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FAQs about Fancy Basses, Subfamily Anthiinae Behavior
Related Articles: Fancy Basses, The
Sunburst or Fathead Anthias,
Related FAQs: Anthiines 1, Anthiines 2, Anthiine
Identification, Anthiine Systems,
Anthiine Selection,
Anthiine Compatibility,
Anthiine Feeding,
Anthiine Disease,
Anthiine Reproduction,
"Why you, I ought to... jump outta this tank~!"
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Anthius question 4/29/08
I have been reading your site and all the information on Anthius.... and
there is a lot.
<Don't know how much you've read, taken in... you're misspelling the genus
name...>
My questions is
<Change in number here...>
that I have a backwards set up as far as my anthius go. I have 3 males and 1
female. The three males are - 1 Lyretail and 2
squares, 1 female Lyretail. All are in a 120 gallon and they all school together
most of the time except for the Lyretail male who likes his alone time in
his cave every so often. I have never had any aggression problems between any of
them or the with any of the other fish. They all eat very well ( to
<Too...>
well!) and they stay out front in the open water most of the time. Is this an
oddity?
<Mmm, no>
Do you know anyone else with this type of set up? I would hate to come home one
day and see that their harmony has been disturb.
<Change in tense>
Another odd thing they do that I haven't been able to find is the males rub each
other and sometimes "float" next to each other side by side, so close
they are touching. Then they all swim off together again. Only thing I can
think of is, Have they set up a pecking order in my tank?
<I would guess so>
The Lyretail is 3 1/3 inches, one square is about 4 1/2 and the other is about 5
1/2. None seem to be Alfa male
<Like the car?>
though. I would like to hear your thoughts on all of this, the reef club I
belong to cant figure this one out so I thought maybe you guys might have some
thoughts on it.
<Captive behavior... is more flexible... Bob Fenner>
Question about Lyretail
Anthias... Anthiine beh. -02/25/08
God morning, I sent this last week and have not received a response so
thought I would send it again. I hope I am not pestering anyone. Thank you.
<Don't recall seeing>
>> Good morning,
>> I really appreciate your prompt and positive response. I do have one
question, though, about the 24 hours of light--my understanding was that when
you introduced new fish, you should turn the lights off for several hours so
that they could avoid harassment, so this is new to me. Is this so that they
have a longer time to get to know one another?
<Depending on circumstances and the species involved better to leave on OR to
have off... to "keep asleep" or allow all to see each other...>
>> Also, I have read a great deal about Anthias on your site and haven't
encountered this information. I have one male and 4 female Lyretail Anthias
(Pseudanthias bartlettorum) and have had them for about 2 years in the 150
gallon reef tank. Recently the largest female has changed completely into a
male. The (original) male, who is quite bossy, seems to be tolerating it, in the
sense that he doesn't chase her more than the others--actually, not at all, now
that she has changed. I realize this would normally happen if I lost the male,
but he seems quite fit, and is larger than the females. Do I need to worry that
at some point soon he will target the new male?
<Not to worry, or at least be overly concerned here... This is a "normal",
natural behavior... a matter of flux, resource partitioning/competition...>
Should I get a couple of new females, to balance things out?
<I would not>
Will I have to get rid of one of them? I don't think the tank is big enough for
two males.
<Evidently... it is large enough for one "real" one and one-becoming... RMF>
>> Thanks again, and sorry about the extra questions.
Anthias with black tips on
fins, beh. 12/16/07
Hello, I noticed within the past few days that one of my Lyretail Anthias'
bottom fins have a blackness on the very tips. I thought it may be the beginning
of fin & tail rot, but the fins are not tattered at all; Also he is behaving
quite normally, being very active as usual. Any ideas of what it is and what I
should do?
<Highly likely nothing... What species is this? Can you send along an image,
pic?>
Tank is 90 gallons, 75lbs of live rock, live sand, hermit crabs & various
snails. Two Lyretail Anthias. (No other fish. The tank is only 3 months old).
Skimmer.
I feed the Anthias Mysis shrimp (frozen), Sweetwater zooplankton, Cyclopeeze,
and sometimes they actually eat omega flakes with garlic.
<Is this Pseudanthias squamipinnis? Might be that one is "turning" into a
male... or more male... BTW, this and most other species of the subfamily
(Anthiinae) are better kept in small odd numbered shoals in such small volumes
as yours. Bob Fenner>
Re: Anthias with black tips on fins
Thanks for the quick reply, Bob.
