Anthias School Options and Experiences

[The McReefersons]

Hi all...

I know there have been many threads on this subject and we've read just about all of them, but we're trying to narrow this down and hopefully get a few more opinions and experiences before we make our decision.

First off, we have a 560g SPS dominated mixed reef, that averages between 76 and 77 degrees...

Here are the fish we keep (David is the one in charge of the scientific names so this will have to do for now)...

1 Naso Tang, approx. 5"
1 Diamond Goby
1 Randall's Goby
1 Orange Spotted Goby
1 Yellow Clown Goby
1 Green Clown Goby
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Allen's Damsel
1 pair of black and white Clownfish
1 pair of Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse'
1 male Hooded Fairy Wrasse
4 male Flasher Wrasse'
Trio of Bipartitus Wrasse'
1 Twinspot Christmas Wrasse
1 Meleagris Wrasse
1 female Marginatus Fairy Wrasse
1 Blueside Fairy Wrasse
1 Mystery Wrasse

We've had most of these fish for over a year, some going on two years.

We plan to add a pair of Exquisite Wrasse, possibly an Achilles, and a pair of Pearly Jawfish.

What we would like is a school of colorful Anthias to add to our tank. We already have plenty of primary colors in there and are looking for something more pastel colored that will hang out in a group together.

We've have decided against the following for the reasons listed...

Bimaculatus and/or Squarespot - just too large, we'd like something smaller as we'd prefer to get several, 10 or 12 perhaps.

Lyretails- the females are all orange, we're leaning more towards pinks, yellows, blues...

So, what do you all think?? Lay it on us! Any help is very much appreciated, thank you in advance.

[reef_doug]

Definitely Barletts. They have the pastel colors and are very hardy of all Anthias. You could easily do 7-10. Good to try and get just one Male, but in a tank that size a sub male could be ok also.

[CarlC]

Take a look into Lori's anthias in particular ones collected from the Cook Islands. This form wears alot of pink, red and yellow. I think I posted a pic or two in the Anthias Photo Thread.

I've had two for the last 6 month's and have just bought another group of five to add. This species is very docile but once settled into captive life is not at all difficult.

Mine are kept with 13 other anthias, two grey poma angels and a multibar dwarf angel. They have no problem joining the feeding frenzy the other anthias create and will often swim alongside the angels.

They don't don't handle shipping very well so they need an extended period of acclimation and QT in the begining to allow them to build back up.

As long as none of your current fish are aggressive they would probably fit right in.

Carl

[350nine]

Bartlett's! I have 15 in a 360g and they do great. They stay small, around 2.5 inches and very easy to keep. They drift around on the substrate when they sleep so may be easy target for any predators that might want to eat them but that has not happened to me yet.

[reeffreak2007]

I agree with the rest,,,bartletts would be my first choice.A single male and eight plus females would look great.They are one of the hardiest.Easiest to feed too,they will accept almost any meaty foods.

Carberryis are great too and would be my second choice.They do grow a bit larger than bartletts though.I have dispars,bartletts,evansi,carberryi,lyretails,sunsets,purple queens,and resplendent.My tank isn't big enough for a full on shoal but they don't seem to mine.They all shoal together.

[zemuron114]

i would consider a mix of bartletts and dispars. They school together in the wild in christmas island, and they add a good splash of color variants among the school. Dispars do great (atleast from christmas - not so much from other places) and are just as nice IMO. The supermale dispars rival the supermale bartletts

Just a thought. Not something you see all the time

[The McReefersons]

Thank you all, we have decided on the Bartlett's. We're thinking approx. 12 females and let them decide who gets to be the male.

Later we might add a trio of Bimaculatus.



-Gina

[350nine]

Good choice! I love my 15 Bartlett's anthias.

[zemuron114]

bimacs would be a bad choice afterwards. they get big and very aggressive and will out compete the bartletts. Stick with smaller species of anthias if you are going to add more after the bartletts.

I still suggest dispars (lori's are beautiful as well)

[CarlC]

It's hard to argue that healthy dispars aren't incredibly beautiful! If you want males that will display constantly they are hard to beat.

Carl

[triggerfish1976]

How is your tank aquascaped?
If it is mainly low lying islands then I would not recommend more than 4-5 fish. Most small planktivore schooling fish like Athias, Chromis, etc. usually just beat each other up when kept in large groups (over 6 fish). Some people have success but most don't long term. I have noticed higher success rates when people have higher aquascaping thus allowing the fish to establish seperate territories in the tank.

[Chooch1]

My question is where do you obtain healthy dispars and loris? On line vendors? How do you know if they were collected in Christmas Island? About 5 or 6 months ago I obtained 5 dispars which appeared healthy but basically died like flies within 10 days or so. Most were even eating. I have previous experience with anthias and other relatively delicate fish so I didn't mishandle them in quarantine. Any suggestions for vendors would be appreciated.

[reeffreak2007]

I do all my anthias purchases online.Most of the ones from my LFS dies within a few days.

Saltwaterfish.com has a quarantine period to treat any diseases and eating before sold and Liveaquaria's Divers Den.Not sure on there regular site though.I do like to say still QT just in case.I'd yet to lose a fish from either places and I'm up to 17 anthias now.Both do have 14 and 15 day guarantee.

[CarlC]

I bought my dispars locally. My lori's came from the Divers Den.

As RF said a QT should be done on all new purchases no matter where they come from. Most anthias don't handle the whole collection and shipping process well so it will atleast give them time to relax a bit. Also most fish's will have some sort of fluke issue, either external or internal. It is much easier to treat in the begining then trying to capture them from the tank.

I just added my 20th anthias to the tank today.

Carl

[Black71gp]

what do you all think about lyretails for a nice schooling fish in a big tank?

[reeffreak2007]

I've as of yet haven't been able to keep more than two lyretails.One male and female.Both seems to finish any females I've added or turn semi into a male and then a real war breaks out.Males tend to kill other males.Maybe it works in larger schools,dunno.

CarlC,I see you have a Pictilis.
Whats your experience with them?I sure like to try some of them one day.

[CarlC]

I have a single female that has been great. She is rather large though compared to the other species I keep. She can be aggressive at feeding time but other than that no problem.

She was put into QT and ate the second day. I treated her the same as all my other anthias. She got two rounds of Prazi Pro as a bath and one week of live food gutloaded with Prazi. Total QT time was four weeks.

Best part was I got her for free. The dealer that had her could not get her to eat. All she needed was some peace and quiet.

Carl

[reeffreak2007]

Thanks for the info,the Pictilis is the most gorgeous of all the anthias.Well,to me that is.Ventralis a close second.Someday,I might give one or the other a try.



Thanks

[Chooch1]

CarlC,

How long to you do the Prazipro bath for? Also, what live foods do you use to gut load and how you do it? Thanks.

[CarlC]

Baths last three days. I then do a 50% water change and redose for another three days followed by another large water change. You could probably get by with a smaller change if you ran carbon for a couple of days between bath's. I just find it easier to do a large water change.

Live foods I use are brine and mysids. Both are easy to load just by keeping them in water that contains Prazi for atleast 24 hours. The longer you can feed them this the better. I usually try to go five days.

Carl