Square spot anthia..easy to keep?

[gtrigger]

Hi,

Any reefers here keep square spot anthia? Is it a difficult fish? What does it feed and what is the average life span in our reef aquarium?

Thks...

[Chris]

One of the more difficult species to keep. Feeding problem and also very timid.

[Guinness]

Generally.... anthias are rated as 'difficult to maintain'. Many should not even be in aquariums. But there are those 'very commited' who manage to sustain skools of them.

[gtrigger]

Not all species of anthias are difficult to maintain, at least Lyetail anthias are relatively easy to rear, while purple queens are difficult, just to quote two examples.

I agreed with Chris, square spots are very difficule to feed, and always hiding among rocks. What a waste.. such a beautiful fish.

[Dispar_Anthias]

Hmm... squarespot anthias firstly can do very well once established, but the starting part is rather tedious as it is very hard to get it to eat as it just love to hide(well most specimen do).... But i think zooplankton will be a very good choice of food to get it to eat. BTW squarespot is a very large anthias and i suggest to keep only 1 specimen in the tank.

[ashidiq]

sorry to borrow this thread but very eager to ask tis question... erm what are the anthais that are more agressive ? eg can i have 1 tiger , 2 dispar , 1 lyretail ?

[Dispar_Anthias]

sorry to borrow this thread but very eager to ask tis question... erm what are the anthais that are more agressive ? eg can i have 1 tiger , 2 dispar , 1 lyretail ?

Hmm your lyretail would probably be the most aggressive but its no harm having one of them... My recommended combination would be 3 dispar, 3 tiger and 1 lyretail...

[ashidiq]

ermm... by looking at your nick i can be sure that the info is very accurate haha joking... erm my tank is 3 feet i think with 7 anthais its too cramped... currnelty i have a dispar liao ... so can give me recomandation please...

[gtrigger]

I have two lyretails, a male and a female; the female is more aggresive than the male, lol. ; one tiger, and one purple queen; and just bought a square spot. Tiger and purple are peaceful and lyretails are aggresive.

Pls note anthias need to be fed regularly, thus will increase the bioload.

[Dispar_Anthias]

ermm... by looking at your nick i can be sure that the info is very accurate haha joking... erm my tank is 3 feet i think with 7 anthais its too cramped... currnelty i have a dispar liao ... so can give me recomandation please...

Let me know abt your tank spec and existing livestock in the tank

[ashidiq]

thanks dispar ! erm i have a powder blue a fire goby and a key hole angel and one lyre anthais .... so what are the possible anthais i can have.... thanks dispar thanks alot !

[Dispar_Anthias]

thanks dispar ! erm i have a powder blue a fire goby and a key hole angel and one lyre anthais .... so what are the possible anthais i can have.... thanks dispar thanks alot !

Actually you can have most of the anthias but some, in fact quite a few of them have feeding problem thus for a beginner(like me definately) i would go for dispar, tiger or barletts

[ashidiq]

so a tank of 2 dispas n 2 tiger and maybe 1 barletts will do fine ?okok thanks a alot dispar anthais...

[Dispar_Anthias]

so a tank of 2 dispas n 2 tiger and maybe 1 barletts will do fine ?okok thanks a alot dispar anthais...

It will do ok but bear in mind... anthias need regular feeding and that may result in pollution of your water thus a efficient skimmer and good filtering system is needed

[ashidiq]

oic ... erm dispar u like anthais alot ? looks like u very well versed in anthais... erm is feeding 2 time to anthais sufficent ? do their take pellts and flakes?

[Dispar_Anthias]

oic ... erm dispar u like anthais alot ? looks like u very well versed in anthais... erm is feeding 2 time to anthais sufficent ? do their take pellts and flakes?

Me like anthias nah..... seem like i am contradicting myself...... But anyway i feed my anthias 2-3 times a day. Hmm so far i dun think any or seldom anthias would take flakes and pellet...

[ashidiq]

oic ... okok thanks.. btw i like sunburst alot leh but heard its very hard to keep a sunburst ar ?

[Dispar_Anthias]

oic ... okok thanks.. btw i like sunburst alot leh but heard its very hard to keep a sunburst ar ?

Hmm basically its the feeding problem.. i have 2 sunburst been with me for ard 6-7months and still ok....

[Morgan]

Read this article by Scott Michael about general care of anthias

This is a good read for the beginer

Click Here