Yes, the fish is a Squamipinnis and I am fairly certain that the other
one, which is orange, is the same species but female. The orange Anthias
was labeled as a Dispar at the LFS. Maybe you can confirm it for me from
the pics.
<Mmm, definitely not a Dispar... looks to me to be a sub-adult male of
the same species... Squamipinnis... note the colored dot on the
pectorals, the overall salmon coloring... Has progressed beyond being a
female... Likely a factor here in the more darkened fin margins of its
conspecific here>
I do realize after much reading on this site that a pair of Anthias may
not have been ideal, but these two seem to get along quite well,
swimming together and such. Every so often the male will chase and try
to nip at the female,
<Actually... the more male and less male...>
but the female just jets out of the way unbothered and sometimes even
nips back.
I also forgot to mention that there was a bruise on the male (same one
with the black tips) and thought maybe it could be related. The bruise
seems to be healing though; As of today it is almost gone.
<Enjoy them! If introducing other individuals... get smaller, definitely
unsexually differentiated or female individuals. See Fishbase.org,
WWM... for pix. Bob Fenner> |
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Leather Coral… Closed / Male
Scalefin Anthias… Capturing 10/17/07
Hi there,
<Hi K, Mich here.>
Firstly I'd like to say this site is great and thank you in advance for your
assistance.
<Well, glad you like it and welcome!>
Problem 1:
I purchased a leather coral 3 days ago on a lump of live rock roughly 1kg in
weight with over half a dozen small hitchhikers growing on it. The small
anemones
<Yikes! Is it Aiptasia? Does it look like anything on this page:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/aiptasidfaq2.htm
and a few small corals attracted me more than the leather coral itself which is
about the size of a fist. This is revealing to be a foolish mistake on my
behalf.
<Uh-oh!>
The hitchhikers are doing well and are always open and look healthy
<If it's Aiptasia, I'm not surprised.>
but the leather coral itself hasn't opened up since I introduced it into the
tank except once but very slightly.
<Sometimes takes time.>
Now that I think about it, it was closed in the display tank before I purchased
it which concerns me,
<Mmm, me too!>
as it was in a leather coral only tank with most of the others open barring a
few. About a dozen to be precise. I have placed the live rock about half way in
the tank with medium water flow directed onto it.
<Sounds OK.>
My local aquatic store have advised me that “it will wake up in a few days”
<It can.>
but I needed reassurance and decided to seek your expertise. I don’t know
whether it’s ok or dying.
<Mmm, doesn't sound sick or dying, just unhappy for now.>
Please help as I do not want to lose this coral before I have experienced its
beautiful splendour.
<I'd give it a little time, change your carbon and perhaps do a water change.
Sarcophyton corals can be quite chemically toxic to other corals and there may
be other corals in your tank that are chemical producers as well. The carbon or
PolyFilter will help reduce allelopathic potential.>
Problem 2:
In an impulse buy (I seem to do this a lot)
<Not good. Is always best to research any prospective purchase.>
I bought a female Scalefin anthias around 4 months ago. I found it to be quite
shy but very peaceful and pretty so I thought I’d get another one a week or so
later. (I wasn’t aware at this time that this species is sequential
hermaphrodites) To my luck it was slightly bigger than the first. You can see
where I’m going with this.
<Uh-huh.>
Pretty much as soon as I introduced it into the tank it started chasing the
other one around. Within a month it turned into a male and became aggressive
towards my clown fish too. Recently it has made a game of nipping at my cleaner
shrimp when feeding in an attempt to drive them away!
<Yikes!>
The transformation process was interesting but definitely not worth the bother.
I know that by adding more females I could calm him down but I don’t want to
have to do that. I am tired of this pest but despite my best efforts I haven’t
been able to catch the little troublemaker to take him back to the local aquatic
store as he is fast and loves to hide in burrows which my blue cheek goby dug
under rocks before it died.
<Uh-oh!>
Whatever it takes I want it out of there before it causes some irreversible
damage and I don’t mind taking the female back if it means the male will go.
I’ve been told it wouldn’t go into a trap and taking down 20kg of stacked live
rock and risking damage to other inhabitants is my only option! Which I’m not
too keen on doing for obvious reasons. Is this really my only option?
