brcolli2 December 28, 2014 Share December 28, 2014 I was hoping to get people's thought on mixing anthias. My tank is an 80 gallon reef (4'x2') that has been running for 2 years. It is currently empty. I had a velvet outbreak and am leaving the tank fallow for 12 weeks. The first fish I will be introducing to the tank will be a pair of dwarf Angels. I also have a yellow tang and a diamond watchman goby that are being treated in quarantine. I want to add a small harem of princess anthias and a small harem of resplendent anthias (3 of each). Couple questions. Do you feel this will work? Should I add all females or a male of each species? Should all the anthias be introduced at the same time? Thanks in advance. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore December 28, 2014 Share December 28, 2014 Unless you've had a lot of experience with anthias, I'd stay away from P. smithvanizi ("princess"). They are tricky to get on frozen food, and need fed many times per day. P. pulcherrimus ("resplendent") may be a little easier depending on where you get them from. I'd try some Bartletts also. Get all females. They will elect one of themselves to turn male, which usually only takes a few days to a week if they are healthy and eating well. Put them all in at once (after QT & feeding conditioning of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brcolli2 December 28, 2014 Author Share December 28, 2014 Thanks for the response. I know I need to do more research, but my understanding from reading live aquaria is that it is difficult to get the princess anthias adjusted and through quarantine, but that they are relatively hardy once acclimated. Do people feel differently than that? My plan was to talk to Marco about handling the quarantine process. I am hoping I can get them eating flake/pellets since I have an auto feeder. Otherwise I can feed frozen twice a day. Would that be sufficient? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 December 28, 2014 Share December 28, 2014 Thanks for the response. I know I need to do more research, but my understanding from reading live aquaria is that it is difficult to get the princess anthias adjusted and through quarantine, but that they are relatively hardy once acclimated. Do people feel differently than that? My plan was to talk to Marco about handling the quarantine process. I am hoping I can get them eating flake/pellets since I have an auto feeder. Otherwise I can feed frozen twice a day. Would that be sufficient? I bought 3 Anthias from Marco about 6 -9 months ago, they will eat anything, including flake food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 Unless you've had a lot of experience with anthias, I'd stay away from P. smithvanizi ("princess"). They are tricky to get on frozen food, and need fed many times per day. P. pulcherrimus ("resplendent") may be a little easier depending on where you get them from. I'd try some Bartletts also. Get all females. They will elect one of themselves to turn male, which usually only takes a few days to a week if they are healthy and eating well. Put them all in at once (after QT & feeding conditioning of course). +1, I would listen to Justin's advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 the wise fish god ^^^ has spoken, heed the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brcolli2 December 29, 2014 Author Share December 29, 2014 I appreciate the advice. Sounds like the Princess anthias is not for me. I had a trio of bartletts in the past, and wanted to go a different route this time. What about the red saddled anthias (Pseudanthias flavoguttatus)? I am assuming I will run into the same issues as the Princess anthias. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 Thanks for the response. I know I need to do more research, but my understanding from reading live aquaria is that it is difficult to get the princess anthias adjusted and through quarantine, but that they are relatively hardy once acclimated. Do people feel differently than that? My plan was to talk to Marco about handling the quarantine process. I am hoping I can get them eating flake/pellets since I have an auto feeder. Otherwise I can feed frozen twice a day. Would that be sufficient? Pretty much any anthias is relatively hardy if conditioned to eat frozen/dry food. Some will rarely make that transition, for example purple queen due to preferred food item size. All of the "small mouth" anthias have evolved to stay in the water column eating plankton pretty much continuously, which is why they do best on 4-6 feedings/day minimum. If Marco can get you princess anthias or flavoguttatus in good shape and eating frozen or dry food, then try it out. Also, my male Dispars are some of my favorite fish. They look nothing like the females, and all have transitioned to pellet food. You might try them too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brcolli2 December 29, 2014 Author Share December 29, 2014 Thanks Justin. I will talk to Marco when I am ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 You could try some gold/yellow anthias and a Midas Blenny - they will swim together. The Midas Blenny is entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 I have truncate anthias. They are very pretty and hardy. The male barely agitates the female unlike when I had a trio of barletts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 I have truncate anthias. They are very pretty and hardy. The male barely agitates the female unlike when I had a trio of barletts. Interesting. I have about a dozen bartletts, two of which became males. They spar with each other occasionally, but each keep to their own group of 4-6 females and never harass them. They are some of the most peaceful fish in my tank. The males look absolutely amazing; the pink & yellow is so vivid. They have a light blue edge to their streamers on their fins and tail that is only brought out by blue LEDs, and is impossible (for me) to capture with a camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 My male Bartlett terrorized one of my females literally to death. I bet your tank is a lot bigger than mine and with 12 anthias he could spread out his aggression. Either that or I had one nasty fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 My male Bartlett terrorized one of my females literally to death. I bet your tank is a lot bigger than mine and with 12 anthias he could spread out his aggression. Either that or I had one nasty fish. One dozen....two dozen....I am not sure Justin knows how many anthias he has in that 550g tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 December 29, 2014 Share December 29, 2014 550 gallons...holy moly! I could lose a dozen in that tank and not even realize it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brcolli2 December 29, 2014 Author Share December 29, 2014 My male Bartlett was a jerk. That's why I want to go with another anthias. Beautiful fish though. Maybe I will go back to the bartletts when I get my 550 gallon reef. I wish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k December 30, 2014 Share December 30, 2014 there's almost 100 fish in there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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