What happened?

[avilamillar]

I got three pink anthias about a week ago, they all looked happy but one of them would not school with the other two. The three have been eating well but I just noticed today that one of them(probably the one that didnt school with the other two) appears to have a injury on the side.

Here's a pic:



What could have happened? I also have a pair of clownfish and a lionfish in the tank but I have never seen anyone fighting.

Thanks,

Jose

[Texreefer]

LIONFISH? with Anthias... lionfish was probably looking for dinner!

[avilamillar]

LIONFISH? with Anthias... lionfish was probably looking for dinner!

Yeah I thought that at the beginning but he doesn't seem to bother them and one of the clownfish is even smaller than the anthias.

Also the anthias would have the injury on both sides if the lionfish would have tried to eat it right?

There's a lot of aptasias in the rock, could they have stung the anthias?

[Texreefer]

NO, i'm sure it wasn't from the lionfish cause the anthias would just be gone.. was just giving you a hard time about it.. more likely from fighting. with the other anthias.. they look mature, if you just got them.. its very likely the others are beating up on it

[avilamillar]

NO, i'm sure it wasn't from the lionfish cause the anthias would just be gone.. was just giving you a hard time about it.. more likely from fighting. with the other anthias.. they look mature, if you just got them.. its very likely the others are beating up on it

Yeah the lionfish is pretty big and could have swallowed the whole anthias if wanted to. I'll keep an eye on the other anthias but so far I have not seen them fighting, even when I feed them.

[avilamillar]

Well I haven't seen it since I took the picture around 4pm :( and im sure its not in the lion fish's belly because I would be able to see the full stomach.

Could it have been a mantis shrimp? I don't really know how fishes beaten up by mantis look like...

[SoLiD]

Do you have a Lionfish and a Mantis Shrimp in that tank???

[profntbtr]

i doubt it's a mantis, a mantis's attack is designed to kill, and is usually very effective. if you've seen it alive with damage, it is not a mantis. i'd suspect the other fish, but as mike said, it isn't the lion, because lions don't really attack as much as consume. i'd say the other anthias are to blame, sometimes fish refuse to play nice. if you can i'd separate the injured fish and see if things get better. it is also possible you were sold a pair of males and a female, which could prove problematic as anthias are haremic.

[avilamillar]

Do you have a Lionfish and a Mantis Shrimp in that tank???

I do have a lionfish, not sure about the mantis.

i doubt it's a mantis, a mantis's attack is designed to kill, and is usually very effective. if you've seen it alive with damage, it is not a mantis. i'd suspect the other fish, but as mike said, it isn't the lion, because lions don't really attack as much as consume. i'd say the other anthias are to blame, sometimes fish refuse to play nice. if you can i'd separate the injured fish and see if things get better. it is also possible you were sold a pair of males and a female, which could prove problematic as anthias are haremic.

Well I tink that was the case. I was going to separate the fish but I just found it dead 5 minutes ago :( the cleaning crew were doing their job already.

[Kristy]

Anthias are famous for picking off the one that doesn't fit in. I'm quite sure the other anthias did that to your little guy, either because it was another male or a dominant competing female, or just not one of the cool kids, or.... their social hierarchy is pretty brutal.

Not sure what kind of lionfish you have, but they all grow very quickly (except maybe the dwarfs), and if you have small clowns and anthias in the tank with a big lionfish, they are going to get eaten eventually. You may want to rethink your stocking plan. They are not likely to peacefully coexist for long.