Want to add some color and movement

[davelin315]

OK, so I'm looking to fill in some of the fish voids in my tank and Craig (Beltway Bandit) suggested a black cap basslet. Since I've got a 300 gallon, I was thinking that I could do 3 or 4 royal grammas and then add in a couple of black cap basslets as well. Any thoughts on this? They are both from the same species and have somewhat similar habits (although the black cap likes less light and is deeper water) so I'm wondering if any have mixed these two together before.

[jamesbuf]

I like the idea of a school of royal grammas. I've read everywhere that you can keep a school, but I've never seen this in anyone's tank. I was tempted to try myself, but didn't think it would be a good idea with only a 92gal.

 

FYI, saltwaterfish.com has them for $9.99 right now.

[jamal]

i have never kept either of these fish. i am going to do to anthias species for color. maybe you could do that. evansi's could go with lyretails.

[MLazar]

i have never kept either of these fish. i am going to do to anthias species for color. maybe you could do that. evansi's could go with lyretails.

 

Jamal....sssshhhhhhh...... don't tell Dave about the anthias. They're on my wish list for the BRK social. I a saw them on one our last visits to BRK, but we weren't ready for them. I think Bruce bought 1 male and 3 females, the colors were amazing. Let's keep it to ourselves, ok?

 

Maureen

[jamal]

which kind does he have in? parvirostris? im looking at those as well but they wont go well with the ltretails which are larger and more aggressive

[davelin315]

SWFish.com also has the black caps on sale. I'm not sure how I would QT that many fish, though, and they typically are TINY when I have ordered from them.

[jamesbuf]

Jamal....sssshhhhhhh...... don't tell Dave about the anthias. They're on my wish list for the BRK social. I a saw them on one our last visits to BRK, but we weren't ready for them. I think Bruce bought 1 male and 3 females, the colors were amazing. Let's keep it to ourselves, ok?

 

Maureen

 

Which ones? The lyretails or Evansi's?

[davelin315]

I've got 6 lyretails in my tank and want to add some more females, but am not really interested in the Evansis so don't worry!

[MLazar]

Which ones? The lyretails or Evansi's?

 

lyretails.

 

Dave, are the lyretails difficult to keep? I was just reading up on them and now I'm not sure about them.

 

Maureen

[davelin315]

I would consider all anthias difficult to expert for keeping as their food needs are difficult to meet. They are relatively hardy, but considering they eat all day long on plankton, there's not a lot of margin for error with them if you can't get them to eat prepared food. The typical recommendation for them is 3x daily feedings, if not more, and I'm lucky enough that in my system there's enough food for them to hunt so I feed them only once per day. Lots of people have automatic feeders set up to satisfy their needs. Out of the anthias, though, the lyretails are easier to keep. This, by the way, is the first time I have been successful with them. Out of the original 3 females and 1 male I bought, 1 female died because of a previous injury and the male simply disappeared. Since then I have replaced the male and added 3 more females for the total of 6. One problem with them is that they establish a hierarchy amongst the females and adding more can cause them to fight it out again.

[lanman]

I started with three lyretail females. One turned male, one female died (harrassment). I have had the male (who most people think has 'bloat' or something - and the remaining female for at least a year now. I feed a 'snack' of pellets and flake when I get home from work around 4:00 - and then mysis, etc. at 11:00.

 

bob