<There are other options... You will want to do some further searches on the
Internet and perhaps check on some bulletin board sites... One option that I
have heard used with success is feeding the fish in the corner for several days
and then taking a length on acrylic, placing it in the tank while feeding and
trapping the in this corner.>
Tank specs: 260ltr (68 gallons) Juwel tank, 2 Tetra Tec 700 filters, Vectron 2
uv filter, v2 Skim Protein Skimmer, factory standard heater (does the job),
factory standard pump for water flow (not so great) and an additional power head
with 850 gph flow rate, 2 marine white light bulbs (I was told these were
adequate for soft corals),
<I would do more research here, this doesn't sound like sufficient light to me
and may contributing to your Sarcophytons’ displeasure.>
air block, and 20kg live rock with live sand.
<Your system would likely benefit from some additional LR.>
The systems been running for 6 months.
<A young system.>
Tank inhabitants:
Yellow tang, blue tang,
<Too small a system for either of these fish, let alone both of these fish!>
2 Ocellaris clowns, female Scalefin anthias, male Scalefin anthias, 3 cleaner
shrimps,
<Better in even numbers.>
12 turbo snails (started off with 6, in 6 months they have doubled!), red sea
pulse coral,
<Xenia?>
pink pussy coral,
<No idea what this might be and Googling it isn't exactly helpful.>
leather coral, Japanese pagoda tube worm.
<?>
Please find pictures attached.
<Mmm, no pics were included.>
Thanks again,
<Welcome!>
regards K
<Cheers, Mich>
Lyretail Anthias
Behavior...Why Are My Females Changing To Males? – 08/02/07
You guys rock:-)
<<Why...thank you>>
Here’s my question. I have a male and 3 female Lyretails, they been doing great
for over a year :-) now. One female is changing (to me it looks like a different
species but I've been wrong before hehe) and chasing the old male into hiding
:-( .
<<Mmm, strange that the dominant female would change/oust the existing dominant
male...perhaps the latter has become injured/sick/too old to exert his
dominance>>
Now if this female is a female Lyretail turning to a male would it be best to
pull out the old male or the aggressive female?
<<I’m figuring the “change” is occurring for a reason...if you are concerned for
the “old” male’s welfare then this is the fish I would remove>>
Do they do this regularly?
<<Not as you have described... Not in my experience...>>
Meaning after a year or so if I pull out the old male will this new male will be
chased by a soon to be new female that changing a year or so down the road?
<<This is not typical behavior>>
And is it normal to have group and always having to replace with females over
the years due to male changing?
<<Not normal in home aquaria, no... As long as the dominant male stays healthy,
the tank is of a size that multiple territories are not established (usually
requires “at least” several hundred gallons), and the harem is not too large to
manage, then I would expect the dominant male to be able to suppress the females
from “becoming” males>>
Thanks for any input you have.
<<Happy to assist>>
Love ya all,
Keith :-)
<<Mmm...but we’ve only just met (grin). EricR>>
Fairy Basslet in hiding 7/8/07
Hello WWM!
Long time reader, First time poster
<Welcome. We are strangers but once>
I have had 2 Bartlett's Anthias for 3 yrs now. The male appears in poor health.
<Mmmm... like most Anthiines, better to have in a larger number grouping... but
this/these may well be reaching senescence... old age>
I have a 120 reef system with sump, skimmer, good flow produced by close loop
with sequencing unit and chiller. I do bi monthly 20% water changes. Tankmates
include a Majestic Angel,
<Mmm, this species needs more room than this... by about a minimum of twice>
2 Ocellaris, 3 Chromis, 2 Banggai Cardinals. I feed 2x a day every other day a
mix of Mysis, Formula 2 frozen and Cyclop-eeze. (small amounts, slowly....a 6
yr. routine) I also add locally cultivated reef stew to my tank once a month....
yummy treats!
My problem is this, for the past 3 days the male Anthias has been hiding in rock
crevices around the bottom of my tank.
<Perhaps age... maybe something to do with the other fish/es...>
The first day, he came out to eat. Yesterday he did not come out during feeding
time; however, he did move about, but ate nothing ( I fed out of schedule to
entice him out ). Today, he is MIA. I assume he is in the back rockwork not
visible to me.
