pain if you aspire to a long-term group. I always wondered if they just didn't need a VERY large tanks to be able to keep a group for long periods of time. Lyretails are in the Franzia sub-genus with Hutchii, and probably the most aggressive anthias. I now favor either squares or bimacs.
Click to expand...

I am affiliated with a small public aquarium in my region, and helped them design an 800g mixed reef. The lead aquarist chose squarebacks for the tank (1 male, 7 females), and they are fantastic! The male has become enormous and stunning, and they have presented no issues from the start.
 
That must be incredible! Any pictures? And that's a very good observation about flow differences. I think your right that the deeper species are used to less chaotic flow.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, I switched to a new phone and don't have any recent pics (thought I did, but actually need to take some new ones though!), and I just checked on the new QT residents before their light come on, and they seem OK.
 
Quick update - well, I have good news and bad news. First the good, the male is out and about, getting bolder (moving well with the clowns) and feeding on Hikari enriched brine shrimp and mini-krill. Second, the bad, is the female has taken to perching on the resin coral substrate, and has not shown much interest in feeding since. I was fearful of her condition as she was moving around in the "head-down" position early on, and I fear she has damage to her swim bladder.





 
jbvdhp said:
Darn it!!!

When I tried to qt them, I noticed when things were going south, their heads were in the up position.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I read to look out for a "heads down" position...:confused: She seemed to have some ventral internal hemorrhaging as well when I removed her, and I suspect the obvious collection issues associated with deep water fishes.

On a good note however, the male is aggressively feeding on a couple of different things now, and I am hoping I can fatten him up a bit and get him in the display soon. He is going into my column tank that is meant to mimic a somewhat deeper biotope...
 
Initial health of the acquired fish trumps all. My resplendents are all doing well, but of the four princess I got, two died. Kicked myself because my smarter self thought they were an unwise purchase at the store; but 'bad decision making Simon' went ahead and got them anyhow.
 
ca1ore said:
Initial health of the acquired fish trumps all. My resplendents are all doing well, but of the four princess I got, two died. Kicked myself because my smarter self thought they were an unwise purchase at the store; but 'bad decision making Simon' went ahead and got them anyhow.
Click to expand...

I certainly agree, and I had worries as well, although the female did not look horrible at the LFS when she first came in, just not as nice as the male. I feel worse that she did not make it, even though I spent nothing on the pair - since they came in without being specifically ordered, they were given to me (I am well-regarded by the 4 big marine shops locally, and they treat me well).

Now that I know a bit about them, I will probably keep an eye out for a female or two in the future when visiting the various LFS's, pending my continued "success" with the male of course.
 
. Maybe it's the slow drift that didn't stimulate their appetite. Once I had them in higher flow qt, and now the DT with fast flow, they go after everything, even huge ocean plankton pieces.
Click to expand...

This is very important................you need to keep the food suspended & moving when they are 'learning". In the wild they swim against the current in a stationary mode and pick at food as it goes by.

That's also why they need to be fed so often..........they expend a lot of energy doing this. In a display tank with more chaotic flow they may not do this a much and you can get away feeding 2 times a day.

Get a good circular flow going with a power head in the qt.

The princess ,which I believe are deep water need cooler temps. They will be aggressive eaters like the reef crest anthias under those conditions. They'll also do better long term at the lower temps.
 
littledynam1te said:
I had a clown fish kill another clown. An awesome little blenny and a lemon peel angle
Click to expand...

OK, I don't know what that has to do with the subject of this thread, but I am sorry for your loss, and yes, some clowns are capable of being quite aggressive and even killing other smaller/ weaker fishes.

The clowns being housed with the resplendent anthias here are pink skunks - relatively "peaceful" with other fishes, and showing no aggression here.

Update on the anthias - the male continues to feed aggressively, even consuming food that is resting on the bottom, and competing quite well with the 2 clowns for food... :thumbsup:
 
Big E said:
The princess ,which I believe are deep water need cooler temps. They will be aggressive eaters like the reef crest anthias under those conditions. They'll also do better long term at the lower temps.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of the anthias we try to keep are deepwater. That's why it can be very helpful to start them out at lower light levels. I've not personally had any issues I thought were temperature related, though the Ventralis apparently are better kept at lower temps (never tried one - too delicate and expensive :()
 
ca1ore said:
I think a lot of the anthias we try to keep are deepwater. That's why it can be very helpful to start them out at lower light levels. I've not personally had any issues I thought were temperature related, though the Ventralis apparently are better kept at lower temps (never tried one - too delicate and expensive :()
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with this, although I tend to start most of my new arrivals in lower light. I am keeping this resplendent anthias at 77 degrees F, and it seems to be quite active, bold and hungry.

As for ventralis anthias... :inlove:
 
ca1ore said:
I think a lot of the anthias we try to keep are deepwater. That's why it can be very helpful to start them out at lower light levels. I've not personally had any issues I thought were temperature related, though the Ventralis apparently are better kept at lower temps (never tried one - too delicate and expensive :()
Click to expand...


Off the top of my head........ventralis, smithvanzi, evansi, flavoguttatus are a few of the deep water species. They adjust to lighting fairly quickly and can be kept in a reef..................but they will also do much better if kept at lower temps.

"copps" is one of the few people I know that has kept them long term and gotten them to adapt very quickly to eating. The main thing he found was they thrive at lower temps as that is their natural habitat.

He told me 75-76 was about the highest temps you want to keep them at...better in the low 70's. In the mid 70's you can keep some of the reef crest species too.

Go back and do some searches and you'll find the threads.

Ignitus, Dispar,carberri, pulcherrimus, bartletts and most of the larger species are all reef crest species.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LJA
Fish addition order
Replies
2
Views
430
OrionN
OrionN
K
Compatibility
Replies
3
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
Abyssopelagic
Multibar Angelfish Harems (In a 75 Gallon Deep Reef)
Replies
4
Views
420
Zionas
Z
G
Porifera identification
Replies
5
Views
325
griss
griss
K
Ignitus Anthias
Replies
3
Views
549
shred5
shred5
Back
Top