Keeping Dispar Anthias. Tips?!

[fishytime]

how big is the tank?

[kole]

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.

[Willito]

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.

[mandyplo]

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!!

[Leah]

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

[mandyplo]

So I'm thinking of adding a few more anthias to make everyone a little happier in being able to swim as a school. Would you guys reccomend I add the same types of anthias (So just add more dispars?) Or can I add 4 Lyretails, and have 4 lyretails and 2 dispars in total. Will they all school together or are they generally aggressive towards eachother? Thanks in advance.

[Proteus]

I had 4 different species together. They never schooled together and the only bad guy was a male lyretail