LF Stocking Advice - Calling all Anthias Keepers!

[IronChefItaly]

Hello readers! I'm looking to finally finish stocking my tank and I've been giving strong consideration to a group of anthias. My end goal is to create a very peaceful yet diverse system with an absolute priority to the livelihood of the inhabitants. I have found there to be a great deal of disagreement regarding the required aquarium size and I was hoping the Canreef community could help me make the right decision.

As for numbers, I was thinking to try three to five with consideration to selecting a smaller, hardy and peaceful species - possibly lyretail, bartlett's, dispar or randall's.

My primary concern here is aggression or compatibility. It may be worth mentioning that none of my fish apart from the chromis really occupy the open water or top half of my tank. As it sits, I feed my fish and corals A LOT so daily feeding and bioload is not an issue. I am also ready to accept that I am at my stocking cap and to keep things as is. Any experience and advice that may help any part of my decision making would be greatly appreciated. As always, thanks for reading!


Current fish...
Male pintail wrasse, very peaceful
Yellow tang, peaceful to all other fish except my hand
Occelaris clownfish pair
Orange diamond goby
Blue chromis
Yellow clown goby
Catalina goby

Considerations...
Coral beauty
Royal gramma
Group of anthias

System...
Red sea reefer 250 - 54 gallon display, mixed reef, medium - high flow

[Myka]

I think at only 54 gallons your tank is pretty full already! I don't think there is room for 3-5 Anthias. I wouldn't put Anthias in a 54-gallon tank to begin with. They require a lot of food. The easiest ones to keep long-term are Lyretails, but the males are certainly too big for 54 gallons.

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Myka

I think at only 54 gallons your tank is pretty full already! I don't think there is room for 3-5 Anthias. I wouldn't put Anthias in a 54-gallon tank to begin with. They require a lot of food. The easiest ones to keep long-term are Lyretails, but the males are certainly too big for 54 gallons.

I second this, I have tried a few different types of anthias in my 90cube and they all have slowly dwindled, I feed a lot but the case here is agression. I had about 7 disparate which lived for 4 months then every month one would go missing, added some hardy lyre tails 4 females 1 male they all got along for awhile but then I made the mistake of adding a Bi colour anthias, never get this one. It killed the male and now only 3 females left.

Moral to the story if you want to add anthias buy a Randall's male and only keep that one. You will need to feed a lot to satisfy their high metabolism.

To give you an idea I feed 3-5 times a day and they don't stop eating but unlike my other fish that need the Jenny Craig program these fish are lean.

Because in the reefs these fish get an abundant supply of food all day, unfortunately we cannot replicate that. Unless you have a large enough system to sustain a school of them just enjoy one and save your money. There are a few people that have been able to keep 5-6 dispars but they feed a lot.

[FWC]

Anthias are doable in a 54 gallon. Heck, I've had a successful dispar group in a 33 gallon.

They key to to pick the right species and make sure you do the little extra needed to keep them happy.

Larger, more aggressive anthias (such as Square Spots, Bimacs, bicolors, red stripes, etc...) should be avoided (I have a trio of bimacs in a 55 QT tank and it is tight in there for them).

On the other hand, smaller, more peaceful species (Ingnitus, Dispar, Lori's, Flavoguttatus, even Lyretails) should be fine in a small group as long as you ensure they are getting enough food, and are actually eating it.

Another good option is Fathead Anthias. They stay fairly small, aren't super active swimmers like other anthias and like living alone.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by FWC

Another good option is Fathead Anthias. They stay fairly small, aren't super active swimmers like other anthias and like living alone.

I was going to suggest a Fathead. That's really the only species I would put in a 54-gallon.

My own tank is 69 gallons and I'm hesitant to put any in my tank. I did buy a female Lyretail that's in my qt right now. I might try to add a few more. The annoying thing is that one will become male then later another will then the two males will fight until one dies then another female will become male and the two males will fight amd so on until there's just one male left. It takes a few years, but seems inevitable Ime.

[IronChefItaly]

Well after much consideration I headed out today and returned with my anthias - the serranocirrhitus latus aka Fathead Sunburst Anthias. I've been active in the hobby for nearly two years and this was the first I've come across. Its coloration is brilliant and I couldn't be any happier, it was perfect timing really. Seems to be in good health, took to the acclimation quite well and by evening it was already out in the open. I've read that they can be picky eaters so I'm absolutely open to recommendations. I picked up some R.O.E by Reef Nutrition to try first thing tomorrow and also have brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and calanus copepods which I quite like.

I've redesigned my 20 gallon quarantine system complements of Myka and a few others on Reef2Reef. Black foam board now surrounds two sides that face into the room while the other two face a broad open window which will provide the only source of light for the fish. In addition, I plan to reduce the salinity from 1.020 SG to 1.018 and rely mostly on Seachem's Metroplex and Kanaplex for broad range treatment beginning 24 hours from acclimation. Being that I am no longer using extreme hyposalinity I decided to load the quarantine with liverock and media bags of Seachem Matrix matured from my display. I was quite mindful in the placement to not create any dead zones that are inaccessible from my siphon. I intend to carry out 35% water changes twice a week, 1 part fresh salt mix and 1 part salt water from my display.
I'll update as I go along and would very much appreciate if anyone has any input or recommendations. A great thank you for the comments thus far as I could have been headed for a complete disaster.