How many Anthias?

J

Jaguar

I am recently considering a small herd of anthias, and wondered is 5 (3 of one, 2 of the other) too many for a 2ft cube. I constantly see people with 3ft tanks and 20 fish in them, well here. I personally prefer a low fish density, but am wanting to add some really exotic anthias to the next tank. I am wanting to keep two species.

Serranocirrhitus latus, Sunburst Anthias
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+52&pcatid=52

and Pseudanthias ventralis, Ventralis Anthias
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+95&pcatid=95

They will be the main bioload of the tank and introduced 1st to become familiar with the tank, and corals. The option to keep anywhere between 4-6 is there. 5 is my favorite #, and I'm concerned about there swimming space in the tank. Being introduced 1st allows me to ensure all are feeding well and not harassed by any other inhabitants. Other fish inhabitants would be a clownfish pair (either picassos or McCullochs, McCullochs preferred) and perhaps a blenny, or not depending on how much the bioload would be at that time.

Both species here are doing well in captivity by other hobbiests who have purchased from this collector. As the quarantine here is pretty intense, they are all feeding on prepared foods before reaching me and have been proven healthy for at least a month if not more. I can ask in the local forums here, but I prefer the advice from the US fish experts. What do the pro Anthias keepers think?
 
I have 4 Lyretails, 3 females and 1 male in a 3ft tank. They are doing well and happy with a medium fish load. The research that I did said they prefer to have 1 male with multiple females so your "ideal" combination would be 1 male and 4 females. They school fairly wel in my tank and are fun to fun to watch. I love the Ventralis but they were a bit out of my price range!! A 2ft cube gives you the same volume that I had but gives more up and down swimming vs left to right which is how mine prefer to swim...just food for thought.
 
It's quickly becoming a necessity for the fish in my tanks to all be over $100 per fish. I'm so happy the corals sell in colonies primarily and are all about the $50 mark. So you suggest all one type?
 
I can't comment on having multiple types but your in the right place to get that answer!!!

Sent from my Toasted Marshmallow using Tapatalk 2
 
You may want to consider buying all females and letting the dominate one turn male. Fyi...We always end up with less than we buy because they establish a higharchy among the school.
 
No it is not a 40b. I don't think that is a common size here. It's pretty odd, where in the states there are normal tanks with standard sizes. I haven't seen that very much here. It's a mish-mash of 'whatever' tanks. I picked up tank I thought was 'standard 2ft' because it had a nice overflow build into it to upgrade my current standard 2ft QT tank. Got it home, it's not 'standard' and I have been working on building a new stand for it.

The tank I'm planning is 2ft x 2ft x 16" all in one. The display is about 20" x 24" x 16". I was definitely planning to get all females, was just nervous about the tank space for them, and the two species getting along alright. It'll be another SPS dominate tank. (Running outta room for them in the main 2ft cube.) I've placed expressions of interest and to be contacted immediately when they are available from a few stores one locally, one in Brisbane. Never had anthias before, but I know about there care, and I remember Servo back in the days with some of his fancy anthias, and wrasses. I'm keen on the challenge.

You guys have fun at MACNA? No one's posted photos, can't wait for those to go up!
 
@Mikii wrote:
[I]@niteowl03 wrote:[/I][quote="I have 4 Lyretails said:
Is it a 40b? I would love to go in the Anthias Direction..."]

No mine is not a 40b. It is a 60g tank.

To the OP: With the anthias being the only "large" fish if you will; I would say to give it a shot, but with only one species just t avoid conflict in the tank. We all know the similar species of fish like to fight and with fish this pretty and expensive I wouldnt want to risk it. They do need to be fed 2x times a day but to me its well worth it!
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Well, turns out all the ventralis divers are out there now, and after getting further advice from 2 anthias keepers here in Australia. The choice was Ventralis, and another type that is not going to be available for collection as it is becoming a protected area of the the GBR.

So that being said. I decided to go with 5 female ventralis, which will be here in 2 days. I'm sure one will turn male one day. Guess we'll see how they go. Be happy to post some pics once they arrive. [smilie=clapping.gif] [smilie=rofl.gif]

Now if my new LEDTRiC fixtures can be made faster.
 
@derek4real wrote:
Hope you did our home work on those guys. They like cooler water and are not a easy fish to do. said:
No, yeah totally (I mean I agree!) [smilie=wait.gif] I would never take the journey on a new fish without researching it. I've been on to the locals about suggested varied diets. I have a spare dosing pump for small constant feedings into the water column in between my regular twice daily feedings. My current reef runs pretty cool at about 73-76, but it's a bigger tank. With it being summer and I only have one chiller. Might have to get another. Chillers here pretty default though it's hot in Sydney.
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LONG OVERDUE, but these beauties are definitely for experienced fishkeepers. Terribly shy as I don't have any other anthias in so they can flock with. They took about a week to adjust to frozen food (Now they love it! [smilie=clapping.gif] Took 2 weeks before they came into the open water of the tank a bit, and took a month before they started actually looking around the rest of the tank. I'm convinced that they probably haven't been to the right side of the tank at all. Looking to add a few more of a more bolder anthias, lyretail, or dispar. Still waiting on my sunsets though so haven't added anymore.

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