<Maybe>
I did notice that his color became more intense during this time. The pink hue
almost a hot pink. I thought that perhaps his breathing was labored as well.
I did look closely at him and noticed NO evidence of injury or outward sign of
bacterial infection.
I was hoping you would be able to shed some light on my experience.
Thank you for your dedication.
Kim
<Mmm, if there were room psycho- and physio-logically in this system, I'd
suggest adding three or five more females of the species... As it is... just
waiting. Bob Fenner>
Re: Fairy Basslet in hiding – 07/08/07
Thank you for your reply Bob,
<Welcome Kim>
The male Anthias has indeed found hiding in the back of the tank. I shooed him
to a crevice in the front of my tank. If/when he dies, I would like to easily
remove whatever portions my Jumbo Nassarius snails do not devour.
<Okay>
As he was swimming to the front, he wasn't really swimming, he was more like
shimmying with his tail down and snout up. He is still fat as ever and his color
is extremely intense, I would say at least 2x or even more....it's almost as if
he's running a high fever 0_o
<Good desc.>
Regarding possible harassment between tank mates. I have a peaceful community
for the time being.
<Ah, good>
I have often thought about trading to my LFS the well mannered (reef tank)
Majestic that I have had for 5 yrs. (small for his maturity... maybe 6" in
length),
<This is likely "it" size-wise here... Has been "bonsaied" by the size et al.
restraints of this system>
I just don't know if he'll be placed in a better environment and this bothers
me. I have arranged my tank in such a way as to provide the most possible
lateral swimming area. I have taken much grief on forums for my approach as I
use less LR than is popular today. I have 110lbs in my 120 AGA and 20 gal sump.
<I see>
Using island and arches to provide the hiding spaces needed; I like to keep my
rock completely surrounded with brisk current keeping pores from clogging
quickly, not to mention more surface area for the biological filtration process
to take place.
<Well stated; and done>
Apologies for my long windedness.( I could have gone on and on :) )
Thank you for your time.
Kim
<And you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Gender Change In Square-Spot Anthias - 02/23/07
Hello there,
<<Howdy>>
Love your website.
<<Thank you>>
It's proving as addictive as marine aquarium keeping (seeing that I am writing
this at 1:30 pm. after reading today's FAQ's).
<<Indeed>>
I purchased a mature 90-gallon system six months ago and thus far, all is going
well.
<<Cool>>
I am thoroughly enjoying this wonderful new hobby, and recently read The
Conscientious Marine Aquarist, which I thought was great.
<<Excellent>>
I've looked through the information you have provided on the square <<spot>>
Anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia), but still have a question.
<<A very neat fish>>
I know that in a group of females, one will eventually become male, but is the
reverse true?
<<Not once the transformation is completed/final...in my experience>>
My LFS sold me a pair of males (both have square blocks on their side), saying
that one would eventually become male.
<<I think you meant to say "female?">>
Have I been misinformed?
<<In my opinion...yes>>
It's been four months now and one continues to show dominance behavior
(charging, not nipping) toward the other, although at times they seem quite
comfortable together.
<<An illusion>>
There have been no noticeable physical changes in the smaller, non-dominant one
(or the larger one either). Both appear healthy, eat well, and have grown since
I purchased them.
<<My experiences in this area have been the subordinate male will eventually
just "disappear" (die) from the stresses put upon it by the dominant male...even
in a very large system>>
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
<<Wish it were more "upbeat">>
Susan
<<Regards, EricR>>
Re: Gender Change In Square-Spot Anthias - 02/24/07
Thanks for your prompt reply and good advice.
<<Quite welcome>>
I will talk to my LFS, he's a reasonable man and I'm sure will be willing to
take one of them back.
<<Sounds great. EricR>>
Susan
Anthiine Behavior/Dichromatism - 12/04/06
Hello,
<<Howdy>>
Once again I really appreciate all that you guys <<and gals>> do for us by
imparting your knowledge so willingly.
<<Happy to share>>
I just had a question about Pseudanthias bimaculatus. I have a 135 gallon (6
feet) FOWLR whose current inhabitants are a powder blue tang, sailfin tang, a
Threespot (flagfin) angelfish, a percula clown, three green Chromis and a
diamond goby. In the earlier stages of the tank I attempted to keep a harem of
Lyretail Anthias with great success until the most dominant female turned into a
male (I started with four females), and then the group started to widdle down
until only the male was left who was then gotten rid of.
