Anthias info.

[fishoholic]

I was wondering what type of anthias people have, how many, and any pros/cons. I'm wanting to get a school of anthias for my tank and I thought it would be interesting to hear other peoples expirences.

[wickedfrags]

Historically speaking many have givin up on keeping this species longterm. All are chronic jumpers, and some are tough to get feeding. All like a peaceful tank. Some species are impossible to maintain in captivity (such as tuka/purple queen) while others seem to do well such as squampini, and bartlett, and to a lesser extent disbar.

That being said, provided you have a closed-top peaceful tank and are prepared to try and get them eating, no reason you can not give them a try. Ideally try and get a least 2 females for each male if not more, tought becuase the males are more colourful, but this cuts down on agression and eventually anthias on the carpet.

[Skimmerking]

with the Anthias they require many feeding times from you too....

[Murminator]

1st of all what size of tank?, most need lots of swimming room

[fishoholic]

Our tank is 230g. It is an open top tank, so if anthias are jumpers I'm not sure I sould get some, I'd hate to spend a bunch of money on them just to have them jump out . Also with them being hard to feed I'm worried our "piggy" tangs would eat up all the food before they could get some. However I do feed a lot of mysis when I feed my tank, which is usually once a day, and so far everyone (including our very slow eater, our mandrain goby) gets some. I also feed pellets and nori.

[EmilyB]

I kept Barletts for about a year. Never had a jumper, this was a 230g with eurobracing. Bought four, one went dominant male and kept two females with him while keeping the forth (non-dominant male I presume) in the rock. Beautiful fish. I lost them in a cucumber accident. They were the only fish to perish in that incident. I fed them twice a day or whenever I thought about it and they seemed to do well. Ate everything.

[ed99]

I've had Bartlett for a few months now and it looks like they are doing fine. I bought 6 and 2 died overnight, but the others have kept on ticking. I have an auto-feeder with pellets so that helps with the frequent feedings. For the first while I didn't have a cover and they never jumped, but the other day while feeding one bounced pretty hard off the egg crate, so I think that is a risk. Mine are pretty aggressive eaters so the two tangs in the tank don't appear to trouble them.

[fishoholic]

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm too worried that they might jump out so I think I will not be getting any.

[Tyson]

i just got 2 (male and female) for my 30gal, just for now until i get my 120 finished. easily my favorite fish, here's some info if you want more on them.
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/1024frameset.htm

[fishoholic]

Thanks for the info but I bought a clown tang for our tank instead of the anthias