Anthias Hiding and not eating

[Agoyo]

Hi bro and sis out there......

I have just bought 3 dispar anthias (redfin anthias) at the fish farm last sunday together with 3 damsels.

then when i introduce it to my display tank then it kind of hide around and didn't come out. It was disturbed by other fishes, so i rearrange the rockwork so as to make more hiding place.

Now the anthias is safe but it always hide and never come out at all. Heard that it should be out during daylight, but it only came out occasionally to look around. But this is a rare sight. It also missed the feeding time, after everyone have eaten, then the 3 anthias came out to look for food. By then it is too late. or even when they are out, they will not be eating. now i am worried for the health and nutrition of the anthias.

How to get the anthias out of their hiding? Does it take time? If yes, how many days? Also, any suggestion on how to get them eating?

Currently i have 3 damsels, 1 Bicolor angel and 3 anthias.

Any bro and sis out there who is experienced, please help me....... any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[veliferium]

Yes it takes time for them to acclimatise to ur tank conditions and on top of that u have damsels,check if ur damsels are acting aggresively towards them..

Also try to note if the anthias eat when u feed the damsels as they wld try the food if they see other fish feeding

Good luck

[Maxstar81]

Agoyo,

Hi, I just got a fathead yesterdae.

Hiding & not feeding yet.

My tank all passive so never kana

bully.

Do note that anthias need 2 - 4 feedings

a dae. Very heavy hoh !?

All the best & update if U have any good

news on your anthias.

Cheers!

[iori_del]

Dispar are had to kept, maybe to me only..

Mine also hide and hide until they hide...

Think only Barlett will not hide.

Why not save up and get 8 piece of barlett than 100 dead dispar...

[Melvyn Tan]

Not true that bartletts will not hide...mine stays hidden for 2 weeks, i must say they are braver fishes though...

[cityofangels]

Your damsels might be harassing the anthias. What type of damsels to you have? I would remove the damsels as they are aggressive & territorial little buggers. It may limit the type of fishes (e.g. the more docile fishes like dartfishes etc.) which you can get in the future.

[iori_del]

Will low SG affect the anthias to live?

I put them in my HYPO TANK to QT them , but since now not much of them able to live, or is it the source is lousy?

[FuEl]

Feed them with enriched brine shrimp if they are hiding. At least the food will reach them somehow. Anthias lose condition very fast if they starve, even for a few days.

[Agoyo]

Hi all, all for the reply. i greatly appreciate your help.

i have noticed all the three anthias came out this afternoon after i came back from my 'O' level exam, but it ran away as soon i came near the tank. and only came out few times. most of the time just one or two of the antias came out.

I have fed them the brine shrimp that i have. however, not all the three anthias eat the food that i gave them. only the smallest of the three ate. even though that is the case, the fish just ate and spat out the shrimp. i do not know if this is a good sign? the other two anthias seems uninterested in the food even if it hovers in front of them. well maybe got to wait some more , btw, any specific amount of time needed to get them out of their hiding?

Do note that anthias need 2 - 4 feedings a dae.

bro Maxstar81, ya, a little heavy, but, won't this be a little too much and will result in too much bioload in the display tank?

All the best & update if U have any good news on your anthias.

thanks bro Maxstar81, ...... will post pic of the tank if got the chance.

Your damsels might be harassing the anthias

bro cityofangels, i see that the damsels is relatively peaceful now with the anthias but the damsel eat most of the anthias portion of food. so, my worry is that the anthias will not have a chance to eat the brine shrimp.

i really thank all of you for the reply once again.... and i will keep you all updated on my anthias and other fish.........

[Agoyo]

ooops...... very sorry, forget to ask sth else........

any bro/sis out there who knows wether anthias prefer mysis shrimp or brine shrimp?

another query is that wether or not the anthias eat plankton (eg. zooplankton, pythoplankton)? i notice that all the fishes in my tank seems to open and close their mouth faster than normal when i put in zooplankton including the anthias.

help will be greatly appreciated.

[cityofangels]

Anthias are not plankton feeders. Whether they prefer brine shrimp or mysid shrimp, I sincerely think it's a neutral vote. They would eat both types of shrimps.

[Agoyo]

ok, i will try to give a variety of both. bro cityofangels, will keep you all updated on my tank fishes.

[w3ish3ng]

its sis cityofangels, not bro

[Agoyo]

ooops........ so sorry sis cityofangels..........

[Agoyo]

a little update.... my anthias did came out just now in the morning and only two of the three of them came out.

anthias seem like finicky fishes, are they?

i still have difficulty feeding the anthias even i offered them the mysis shrimp. they ran away as soon as i pour in the mysis shrimp or the brine shrimp.

if they are not feeding.... is it a cause for concern? or can i just wait for a while (probably a week) to get them eating? if it is a cause of concern, what can i do to prevent any casualties of the anthias? (ie, feeding methods to follow) i am a little worried because they have not eaten anything since i bought them last weekend.

please help me, any help will be greatly appreciated........