<<Hmm, I have kept several species of Anthiinae and to date have found the
Lyretail to be the "better" aquarium species...I currently have a small group
(5) with a very dominant and colorful male. Aside from lots of flashing and
"herding" of the females (a natural behavior), these fish have not suffered any
harm and have grown/done very well for more than a year...albeit in a system
more than twice the size of yours>>
Every time I go into this LFS who I really trust and is really trusted among
other aquarists in the surrounding area (surprisingly hard to find one of
these...especially in New England) who have kept a group of four Pseudanthias
bimaculatus in their, I believe it is 90 gallon, reef display for over a year
and all are doing great.
<<Ok>>
But the funny thing is that none of the four seem to have completely changed
into a male, or to the extent that I have seen in photographs of the species,
they all still seem to have a female coloration.
<<Hmm, strange indeed that one would not have asserted dominance/changed to male
by this time...unless they were all "very" young to start and the "change" is
just around the corner...or perhaps something else in the tank is suppressing
these fish>>
So I was wondering which arrangement you felt was the best; a group, pair, or
single male for this species and size tank?
<<Some species are better suited to "grouping" under aquarium conditions than
others, and none are a sure thing as you discovered with the Lyretails, but I
would be inclined to attempt a group of 3-4 of these beauties>>
I also had a question about water flow, the LFS's display has several SPS in it,
and do you feel that a high water flow could potentially limit aggression given
the conditions that these fish live in in the wild?
<<Nope...something else is at play, or perhaps the dichromatism is just very
subtle (have witnessed this latter in "tanked changed" Anthiines before)>>
Thanks for all of your help.
- Dave
<<My pleasure to assist. EricR>>
Lyretail Anthias...Females Turning to Males - 10/06/06
Good evening.
<<Hello>>
I recently purchased 3 female Lyretail Anthias, and they all appear to be
healthy and getting along with one another.
<<Excellent...one of the better/hardier species for aquarium keeping in my
opinion>>
I was wondering if the most dominant will eventually become male?
<<Indeed she will>>
How long does this normally take?
<<Hmm...have seen it begin almost immediately...completed in as little as a few
weeks time>>
I know all Anthias can undergo a sex-change when a harem's male dies, but I was
unsure about my situation because they were all female.
<<No worries mate, the dominant female will "convert." You may even want to
consider adding another female to spread the aggression among "pecking order" of
the remaining females. Having "too few' can sometimes be worse than having too
many>>
Sorry if this was a silly question.
<<Not at all my friend>>
Dan
<<Regards, EricR>>
Square Anthias ... Mmmm, sys., beh. 7/18/06
Hi
I was after a bit of advice.
<But not now?>
We have a year old 5ft tank. Everything going perfectly. We had a blue tang,
mimic tang, blue damsel and a Chromis.
<What happened to them?>
We just bought 4 more(3 days ago), a mandarin, a purple tang, longnose hawkfish
and a square Anthias. Our store said all were compatible.
<The Mandarin may have a hard time getting enough to eat in this mix...>
The Anthias hides in a crevice
<Typical for this species, especially when new... and it will not likely come
out much, w/o the presence of a few females...>
and does not come out even to eat. we have noticed it is slightly active in the
middle of the night. The other fish don't seem too hassle him, he's just a hermit!
How can we make him come out?
Cheers Megan
<Mmm, please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anthiina.htm
and the linked files above... particularly "Systems", "Compatibility"... Bob
Fenner>
Re: square Anthias, not reading 7/19/06
hi
<Hi>
again
Nothing happened to the fish we had, I probably should have used the word
"have".
<Change in tense can be/was confusing>
My husband, its his fish tank, didn't like the Anthias...my son and i did. The
mandarin is eating fine and looks to be getting plenty. How many
female Anthias should we get and also if we don't will the male die.?
thanks Megan
<Please read where you were referred to. There is much ancillary information you
need to be aware of... Bob Fenner>
Anthias/Blenny interaction - 01/01/06
Eric,
<<Carrie>>
I just emailed you but I just had a thought......I have a Midas Blenny in with
the Anthias.......is it possible that is what is keeping the females from
changing?
<<Nope...more likely these fish are just very young yet.>>
Ask Bob.
