I have a 235 gallon reef tank with lots of live rock. My tank inhabitants (fish) are: an 18"L Engineer Goby, a 2" L Blackcap Basslet, a 4" L Clarkii Clown - (Wild caught) and a 1" L Fourline Wrasse. I recently got a 2" L Blue-eyed Anthias. The Anthias has been in the display tank for almost 2 weeks and hides and lays inside the rocks and on the bottom of the tank . I haven't observed any fish picking on it but I also have not observed it eating anything. It is laying on the bottom of the tank on it's side now. Any suggestions on feeding or behavior or treatment I should try?
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Blue-eyed Anthias Behavior ?
- Thread starter PamRich
- Start date
Hey Pam. I have never seen my Anthias lay on it's side.
IME anthias eat smaller planktonic food than you might expect for such a good size fish. I start mine out with Cyclop-eeze and brine shrimp. The cyclop-eeze seems to stimulate the feeding response in the fish. Once eating I find them to be hardy eaters and will eat any seafood based food.
Anthias in the ocean are schoolers, in such a large tank you could have some more of these fish.
The male and female look diff, which do you have?
andy
IME anthias eat smaller planktonic food than you might expect for such a good size fish. I start mine out with Cyclop-eeze and brine shrimp. The cyclop-eeze seems to stimulate the feeding response in the fish. Once eating I find them to be hardy eaters and will eat any seafood based food.
Anthias in the ocean are schoolers, in such a large tank you could have some more of these fish.
The male and female look diff, which do you have?
andy
Do you know what species this is, I have no idea what a Blue-eyed Anthias is.
Something is spooking the fish. What type a lighting do you have? Most Anthias do not tolerate bright lights well. What type of circulation do you have? Anthias tend to strike (feed) on fast moving zooplanktonic foods. What temperature is your tank? Most Anthias prefer a little cooler water.
Try feeding your Anthias after lights-out by placing live brine shrimp in the flow of a power head to see if it will strike.
I await some of your answers.
mario
Something is spooking the fish. What type a lighting do you have? Most Anthias do not tolerate bright lights well. What type of circulation do you have? Anthias tend to strike (feed) on fast moving zooplanktonic foods. What temperature is your tank? Most Anthias prefer a little cooler water.
Try feeding your Anthias after lights-out by placing live brine shrimp in the flow of a power head to see if it will strike.
I await some of your answers.
mario
Thanks Andy & Mario, I should have posted sooner.... your advice was great - but I waited too long. I was feeding mashed up raw shrimp. I couldn't find him for days and then by the time I did see him it was too late and I couldn't get him out of the reef in time to save him and he died. I don't know if I had a male / female yellow with a blue stripe running under the eye. I should also have asked for help sooner and it may have saved his life. Thank you - Pam
Hey Pam, I don't know if it matters which sex, if you only have one.
IME the Pseudanthias squamipinnis is one of the more hardy Anthias. They like clean water, good current and some dimmer areas of the tank. They seem do do better, for me, when fed several small meals a day.
If you want more than one it would need to be 1 male and several females. They are like clown fish in that they change sex to meet demand.
Andy
IME the Pseudanthias squamipinnis is one of the more hardy Anthias. They like clean water, good current and some dimmer areas of the tank. They seem do do better, for me, when fed several small meals a day.
If you want more than one it would need to be 1 male and several females. They are like clown fish in that they change sex to meet demand.