[shoelevy]

give these fishes more time...anthias are very shy

i would say dispars are one of the easier ones around but this doesn't mean they are easy so u can relax but not too much though!

anyway, i believe they are shy due to their slowness in adapting to new surroundings....so one trick i practise with dispars is to put them in a betta box first for a few days....this way they are exposed day and night and can get used to the tank fast.

after i release them...they usually take less than 24hrs to get used and come out swimming

and hm....as to whether they prefer brine or mysis...in my experience i would say there is a preference for brine...i think its cos mysis haf harder shell...i notice my anthias when they take in mysis they will spit them out

and some have even begun to select only brine when i throw in a mix of mysis and brine

oh and if u worried about them not eating...u can try cyclopeeze...these were the things my anthias started first eating

good luck!

my 2 cents worth!

[angelfish]

Not true that bartletts will not hide...mine stays hidden for 2 weeks, i must say they are braver fishes though...

bro, your angels are like dinosours to them, they sure hide

[Melvyn Tan]

bro, your angels are like dinosours to them, they sure hide

[Agoyo]

Hi all bro and sis..... for all the exellent repiles, it has helped me get the anthias to eat..... now my anthias started eating , though they still eat and spat out their food......... and they are no more shy.......

But tough the two anthias have started eating, my third anthias, and the biggest ones goes MIA then RIP , it has its bottom of mouth torn into two all the way to the gill when i took it out of my tank, i dunno what happened....... anyone has any idea? no such thing when got it from the LFS.... maybe already sick when bought from LFS.......

hahah..... , bro angelfish, i do not think it is so bad...... last time yes..... it kept disturbing the anthias.... but ever since i rescape my tank, the angel is no more of a harm to the anthias...... maybe the angelfish is too territorial......

i would say there is a preference for brine

hmmmm..... bro shoelevy, i notice that too..... they eat the brine shrimp more than mysis........ yah maybe give both in mixture, then everyone have got the chance to eat, will that be ok?

u can try cyclopeeze...these were the things my anthias started first eating

errrr...... pardon my shallow knowledge bro shoelevy....... but what is cyclopeeze?

well once again..... thanks for the exellent reply....

keep the reply coming...... maybe can have more knowledge to rear my anthias and other fish better......

will keep you all updated once got any news about my anthias and other fish.....

[shoelevy]

errrr...... pardon my shallow knowledge bro shoelevy....... but what is cyclopeeze?

its this fish food that comes in a tin can

there's the flake form powder form

i personally prefer the powder form.

its supposedly to boost het colour of your fish but the smell is fantastic for fishes too

apparantly, the smell is so strong that everytime i feed the fishes this my sun coral opens

anyway, the response from my fishes to cyclopeeze is so unique and postive that i have dubbed it fish "XO"

u can find it at reborn, irwana or bioocean

[angelfish]

ya, i sure know that anthias are not easy to keep. presently i got 2 sunburst, 2 dispar, 3 blue eye & 2 green anthias in my reef tank

[Maxstar81]

My fathead almost died when i off the pump

for feeding & forgot to turn it back on.

After i get home after work, everyone was oxygen starved.

Fathead trying to eat liao & I think it prefers brine over mysis.

angelfish,

what do U feed ur anthias ???

[angelfish]

My fathead almost died when i off the pump

for feeding & forgot to turn it back on.

After i get home after work, everyone was oxygen starved.

Fathead trying to eat liao & I think it prefers brine over mysis.

angelfish,

what do U feed ur anthias ???

i normally feed them once a day in the evening with mysis & brine mix

[Maxstar81]

Same same.(mysis & brine mix)

Tried to feed 1 morning 1 night but too

much and other fish dun eat.

So stuck with 1 feeding a day.

[Agoyo]

Hi, a little update..... good news, my anthias has been eating well today and they are also able to swim in the open already........

i normally feed them once a day in the evening with mysis & brine mix

Hi bro angelfish...... i have tried giving them a mix of both brine and mysis shrimp but they prefer the brine shrimp more than the mysis. is there any possibilities of chopping the mysis shrimp to break the hard shell as bro shoelevy have said

...i think its cos mysis haf harder shell...

so that the anthias and other fishes will eat the mysis as well as the brine shrimp?

bro angelfish, all the best with your anthias, keep us updated on your anthias......

It has been a lot of exellent and informative replies......... keep the replies coming , maybe we can learn new and better method to care for our prescious fishes.......

Cheers