<<Okay, Bob?...>> >My best guess is yes... the presence of the Midas does likely
have an affect here. RMF<
In the wild they are known to swim together.
<<Will do so in captivity as well.>>
I also wonder if buying a male Anthias at this point would
be an okay idea or should I not rock the apple cart.......
<<I see no problem with this...is what I did. Better to do so now rather than
after one of the females starts to make the change.>>
Take Care,
Carrie
<<Will be chatting my friend, EricR>>
Sex change of single Square-Back Anthias
Hello,
<<Hello - Ted here>>
Thank you for your help with other questions I have had. It has been a
great help to ask the questions that I cannot find answers to after hours
of searching, and get quick knowledgeable answers.
We have a female Square-back Anthias in our 75 gallon FOWLR tank. It is
about 3 1/2 inches now. This is the only Anthias we have. The past few
days I have noticed that it is showing some darker coloration around the
head. I am wondering will an Anthias change sex to a male if it is the
only one, or do they only do this in a group?
<<Given only one Anthias, it is unlikely that the color change is related
to sex change. Fish will change color when stressed or ill. If you are
not seeing any indications of illness (white spots, rapid breathing, etc.)
or stress (strange behavior) it may simply be the fish is maturing. I
would check the system parameters and monitor things.>>
Thank you,
Andrew Morgenegg
<<Cheers - Ted>>
Shy (Or Scared!) Gramma (8/17/040
Hello Crew, <Steve Allen tonight.>
I have another question. I had Recently purchased a fairy Basslet from my LFS
(local fish store) <Gramma loreto, I presume.><<Actually, no.
An Anthiine species. RMF>> I took him home and floated him w/o quarantine
(I know, I know), <tsk, tsk> But anyways the first thing he seemed to do was go
in hiding, which I expected every fish would do when being introduced <yup> but
he really never came out, though I did get glimpses of him while using the
bathroom =) <I won't touch that one.> but that was the first 2 days he seemed
perfectly fine but now I don't see him at all...is this normal behavior or is
something wrong? <They are shy, but will usually defend d their chosen spot
quite vigorously, even against larger fish. And they do com out to feed unless
ill or seriously intimidated.> My Maroon Clownfish <the possible culprit here>
and my Panther Grouper are doing perfectly fine (no the grouper is an inch long,
he wasn't eaten). <Hmm...I've never seen one quite that small. Do bear in mind
that it will grow to 18+ inches and will be able to swallow the Gramma whole
someday, though he will likely eat it in pieces sooner than that. Maroon clowns
are very aggressive, and I would strongly suspect that it picks on the Gramma
behind your back to the point that the Gramma may have gone into permanent
hiding. In such situations, the intimidated fish eventually starves to death.>
But I was just wanting a quick background on the fairy Basslet. <Read this:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/grammas.htm><<...
anthiines.com>> Should I wait a couple more days, or should I start
tearing the rockwork away in an attempt to find him? <Oooh, I would not want to
be doing that. First off, you're likely to squish something. Secondly, if the
Gramma is alive and hiding, he'll just hide again as soon as he finds a nice
cranny in the new arrangement. Thirdly, if he's dead, he is small enough that
your detritivores and biofilter should be able to handle the decomposition load
unless you have a small tank (less than 55G or so). Tearing down rockwork is
tedious and can wreak havoc on a stable system. And you'll never can get it back
to the same arrangement if you like the way it looks now. Not worth doing
without a compelling reason, such as removing the Maroon Clown if he gets
dangerous as he gets bigger. Though beautiful, it is one of the most aggressive
Clowns. I keep mine with tankmates that don't take any guff. In your shoes, I'd
keep an eye on ammonia and nitrates. If no spike, I would let a dead Gramma rot
in peace. If you really think it is alive but never comes out during feeds, you
can go ahead and tear up the rockwork and find it. Remove as much rock to
plastic containers as you need to in order to be able to catch your fish. (I
recently had to pull a couple of hundred pounds out to catch a 5" Picasso
Trigger--a real PITB.) I would then remove the Clown (and maybe even the
Grouper) to a quarantine and let the Gramma establish itself and grow
comfortable for a couple of weeks before re-introducing the others. Sometimes
simply re-arranging the rock a bit while all the fish are in there will break up
territories, but I doubt a Maroon Clown will be adequately confused by this.>
Thanks a bunch, Chris <Hope this helps.>
Pseudanthias pleurotaenia
hi guys
I have a quick question.
