Keeping Dispar Anthias. Tips?!
 

Just ordered a pair of dispars! They will be here next Wednesday. I have so far bought some zooplankton, Cyclopeeze for them and already have brine and other frozen foods. I know they like critters like amphipods and Copepods, should I pick some of these up for them too?

What do you guys do to keep your anthias happy? I've heard they're a little on the difficult side to keep happy, does anyone have any tips for me? My only other fish is a blue chromis and a yellow watchmen goby. Got rid of the clowns cause they were getting aggressive.

I have tons of caves and hiding places in my rock work too.

I kept a variety of anthias and started them on Cyclopes. Then started to introduce mysis. Out of 6 dispar only lost one which wasn't eating from the start.
Fed twice a day as directed

As long as you have non-aggressive fish or large fast swimmers, lots of hiding places, and feed at least twice daily, you're good to go. Sounds like you have a pretty good setup for keeping anthias.

I recommend getting some capelin roe (the fish eggs they put on sushi) and feed them along with the cyclopeeze until you can get them on prepared foods. They're high in protein and are the perfect size for the anthias. Anthias are more picky about size and texture than taste in my experience. Feed often (I feed from 3 to 6 times a day).

I might also recommend having a batch of live brine shrimp hatching when you get them. I find that one or two feedings of live baby brine will get them eating and onto other foods.Baby brine can work wonders with very picky eaters. Anthias are pelagic feeders, so they love little food particles in the current.

Give them lots of flow. In the wild they tend to shoal in areas with high currents and swim head on into the current, catching food at they go. You'll often find them swimming like mad in your tank head on into a current, staying in the same place. Put their food into high current areas. They tend to ignore food if it "looks dead".

Other than that, be patient and don't stress out if they do weird stuff. Just keep working with them until you achieve success.

Okay, thanks everyone! I have two Koralia Hydor 1050 gph powerheads. I think they will enjoy them :) So these eggs that go on sushi, where would I pick those up? Is that something I can get at a grocery store? And also the hatching brine, no clue where to get that either. Thanks guys this has been helpful :) I'm a little less worried now :P

how big is the tank?

Never thought of capelin roe as a food source for the tank. Capelin arrive on our beaches in June or July I Will try to get some next season.

IMO and IME, dispars and alikes should be kept in groups of six or more. This will allow them to behave more naturally and feel more comfortable. I had a group of 14 dispars and 8 Lyretail in medium sized tank and it was a sight to see. Having said that, I would never do dispars again becuase they fade dramatically to a very pale coloration overtime. My Lyretails faded too but not as much. Obviously they were missing something in their diet which I could not provide them with and it's not from not trying.

Dispars are peaceful and school very well together almost full time.
Lyretails are much more agressive but don't hang out together as much, and easy to feed.

Well, some good news!!

The anthias arrived alive and healthy. One is a deep orange/red with a purple dorsal fin, the other is a more yellow/orange with a light pink/yellow dorsal fin. Could the drastic color differences mean male/female? who knows!

Anyways they are beautiful and the good news is the deeper orange/red/purple one has partnered up with my one blue chromis and they are best buds, they sit in the current of one of my powerheads all day schooling together. I just fed everyone some P.E Mysis and this is the first day I have seen the Anthias eat! Once he tasted the first piece of mysis he went on a feeding frenzy, didn't stop catching pieces in the current until they were all gone! Only the one anthias schooling with the chromis ate though. So One down, one to go!

As I am typing this I am noticing the second anthias hanging out with the first anthias and the chromis. So the three are currently schooling together (First time I am seeing this since wednesday) All very good news. Maybe there are still some small pieces of Mysis in there for the second Anthias to eat... I have not seen the second one eat at all so I have my fingers crossed.

I'm too scared to lift the lid and add more mysis for the second one as I don't want to scare him from the group... This is the first time he has come out of hiding and is hanging with the group. I will add some more later perhaps.

Anyways just thought I would update and let everyone know how they are doing. So far so good!!

Maybe get some Garlic Extreme and soak the mysis in it and feed.