School of Anthias

[Jaws]

I'm just wondering if you buy a school of anthias without a male, is it more stressful for the rest of the females to survive until one changes to a male or should they be fine? Thanks.

[craignlisa]

I have had 4 females in my tank for 6 months and i have no male yet:(
About a month into it the 2 larger females battled it out for about 4 days. Mouth locking every 2 secs i though t one was turning then. But after the 4 days all was good and i have yet to have a problem with them. They all stay together. So i would say it would be fine.

Lisa

[Jaws]

What are the differences between the males and females? Whoa... maybe that's a question for my Mom and Dad.

[danny zubot]

I think the general diference is that the males have either a distinguishing feature or more vibrant coloration, depending on the type of anthias. They are much like African cichlids in that regard. For example, in red cheek anthias only the male actually has the red cheek, the females remain 1 solid color.

[i2ik]

Usually after a while, there should be a male starting to form in a female group, the difference between them is color and form which will change in a female to become a male. What kind of anthias are we talking here? Dispar? Bartlett?

[Psyire]

Best to buy all females at first I personally think. That way they can sort things out and be done with it.

It is possible for a big female to bully a small male and actually turn into a male herself, then you have 2 males which causes problems most of the time.

[Jaws]

What kind of anthias are we talking here? Dispar? Bartlett?

They're dispars. I've got them acclimating right now. They look amazing.

[Scavenger]

Hey Jaws, I've had 3 dispars in the past. Did great until I moved them. I would really love to house a larger school of anthias, I'm just worried about students going from honor roll to drop outs! Let us know how your dispars do on their SAT's please?

[untamed]

Reference material I've read says that Anthias need to be fed often...more than once per day.

[Jaws]

I feed at least twice a day now but I plan on upping it to three times a day. They do need to be fed often but in very small amounts apparently. It was pretty funny when I finally got around to adding them to the tank. I was able to scoop six of them all at once in the acclimating tank I set up because they school so well. I put them in the tank and they seemed to disappear before I even got a chance to look at them. I grabbed the other two and put them in the tank as well. As soon as I put the other two in the tank a few others came out to point out where they were and next thing in knew, six of them were all together hiding under one of my corals stacked on top of eachother like firewood. I've seen my chromis school when the lights go out or when they think they're threatened but I've never seen a picture of dispar anthias without them being in a close group. I'm really hoping everything works out and they all make it. I hope the other two find the group as well.

[ponokareefer]

Hi there,

I was considering getting a school of anthia's in the future and was wondering how your's were doing?

Ryan

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I started with what I thought was a school of five Lyretail Anthias, hoping one would change. Of course, due to Murphy's Law, they split into separate groups & 4 turned into males. The dominant male killed or harrassed 2 of the subordinate males to death. I now have one dominant m, one subordinate m (hides in the rockwork), & one female Squarespot Anthias. Not exactly what I thought I was buying but the dom. male Squarespot is very beautifully coloured.

I have since added a male & 2 female Dispar, as well as a male Lyretail (A. squampinus). There seems to be a truce within the tank, but that might be because its a 220g & they get fed more than 3 times daily.

Anthony

[ponokareefer]

Do you have an automatic fish feeder or do you feed them all by hand? If you use an automatic fish feeder, what kind of food do you put in it? That sucks to hear about more than one turning into a male.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I feed manually, usually with a turkey baster. I work at home as an academic tutor so it's not a problem. Usually do one big meal and two or more smaller meals. Mix of mostly rinsed PE mysis, with a little frozen or live brine shrimp once in a while & a cube of frozen blood worms. One small meal of NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets. A few times a week, I'll add half a sheet of Nori for the tangs & Majestic Angel.

Yeah, totally did not expect so many males to transition.

Anthony

[Jaws]

I haven't had the best experience but not too bad either. The first batch of 8 I bought, 4 died within the first week. I eventually replaced them with 3 more for a total of 7. The 7 I had lasted a long time until I noticed one died. I bought one more and within a day or two I noticed two more missing. Now I'm at 5 and they seem to be fine. I have an automatic fish feeder that feeds three times a day. The first feeding is a combination of all kinds of flake food and the second and third feeding are freeze dried cyclopeeze and spirulina. They only seem to be interested in the cyclopeeze. They barely touch mysis when I put it in the tank either. I've noticed their colors fade quite a bit after a couple months since putting them in the tank and I'm looking for suggestions on how to improve the situation.

[Justusfish]

Jason/Jaws:

I am having the same trouble with my anthias. I bought 9. Feed them three times a day and everything was great, so I thought, for about two weeks. I then found one dead on the bottom of the tank. Shortly thereafter they started to go missing until I had about 4 left. Miraculously 2 more showed up again so I have 6. One eats like a pig and the others seem disinterested in food. Their colours are a bit lighter than when I bought them. I too need some suggestions.

Justus

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Mine eats mostly PE mysis and NLS pellets & the dominant male is gorgeous.

Loss of colour may be also due to stress if the subordinate fish are being picked on or intimidated by the dominant fish.

Anthony

[ponokareefer]

From what I've read on them, loss of color is due to bright light usually. They prefer dim light, so anything above flourescents usually dims them. It is not a sign of illness on its own, but if they're not eating, that is a sign of illness.