I have a female square spot Anthias in a 125 gal. fish only tank, with
a red Coris wrasse and a maroon clownfish she eats very well.
anyway my questions are is the juv. coloration different from the
female coloration and will she turn to a male without any other
Anthias in the tank?
<Juvenile coloration (yellowish) intensifies (to a more bright, golden yellow)
with age, but most will not change to even a duller male coloration w/o the
presence of at least a single other individual of the same species... better,
best to have small, odd numbers of individuals (3,5...) IF your system is large
enough. Yours is big enough for three. Bob Fenner>
thank you for any help
tom
About: Dispar Anthias
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005
Hi! I'm wondering about Dispar Anthias Pseudanthias dispar relating to adding on to my pair.
<Hello Kevin, James (Salty Dog) to assist you.>
I currently have a 100 gal. tank (fish only) with live rock and a 32 gal. hospital tank. In my 100 gal., I currently have 9 Blue-Green Chromis,
C. viridis which are all in healthy condition. I have a Blonde Naso Naso lituratus, a Yellow Tang Zebrasoma flavescens, and a Red Coris Wrasse
Coris gaimard. I've been researching about Anthias in general for a while and learned about the social groups, feeding, etc. I've always wanted to keep a
shoal of dispars, but rarely came across good specimens. One day at the LFS, I came across two shy specimens which looked great!! I decided to buy them
at $14.99 a piece (pretty good from what I've seen in other places). When I brought them home and put them into the tank, they hid for 3 hours. Then slowly
started to peep out. The next day, they were out with all the other fish. I
tried Mysis, but no luck ( though they were lookin' at it!). Then, they turned into pigs!!!!!!! They now eat everything I put in. Now, everything looks
great, but I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a few more of those beauties. Do you guys think I could pull off adding 4 more to the tank? I
mean will the dispars in my tank accept the newcomers? If not, I already have my mind set on some purple queens (not tuka), (Pseudanthias pascala). I
think the key to keeping docile shy Anthias is to first have an established shoal
of dither fish (Chromis), then put in the Anthias. Without my Chromis in the tank, the dispars probably would not have had the nerve to go feed. Well
anyways, please reply, and I want to compliment you guys on such an informative and well done web site.
<Kevin, I think you will be approaching the overcapacity of the tank. Anyway here is a link to a very informative article by Bob Fenner.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anthiina.htm James (Salty Dog)>
- Anthias Question -
Howdy crew! <Howdy.> Quick question for ya. <Ok.> I have 3 female lyretail
Anthias in my 90G reef. They have been in for about 2 weeks now. I noticed
that two of the three are really starting to have it out. They lock their
mouths together and spin around and around, very odd looking. I have read that
they can be a bit mean. Will they kill each other? <In time, yes.> Is this one
trying to become a leader, or a male? <Or at least assert its position in the
chain of command... this is very typical for Anthias.> Should I let this
continue or remove one of the two. <If you don't remove the others, you will be
left with one anyway.> Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated. <You
really need a much larger tank to attempt a small school of Anthias, and even
then the lowest one on the totem pole is often lost.> Thanks.
Paul
<Cheers, J -- >
Anthias
Hey Bob,
I hope the holidays have been going well for you!
<Yes Graham, thank you. Happy holidays to you and your mom>
Anyway, after a year of waiting and researching, a I finally purchased 11
Bartlett's Anthias for my aquarium a week ago (1 large male and 10 females).
My tank was pretty much designed just for these fish, and these fish are the
only fish in the tank (besides a mandarin). All eleven of them eat pellets,
flake foods, Cyclop eeze, brine, and mysids like pigs. They're also fed very
small amounts 7x daily. Recently I've been noticing the male starting to act
aggressively towards the females (which I expected), but two of the 10
females are being harassed more than others. Both have been forced to hide
around the right side of the tank, although they may venture out
occasionally and swim with the loose school. Both of these Anthias being
harassed are almost the same size as the male is. My question is if this is
why the male is bothering these two in particular.
