How many people on here have and do keep anthias alive?
 

I have been thinking of getting anthias for a long time. So now I need some truthfull answers on how hardy a species is what diet you feed them and basically what they need to stay alive more than a few months. TIA

I bought a male and 2 female square spot. They were a little tough to get eating but once they started they were pigs! Then after about 6 months the male went to the back of the rock and wouldnt come out. It took him 2 weeks to die. Then one of the females did exactly the same thing.. eating like a pig then one day BANG hovering in the rock and wouldnt come out and eat. She died in a week. I have one left ( the smallest) who is still eating and apparently doing ok.

Shelley, I'm sorry to hear this but thanks for being totally honest as I wouldn't want to drop $200 on a school to see them widell away one by one.

I really wonder why these fish are eating fine one day and not the next could these be cyanide caught :question:

I try 3 "barllet" not sure how to spell it, its from hawaii, non of them last more than 2 weeks, maybe it me hehe... but its a beautyfull fish, try it!

i have a male lyretail thats been with us for 3.5 years now......loves to eat thats for sure...lol

reefy I know bartletts are suppose to be the hardiest of the species but also alittle more pricey.

I had a Sunburst but it recently passed away after someone ripped out one of his pelvic fins other than that he ate great. I'm thinking my kole tang may be the culprit behind it. These guys need to be kept with the absolute most peaceful fish there are. If I could catch my Tang & 6 line wrasse I'd probably get another.

I've had a squarespot for almost a year. He has always ate well and is quite active (a bit of a bully but not too bad). He eat's pellets, mysis, and brine.

Could be Chris. Also I wonder if they just wernt getting nutriant wise what they need to survive. I feed multiple times a day ( for the most part) and a varied diet. It was just BANG the way they would stop eating and hide.

When I looked at getting some P. tuka I read that they all should be treated for internal parasites.

My bartletts seemed pretty healthy, I also fed a variety including homemade. They were pigs.

They were however the only fish to die when a red cucumber died in a power head.

By all accounts that I have read, lyretails (P. squamipinnis) are by far the hardiest. technically they aren't really anthias because they are genus Pseudanthias, but most people call them anthias anyways. I have a single female that has recovered from a pretty severe case of popeye and some aggression from a blue damsel if it means anything; only had her a few months now.

random tips: feed often in smaller quantities. NLS pellet is perfect but definitely supplement with mysis and cyclopeeze. variety is key (good rule for any fish). make sure YOU see them eat in the store or wherever you buy from. word of mouth means nothing. peaceful tankmates only; to a degree, lyretails can hold their own usually though.

A beautiful fish, but generally speaking they should be left in the ocean. Squampini are your best bet, and Dispar can also do well long-term. Most experienced hobbists have given up on the species do their cost and poor rate of survival.

Purple Queen/Tuka are generally considered the most difficult to keep (sorry michika!).

Tried several times and several species. They did well for a while and than started just dropping off one by one.\

Would never try them again.

Thanks all for being honest. Too many times we just hear from the one or two lucky ones keeping these difficult to keep fish leaving the impression that they are easy to keep when they are not.

This is another fish I have tried several times and species and never had luck. All die within months. I have one lyretail that lasted about 8 months and then jumped :(

Another fish that I have to say should for the most part be left in the ocean. There are just certain species that for whatever reason do not last in aquarium. IMO hundreds dying for every one that does seem to thrive is far too high of a price for the species to pay.

Having said that, I would love to find a species that does do well in captivity.

I came to a similar conclusion, and thus, my tank was not ever populated by the beautiful 30+ harem I saw. Still they are beautiful, but they aren't intended for my system(s).

Wow everyone thanks for the replies!!

Great honest inputs and it seems that most cant keep them for over a year, with that said looks like I'll need to find something colourful yet hardy anyone have any suggestions?

First of the fish in my system:
120g with 55g sump

display- 1 mystery wrasse (soon to be relocated cause of aggresion)
1 golden rabbit fish
1 bar goby
9 blue eyed cardinals
1 red striped shrimp goby (aka wheeler goby)
1 small regal tang (also to be relocated once bigger)
2 chalk bass
1 orange/purple pipefish

sump- 1 seahorse
1 green pipefish
1 orange spot shrimp goby
1 orange stripe goby

mostly sps with a few lps so not angels!!

Yes, I recommend 5 female flasher wrasse along with two male flasher wrasse all of the same species.
The reason for the two males is that when they school together the males flash to impress the ladies.
You have to special order females in though as they are seldom carried by lfs

+1 on flasher wrasses. for some reason, i find people tend to overlook wrasses. I would also encourage you to look at Halichoeres species, especially H. chrysus. I think lyretails would be a very viable option for you as well since they generally do a lot better than true anthias species. on a side note, Im surprised that you have a pipefish in your display tank... wouldn't have thought they could compete with the active tankmates you have.

Thanks naesco and Justinl for the inputs on the flasher I'll have to look into that.

Justin the pipefish I'm quite suprised aswell cause generally they dislike lots of high flow.

I've had it for a year and the first few months thought it was a gonner as I never saw it. Up late one night I was like what the fart!!

It's alive, so from that point I made it a must to feed it from a metal planting tong. It would hide under the crevice and come up sniff the dangling mysis and then do a head nod and snap the mysis in half then after go for it's head and other remaining pieces.

It's about 7in long now when I got it was 4in and it's by far my most favourite fish no one is intrested in toughing him as he's so skinny and has razor sharp thorns on his chin, which tells me he's a male. I've tried a few times to catch him when the lights are off so I can relocate him into my sump with the other slow eaters however he's really fast swimmer so I'll let him be for abit.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...rs-reef028.jpg

I purchased 6 female and 1 male squammipinnis in November of 2007 all were eating fine but the smallest female did not eat anything and by the fifth week i was worried she would not make it as was basically a skin covered skeleton with eyes. Around this time my male was being more aggressive to all the females and paired up with second largest female. These two picked on my largest female and over night chewed the largest females tail to the base. So in the next few weeks the largest female hid and regrew her tail. The pair got much more aggressive towards each other and during the evening the male was wounded got an infection and died. Not three days later the 2nd largest female(the one that fought the male) started to darken and over the next five days transformed into the male coloration. After the first male died that small female started to eat and is now one of nicest females.The big female regrew all her tail back but it took about 5 months to completely regrow. Very strange set of events.

I have still got 6 females err!! 5 females and one shemale hahaha!
They are usually my last fish out after the lights go on, so I guess they like to sleep in.
My experience with tuka was that they are very shy and mine did not last long.

Most opinions on anthias say large deep tanks with plenty of shelter.

Thank you for the reply pz reefer and btw nice shot of your tank in your user tag I see a big efflo you should share a FTS in the 2009 post.

It seems that the larger tanks are able to keep lyretails no problem you for instance have kept yours for 1 year and another guy mike olson has kept his for 2 years so it can be done with a larger tank good feeding ethics and most important clean stable params.

Good call. Despite their beauty, even my wife realizes it does not make sense to by these guys anymore.

+1 on the wrasses. I have about 10-12 different species now in my display and I just love them. Father just bought a good camera - hopefully I will post some pics in the near future.