Next: Anthias!

[Europhyllia]

Kristy made me curious about Anthias. I've avoided them in the past in part because of the feeding requirements and the need to have a cover.
Since I got a cover for the blenny and don't know anybody that feeds more frequently than me I was ready to give it another thought.
Then I picked up some frags from BSJF ... :at_wits_end:I shouldn't have looked!
The Anthias were adorable. Not too big, beautiful little group.

So I started my brine shrimp culture to have some larger ones ready when the time comes.

I'd like to get a group of 4. I am planning to start out with 4 females with the intent of them working out which one gets to be the male.

My top choices are:
1. Ignitus
2. Dispar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA10wpTuNFI
3. Bartlett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aRJoZqvDQo

The Bartlett's would be higher up if they weren't so pink! Then again maybe pink will be a good contrast to my mostly yellow and orange corals...

Anyway no point to this post other than to state my intent and update as we proceed...

[Salty]

I LOVE my squami, by far my favorite fish. Never had any problems with jumping and she keeps my blue devil in check. Highly recommended

[Jarob]

Oh man I love all those, BUT have you ever seen the Sunburst (Fathead) Anthais?! GC had 2 females and they were so beautiful.. I need to get them...

[Europhyllia]

I kind of like the smaller ones. The squamis seem so big. I'll read up on the fatheads

[HoppyBunny]

We have Ignitus and they are beautiful, but I have always loved the fatheads. They have a unique look and great coloring. Can't wait to hear which one you decide to get!

[txmaverickmh]

I purchased the two Fatheads from GC Reef, they are freaking awesome, eating well, but still a bit shy right now! Not to mention that they were $50/piece, which I could only find them on liveaquaria and such for like $64...

Karin, Dr. Mark has a group of Lyretail anthias, I think 1 male and 4-5 females, and they are so stunning and very cool to watch school around, and watch the male swim around the females! Definitely would be my #1 choice if I had a big tank.

Also, the barbonias anthias, James and Dr. Mark both have schools (about 4) of these fish, they are usually very expensive at about $250/fish, and hard to find, but I found a trio for sale at City Pets in Houston for $99/fish, a very good deal, just dont know if that fits your wallet. But, you cant beat the lyretail (squamipinnis) anthias, they are beautiful!!!!

Good luck, very good choice on getting anthias! I think they would be great for your tank, with your feeding habits and your worry about anyone messing with your clowns or mandarins.

[Europhyllia]

Here's an interesting thing I just learned. According to Bob Fenner the Pseudoanthias sp. like Bartlett's, Dispar, etc. do better if kept in groups but the fathead is NOT a PSeudoanthias and according to Fenner is best kept one to a tank.

[kkiel02]

I am also thinking about getting sunburst anthias but I will be moving here in june/july so it will probably be after that. Reefs2u had them for a great price a couple weeks ago.

[Kristy]

That's correct... the fathead and the blotched and the pink square are all from different families other than the Pseudanthias. They have very different behavior from the milder, schooling Pseudanthias family and are much more aggressive. Karin, I have only seen the Pseudanthias (like the ones you are considering) be aggressive to one another, and that is the social hierarchy of the harems as they work out their position / gender.

[Europhyllia]

I like the Dispars but they get a red/yellow sign in Michael Scott's book meaning mortality in captivity is higher. The Bartlett's get a green/yellow sign in his book indicating that they are more likely to survive.
Survival is good. Maybe Bartlett's it is. He says the Lyretails would be pretty aggressive (towards each other -thanks for clarifying, Kristy!) and the Dispars, Igantus and Loris would be the least aggressive. The Bartlett's would be somewhere in between but the more timid ones apparently are also more fragile in regards to captive care.

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/resources.asp?show=375

[BSJF]

I think the dispars are easier than the bartletts. Even my daughter in Utah has been able to keep my old ones going, not knowing much at all about SW.

[d3rryc]

Here are a couple of great anthias articles from ReefKeeping:

[link]Part 1 (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/hcs3/index.php)[link]
[link]Part 2 (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/hcs3/index.php)[link]

The author goes into a lot of detail in Part 2 on the individual species and their care, highlighting which ones are easier, which ones are harder, and why.

I've also read that it's generally better to get an odd number - the pecking order seems to settle out better that way. I picked up three lyretails late last year, and there was a clearly dominant individual and a clearly submissive one, so the turf wars were minimal.

[Europhyllia]

Excellent links! Thanks so much. I read the same thing about the odd numbers however the author of the piece I read said that what people don't realize is that the odd number thing counts for each group (male/female) so he says it's better to have 1 male and 3 or 5 females.
I'll read those links now :)

[Europhyllia]

Alright. Done reading. Bartlett's it is! I am warming up to the pink ;)

[d3rryc]

I ordered three females and let the dominant change to male. That was a VERY cool process to watch!

[Europhyllia]

Yeah I am thinking of getting 4 females.

[txg8gxp]

Awesome, I'm sure you will love them. Wish I could go that route, but looks like chromis for me.

[Europhyllia]

can I get the PraziPro locally?

[Europhyllia]

does it have to be PraziPro? One of the suppliers treats them with metronidazole while in QT. Is that similar?