<As you state... due to size... these females are next to "turn into" males>
If so, is there anything I can do to ease the aggression? I have a lot of
rockwork for them to hide, as well as extremely strong
current throughout the tank (4500 gallons). Any suggestions or advice
would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Graham
<Comes down to two choices... with variations. To remove them or not... and
hope for the best. Bob Fenner>
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Re: Anthias
Hi Robert,
<Hello Graham>
Well, It turns out that one of the larger females that the male was
harassing turned into another male. Now, these two males are almost the
exact same size. Is there any risk to having two males, with a total of 9
females? So far, they each seem to have a portion of the tank for
themselves, with the females going between them.
Thanks for your reply!
Graham
<No problem likely... you have a good sex ratio, and good-sized system.
Likely these two males will semi-peacefully compete. Bob Fenner>
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Anthias woes
Hi Bob,
I am a frequent reader of your articles on both FFExpress and WetWebMedia,
your book is also one of my favorite quick references. I have been in the
hobby for a few years now and the culmination of my experience is leaving
me with no answer to my latest problem. I have a 180gal reef tank, large
skimmer, calcium reactor, and 25gal plenum/algae refugium. About 3 weeks
ago my square box Anthias (the dominant fish in the tank) stopped eating
(I've had him 8 months). No visible parasites externally, not thin. I
thought he was taking a day off, but hasn't eaten since. He would just
hide in a cave all the time and wouldn't come out at all.
<Hmm, this has happened to my experience with Pseudanthias pleurotaenia before...>
I moved him to
the refugium a week ago, thinking the live copepods would entice him and
that I could try to feed him with out the other fish out-competing him for
food.
No luck. I regularly ( 2-3x a day) feed the tank a random mixture
of about 10 different frozen foods soaked in Zoecon and have also tried
feeding live brine shrimp.
<Good ideas>
He just sits on the bottom of the refugium,
only moving occasionally and refusing all food (even turning away when I
squirt it towards his mouth). I still haven't noticed any severe weight
loss and he still has excellent coloration. Is there anything else I can try?
<Actually yes... the one item that you don't mention is conspecifics... you have no females present with this specimen? In a semi-last ditch attempt to restore its interest in feeding, life, I would place it/him back in the main system and add two females of this species... ASAP. This (as are most
Anthiines) species is social, and may have "given up the ghost" for lack of companionship. Bob Fenner>
Thanks, David
Lyretail Anthias Question---Somewhat Urgent
I have a school of 5 Lyretail Anthias. Until recently the school consisted of 4 females and 1 male. About 2 weeks ago the male hurt his eye and has been somewhat reclusive while it heals. Problem is in the meantime the largest of the females has begun to transform to a male.
<Yes... this happens>
I have a well established 180gal community reef tank. I didn't think this could happen while the original male was still alive. The female that is in progress to turning male has really begun to take on the behavior of a male. I am in need to of some advise. I have included a picture of the hermaphrodite(?).
<Let's settle on "transitioning">
Should I remove this fish from the tank? Will the original male turn to female?.
<Doubtful... but in a 180 gallon with plenty of cover, they may all co-exist, even be more lively, colorful with 1 1/2, 1 3/4 males...>
I cannot find any good answers on this at all. My website is located at http:/www.thecub.com if you wish to review my tank. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mathew Sica
<Be chatting. Bob Fenner> |
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Re: Lyretail Anthias Question---Somewhat Urgent
Bob, Great to hear from you so quickly sir. One more question. I had ordered 3 more females I was going to add this Tuesday from a
local independent) fish store. Would it be best to hold off adding these fish Tuesday night or do you think it would help the situation by keeping either male from being too dominant?
<I would introduce them>
This would bring the total to 6.5 females and 1.5 males. Once again I thank you for your advice and will raise a glass of Guinness in thanks.
<Wish I was there with one with you. Bob F, off to go jogging with the dogs, wife, roomie>
Best Regards,
Mathew Sica
Pink square Anthias
4 weeks of good eating and adjustment for my square Anthias...2 days ago the fish started to butt the front on his mouth on the side of the tank. Later the fish started to butt the front of the tank. Only does this when lights are on! Will he hurt himself?
<certainly is stressful and likely physically harmful. Do try to determine what caused the change in behavior... a change in light is likely (new or different bulbs, sudden use of carbon/chemical media which suddenly improves water clarity, cleaning of a very dirty lens/cover that admits more light, etc)>
jacdavie Thanks!
<best regards, Anthony>
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