Andy
Hi Andy,
Thank you so much for all the information! I am guessing that I didn't concentrate enough of the feeding.... I feed only once a day. I am having some problems that I just recently noticed.... I have had a lot of fine particulate matter covering my live rock and sandbed. I have a 6" sandbed (3" protected under screening undisturbed) with 3" above that is consistently disturbed by 2 large fish, my 4" Clarkii clown and an 18" long engineer goby....I have a large sump and ETS skimmer. I use carbon and polyfilters (occasionally). Hair algae is covering my macroalgae and urchins and some rockwork and even my snails. I am now getting a bloom of bubble algae (valconie) I use ro/di and kalkwasser for makeup water and do a 20% water change every month. I have 2 large Otto powerheads attached to a wavemaker and 2 returns from a large pump which is located in the basement (no water movement problems). I have some feather calurpa in my sump (I am getting more / different macro algae) and removing the calurpa based on what I have been reading here). This reef has been set up - as is, for 8 years and I am ready to overhaul the whole thing, I haven't kept up on the latest and greatest - I'm from the old Berlin method and my big advancement was add a Jaubert sand bed..... 8 years ago. The tank is 235 gallons and the sump is 125 gallons I have (2) 250 watt Metal Halide with actinic fixtures which are contained within a hood, they are rusting so I need to do something about that quickly. The braces that go across the width of the tank broke and then I noticed that my tank is bowing in the middle and is now 24 1/2 inches wide - I think the Jaubert protected sand bed is calcifying and growing ... adding phosphate to my system and pushing the sides of my tank out - kinda scary. YIKES..... Thanks for listening and any advice is most welcome! Pam
Thank you so much for all the information! I am guessing that I didn't concentrate enough of the feeding.... I feed only once a day. I am having some problems that I just recently noticed.... I have had a lot of fine particulate matter covering my live rock and sandbed. I have a 6" sandbed (3" protected under screening undisturbed) with 3" above that is consistently disturbed by 2 large fish, my 4" Clarkii clown and an 18" long engineer goby....I have a large sump and ETS skimmer. I use carbon and polyfilters (occasionally). Hair algae is covering my macroalgae and urchins and some rockwork and even my snails. I am now getting a bloom of bubble algae (valconie) I use ro/di and kalkwasser for makeup water and do a 20% water change every month. I have 2 large Otto powerheads attached to a wavemaker and 2 returns from a large pump which is located in the basement (no water movement problems). I have some feather calurpa in my sump (I am getting more / different macro algae) and removing the calurpa based on what I have been reading here). This reef has been set up - as is, for 8 years and I am ready to overhaul the whole thing, I haven't kept up on the latest and greatest - I'm from the old Berlin method and my big advancement was add a Jaubert sand bed..... 8 years ago. The tank is 235 gallons and the sump is 125 gallons I have (2) 250 watt Metal Halide with actinic fixtures which are contained within a hood, they are rusting so I need to do something about that quickly. The braces that go across the width of the tank broke and then I noticed that my tank is bowing in the middle and is now 24 1/2 inches wide - I think the Jaubert protected sand bed is calcifying and growing ... adding phosphate to my system and pushing the sides of my tank out - kinda scary. YIKES..... Thanks for listening and any advice is most welcome! Pam
Wow, sounds like a very nice old set up, Pam. 8 years is a long time for a tank to be so stable, congrats..
Have you changed your bulbs latley?
Is your sandbed still active with infauna? May need a infauna recharge kit.
If you are going to re-do your tank I would not use the plenum. I do use several inches of aragonite though.
I blow the detritus off/out of my LR every chance I get. Sometimes everyday. You can use a turkey baster or power head. I would def do it right before a water change and remove as much detritus as I could.
A tank this large should have a Tang, Foxface or other algae eating fish and a large handfull of Emerald crabs for more algae control.
Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.
Andy
Have you changed your bulbs latley?
Is your sandbed still active with infauna? May need a infauna recharge kit.
If you are going to re-do your tank I would not use the plenum. I do use several inches of aragonite though.
I blow the detritus off/out of my LR every chance I get. Sometimes everyday. You can use a turkey baster or power head. I would def do it right before a water change and remove as much detritus as I could.
A tank this large should have a Tang, Foxface or other algae eating fish and a large handfull of Emerald crabs for more algae control.
Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.
Andy
You really hit the nail on the head... I need to change my bulbs and recharge the sandbed. I do have some Emerald crabs but noticed 2 bodies/shells just recently and my snail population is dwindling -- I think my hermit crabs are to blame -- not the red legs but I have left handed & blue legged ..... and brittle stars growing too big for my comfort level, even my Clarkii Clown bites me everytime I put my hand in the tank...... I wanted "big"... I have learned to be careful what I ask for.... I have been procrastinating as I am not sure what is causing my tank to bow and if I am correct in my assumption that the bed is calcifying and growing I may have to replace the whole lot...... tank and all I can't begin to get my brain around that. Pam
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