Bimaculatus anthias, who has them?

[Julio]

will do.

[pecan2phat]

Julio,
On a side note, I saw the Leopard Wrasse that you ordered and it's a beaut!

[copps]

Thanks Julio... I have my local guy keeping an eye on the Tonga lists... if not I'll order from the Doctor's... if you have pics that would be great Julio... I've kept Bartlett's and Lyretail and never had a problem with two feedings a day for them... how often are you feeding them?

[sethd12]

i have two femal bimaculatus in with 3 bartletts and one dispar anthias. they have been very aggressive towards feeding since day one and they are out all of the time actually schooling with the barletts. they are by far one of my favorite anthias.

seth

[Julio]

well, it has been a couple of weeks now and still no change in any of the females, they are all very active now and feeding very aggresively, one thing i have noticed is that they do have a faster metabolism than any other anthia i have ever kept, they do require larger ammounts of food, i can sometimes see their stomach contents when they swim on the top part of the tank under the halides, pretty cool, is hard to get a pic of that though since they move really fast.

[Northside Reef]

LA has a male for sale right now I so wanted to get him but the 280 is not ready.

[Julio]

sweet fish huh?

[Northside Reef]

Originally posted by Julio
sweet fish huh?

Yes Sir I will have 4 female and 1 male I hope they get along with the lyretails

[Julio]

They do get along with the lyeretails, no fighting wahtsoever just alot of displaying to one another.

[Hef]

Julio, how are the Bimac Anthias doing. Saw two of them at the LFS yesterday. Beautiful Fish.
How big are yours? These fish I saw were probably 4" each. I would probably like to get them a little smaller to introduce to my tank. Although Colorwise, I think they would fit well.
Anyways, I was real tempted to buy, but they were pricey. Something like $150 for the pair.

Hef

[tom obrecht]

Hef Actually that's what these fish have been going for. I have a couple and lucked out by having the wholesaler mislable them. They are worth the price in my opinion

[Julio]

I have seen males go for tat prie here in my neighborhood. Mine are doing great, they are out constantly now, but there is still no change in the females for a male, it might be that these guys take a really long time to change or that the females might not change at all, hence the reason why males are so much more expensive when it comes to this particular species.

[Julio]

Hey Guys,
still no change in any of the females, i wonder if these guys change sex at all, another thing is that they seem to require a lot more fish than anyother anthia i have ever dealt with.

[copps]

Julio any photos by chance?

Also, on a side note does anyone have firsthand experience with pictilis? LA has them now available at $100 per female... I know these are generally considered tough to keep but I've read all the thread RC has to offer on them and there is very little firsthand experience... with the 14 day guarantee is the only way I'd ever give them a shot... interestingly LA lists them as "moderate" care level...

[tom obrecht]

hey copps, take a look at Wayne Shangs new book out. Think his site is www.underseadiscovery.net/home.htm he has pics and some info on these. Think he mentioned they are tough to get to feed at first, otherwise they do fine. If you decide to go for it good luck! I'm an anthias nut as well!!

[tom obrecht]

Julio. have you seen these fish online anywhere? I'm looking for a few more for my collection?

[copps]

Hey Tom thanks... liveaquaria has had them recently but are out now.

For those reading this that have never tried anthias please get some squamipinnis or bartlett's... they are really great fish.

There is no reason to go to the more expensive touchier species unless you have the more common ones and want to test the waters like us nuts . Squamipinnis really are beautiful! I always reality check with my wife as to what's beautiful to someone not in the hobby... good example are some of the tangs I have... she prefers the hippo and yellow... I prefer my black (Z. rostratum), tomini, and half black mimic (A. chronixis), and my scopas that I've grown practically from the larval stage and has nice blue highlights that those in the hobby don't appreciate... sort of my poor man's gem tang that patrols my frag system... We both agree on the purple... as common as they are now I'll never forget that when I got into the hobby in the late 80s in middle school Red Sea stuff was INSANE! I never thought I would be able to own some of these beauties for so cheap... Asfur angels were $700 to over $1000! I just got a beauty of a little guy a month ago for $75! Imagine going 15 years into the future and having conspics available for $100! You'd get one too!

Anyway sorry for the rant... while it may be a bit of course anyone who has read this far on Bimaculatus anthias could appreciate that last paragraph .

To pictilis or not... that is the question...

As soon as LA has the bimaculatus avilable again I'll update in this thread... I check them almost as much as RM...

[Julio]

Hey Tom,
i agree with John, you should get some easy to keep anthias first, Bimacs do require a little more attention and more feeding, but they are so gorgeous all the effort is more than worth it.

[sethd12]

my lfs has a pair of pictilis for sale right now that are eating extremely aggressive and beautiful with a length of about 4 inches. we are selling them for 250 for the pair. we also have 3 female bimaculatus that are eating just as well that we are selling for 100 a piece.

[tom obrecht]

Must have been a misunderstanding. I already have over 35 anthias in my tank now. I've had luck with hutchi,squas, bartletts, bimaculatus, square block and now just added some dispars. I was refering to more bimaculatus as for I'm interested in a few more females as well as a male. In my opinion the coolest anthias species out there. The Pictilis is probably too much work for me due to the fact that if they need to aclimate slowly and need time to start feeding they probably wouldn't make it in my tank. Feeding time in my tank is NUTS! Fish and colors flying everywhere. Thanks for the reply, however. I also check Liveaquaria frequently and now regret not ordering some bimaculatus when they have them...I'll have to be patient now...not one of my better virtues.

[copps]

Originally posted by Julio
Hey Tom,
i agree with John, you should get some easy to keep anthias first, Bimacs do require a little more attention and more feeding, but they are so gorgeous all the effort is more than worth it.

Sorry for the misunderstanding... my comment wasn't directed at Tom, just anyone in general who's interested in getting into anthias... It's amazing the reputation that ALL anthias have whenever I mention them at my club meetings and when people come by to see my systems... Anthias run the gammit from hardy to near impossible and it's completely independent of their beauty. There's too many beautiful hardy species out there...

Starting today for a week Liveaquaria has their female squamipinnis on sale for just $15... a steal... and they're now out of their female pictilis... Tom I too am going to jump on the bimacs next time they come in...

Seth keep us updated on their progress in the store, or with whomever buys them...

The Marine Center has had pairs of Australian pictilis listed at $189 in the last few e-mails... but their shipping charges are murder and they don't have a stay alive guarentee...

[sethd12]

the pictillis and the bimaculatus are all doing great. we also have a female dispar that is eating everything including pellets. all of these anthias have been in a refugium type tank for over 2 months now and the customers are not allowed to look at them. you guys are getting first chance if you want to. we are willing to ship. keep me updated.
p.s. i am not trying to promote my store, only help you guys with some rare fish that you are trying to find.
thanks

[Julio]

hey seth, do you have any pics of the Pictillis?

[sethd12]

i dont right now but i can get some. they are both doing awesome. eating everything i put in the tank including pellets!!!! they are so pretty. i will post the pics most likely either sunday or monday.

[Julio]

hey guys, i had a heat spike on my tank yesterday and lost all of my lyretails, but the Bimacs are still alive. it really sucks i have had these fish for more than two years.