Purple Anthias care and feeding

[Aquattro]

Anyone have success with keeping the purple anthias (Pseudanthias tuka). This is not the purple queen, just regular purple.
Looking for feeding tips, etc, to keep these long term.

[fishoholic]

I bought 3 dispar anthias awhile ago and two of them died right away and the third hung on for a month before finally starving to death. It was very sad to watch, the first few days the anthias ate cyclopezze but after that he refused to eat anything. I litterally watched a live pod crawling around on the sand in front of him and he wouldn't eat it! :cry:

[StirCrazy]

you wanted tips, I'll give them to ya. :mrgreen:
yours are commonly called purple or yellow strips anthias, the females will have a yellow stripe and the males will not. they are considered very hard to keep and demand expert feeding.
Due to there territorial requirements and tendencies, you should stock at a rate of 1 anthias for ever 600^in of surface area, which translates to 40 to 50 gal of tank. and only one male anthias per tank. also you should have a min of 6 to 8 females per male, as they are constantly fighting for pecking order and if the male dies a female will turn into a male

ok, they need plenty of open area to swim with lots of hiding spots, and not to be in with aggressive fish. They are finicky eaters often waisting away and dieing, but the best way to feed them is with a plankton laden refuge attached to the tank. It will not harm invertebrate but should not be housed in a shallow water tank as they will be less likely to acclimated due to the intense lighting. They are prone to parasite infection as they are a very delicate fish.

also if you can get them, feed mysid shrimp several times a day as they are the best food for them.

So, looks like you need to set up a refuge for mysid/plankton production that gently pours into the main tank, turn your lights down, and get rid of Jason's corals and rock and you might be able to keep them alive :mrgreen: you had to pick one of the hardest ones to keep didn't ya :mrgreen:

Steve

[Borderjumper]

My square spots are still doing well.. first few weeks all the females would eat was cyclopeez but now they are all eating mysis and even a little flake.

From what I read they need to be feed multiple times a day as they are constant feeders in the wild. My females are also much more timid than the male.

[super7]

anthias eat something like 8 times per minute in the wild.