Purple Queen Anthias

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Hi all, I have just removed my bicolour cherub & Flame angel from my reef tank and would like to put in a bunch of anthias. Saw the above at Hong Leong. Anyone has the experience with these anthias. Are they easy to sustain and, more importantly, do they feed readily on frozen mysis & brine shrimp?

[chanbi]

Well, mine just passed away a few days back after lasting for ~1mth. This fish is very very shy and u definitely need a grp of them together. I also having problem getting them to start eating frozen food. For that 1 mth, the only thing that they will eat is the baby live bbs that i hatched myself. He don't even look at adult bs.. So far i have better luck with other anthias.

And i remember that AT used to have one. Maybe he can give u some advice.

[Morgan]

Just to tag along. I am also interested in keeping this anthias. Heard that it is very diffcuilt.

AT also advise me not to keep it.

[chanbi]

But may not be totally impossible. Reborn recently have a big grp of them (~11-12) in a display tank that manage to start to eat frozen food. I managed to convince Ah Boy to sell 2 to me but i can't catch hold of them in the display tank!! too bad.. and the size is good (only ~1-2"). *sigh*

[Achilles Tang]

The purple queen anthias happened to fall under the 'Impossible to keep' species... even by public aquariums.

I thought by going through all the effort to grow BBS for them, they will survive... sadly... inspite of eating them with gusto, they became noticeably thinner and began to kaput, one by one.

I kept my group of purple queens alive for slightly more than a month...

You can try keeping them, but they will become money wasted...

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Thanks for the input, guys.

[Tanzy]

Not only wasted money; wasted fish too.

[B|uEc@rpEt]

Yah man!

Its a life! (& we all koe $ can be earned back)

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Alright, so purple anthias is not the way to go.

What about putting a group of Sunburst anthias. They look of sweet pink. Are they alright? Do they eat frozen mysis or brine shrimp readily.

[Achilles Tang]

I love Sunburst anthias... used to have one.

But at around $30 to $40 for one sunburst... errr... a group would be very expensive yeah?

They are extremely shy fishes though.... they prefer dimmer surroundings (not surprising when you know they are actually deep water fish)... but when out in the open, they have gorgeous colourings!

[chanbi]

I saw 1 sunburst selling at $25 about 1mth back at LCK 110. It is eating frozen bs. Was quite tempted then to buy (quite lovely) but since have not done much research, did not buy it.

[Reefgang]

Anthias, to me, are the mostly colourful among communal fishes. How I wish they were as easy to keep as the damsels. I bought a group of anthias almost two years ago. Not sure what kind but they were the cheaper range which cost abt $3.00.

They ate bs, flakes, shrimp meat & krille. However, over time some has perished mysteriosly with only one remaining. Unfortunately it has stopped eating - used to be a heavy eater - for the last six weeks. It's totally inactive and stays at the same rock all day. Don't understand what's keeping it alive. Surprisingly, it is not as thin as one would expect it to be considering the 6 weeks fasting period.... I mean really going without food 24/7. Wonder if it's turned nocturnal or hybernating.....hahahaha

I have had reasonable success with this particular type of anthias considering the difficult reputation they come with. I think a lot has to do with how the anthias are being caught in the wild. But for those who want to give it a try, my advise is to buy in groups of 4 to 6 provided they feed on bs at LFS.

Even then, it's a roll of the dice. Some have it good, some have it bad & others 50/50. Good luck.

Reefgang

[Stenopus Hispidus]

2 years! That's quite a record. Cool But your description of your last survivor don't sound too good though. 6 months without food may be alright for now but what about the subsequent 6 months and the next. It will eventually succumb at this rate, won't it?

Do you have an ID book where you can give me a name or maybe even a pic so that I can keep a look out for it?

What colour is it anyway?

Do anthias really lack longetivity? Has anyone kept any anthias with them alive for years and still is alive now like Reefgang's?

I am planning a group for my tank and really want them to last as long as me!

[Phang]

Hi Stenopus,

I'm interested in Anthias too....

Hope to have 4-6 as part of the combo in nmy reef...(can refer to my thread on the species) I plan to have....

BTW, Are all Anthias difficult to keep.... any particular species that's not as demanding????