ventralis anthias

[microbubbles]

i've been wanting these for such a long time, but just couldn't justify buying something that's patently known for an inability to survive, but i came upon a couple HUNDRED of these guys in one location, just imported the previous night and i was told not one perished in that time and that they all seemed to be taking food.

maybe at the time it was a half-baked idea, but i purchased a 3 females and 1 male... my system is still pretty new, and my plan was to add a couple different varieties of anthias and after that some fairy wrasses (rhomboid, lineatus, possibly a flame). i decided to take the chance on the ventralis anthias as my first fish. i knew that, at least this way would provide them with the best chance.

after a brief qt/medication and confirmation that they were taking food, i put them into my main display tank. some things i noticed at first:
-they absolutely hated halides and temperatures above 79 degrees (i hear it's best to keep the temp around 76 at first, as they are a deeper water species... less heat, less light)... you definitely have to acclimate them to light- it may take a good while before you start seeing them act more comfortably
-they seemed very elusive and reluctant to come out into the open unless i gave the tank a wide berth so that they don't focus on me
-just because they ate in qt is no guarantee they'll do the same later on. as recommended i had to try a lot of different foods- freeze dried planktons, cyclopeeze, pellets, frozen brine/mysis, selcon supplementation and stuff like reefroids. after awhile they all took food, some more aggressively than others
-the females don't seem to adjust terribly well to competition for food, even from newly added fish

well, fast forward a few weeks and after a couple mistakes and bad days, 1 female perished in a heating incident and 1 jumped into the overflow and died in a filter sock. so sadly, i'm down to two... but the remaining two are so healthy and hardy and have no problems sharing real estate with 3 lyretail anthias (the male is a PITA aggressive feeder), a XS blue hippo tang, 2 purple firefish and a lineatus wrasse. i feel like even at 50-50 i beat the odds.

here are some shoddy pics taken last night from my iphone:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/jerkofficer/anthias2.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/jerkofficer/anthias3.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/jerkofficer/anthias.jpg

[LCN]

Nice. I have been looking for a few myself.

[chrissreef]

Wow! You found my lost fish! I'll PM you my shipping addy =P





beaUTIFUL!

[xinumaster]

Very cool anthias.

[microbubbles]

thanks everyone... they, along with my lineatus, are my pride and joy

[corvettecris]

Good luck. How long have you had them?

I think the problem is not always that they die immediatly, but that they rarely last longer than year, even with highly experienced folks.

But I wish you all the luck!

[microbubbles]

it hasn't been much more than 3 weeks, i think...
well, i hope you're wrong! :) i want to say that they look more and more at home everyday. they used to stay in one 1/2 of the tank almost all the time, only the male somewhat venturing out during feedings. but now, they're constantly roaming for food and even when i'm blasting 720w of hqi + vho.
if i had to stake money on it, i'd say the male will do great and if there's a chance i might lose one... it'd probably be the female. if i end up losing them, i probably won't chance them again... but in the meantime, i'll enjoy eveyday they're with me

[corvettecris]

I hope I am wrong as well.. I would really like to see someone keep them. I came across a good deal on some several months ago from a wholeseller, but I chickened out since they were so hard ot keep and I had never done business with that particular seller.

I wish you and the fishes the best

[corvettecris]

Update?

[stunreefer]

Awesome, love these fish but probably won't ever try one...GL!!! :thumbsup:

[microbubbles]

update: so far so good-
well, the female ended up in my overflow (about 1500gph), and looked pretty bad when i found her... then i got her out of there and she just darted into one of her favorite rocks. i fed the fish right after and she ate well. my only concern with her is that she's a little thin. she always takes a backseat during the feeding process and i hope she's getting enough. on the whole, i've already put them through so much stress, i think they've just adjusted to the imminent problems that lie ahead. haha.
the male is just an awesome fish and he's never really shy. since i don't have any really aggressive fish, he's found his place in the pecking order and does really well, even during feedings.

my overall conclusion with this fish is that they're tough... but it is possible. first of all, make it your first fish in your tank; second, buy a pair, that originates from quality marine, a wholesaler in los angeles (their system is considered the best in the business, and run with 100% tropic maric salt); third, acclimate for light and feed them everything you can get your hands on until you see them eat well, then stick with that formula; add new fish slowly.

i think at the end of the day, the much shy-er (is that a word?!?!) female seems more like an insurance policy on the male. she gives him a sense of security and purpose (much more than vice versa) and it helps him adjust into his new stressful environment. the females don't seem to survive especially well... but the male is about the prettiest fish, IMO, that you can get your hands on in this hobby

[Chibils]

Those are some DAMN nice looking anthias.

[microbubbles]

thanks, scott. the true color is much more pink/majenta... i think the vho's and the shade is creating that metallic blue-ish effect

[SDguy]

My concern is that the two cases of jumping into the overflow are due to the other fish in the tank, quite possibly the lyretails. The only success I've seen with ventralis have been in super peaceful tanks, or simply a species display.

[microbubbles]

well, the funny thing is that the male and one of the female lyretail anthias both ended up in there as well... it has everything to do with not having a guard for the overflow- it's just a glass box staggered 1.5" under the eurobrace and .50"-.75" under the waterline. they could've simply been exploring the shallow waters and gotten yanked in by the water being sucked into the overflow. an acrylic skin is in the works as we speak... no question i need to get some teeth on that overflow.
i dunno, i've owned my fair share of sketchy anthias over the years and i'm fairly confident that the fish are here to stay. maybe i just want to be an optimist... :)

[Chibils]

Of the "regularly" available anthias, ventralis has always been my favorite. Best of luck! I'd love to hear of more success with them.

[microbubbles]

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/jerkofficer/ventralis.jpg

...i swear i'll take some slr pics one day soon

[stunreefer]

Glad to see new pic, is the fem. still doing well?

From that angle it appears the belly is more plump than previous pics :thumbsup:

[microbubbles]

the female is still good. one thing tho-
i re-arrange some rocks and they HATED it. slight ich detected, but they spend a lot of time w/ the shrimps at the cleaner station.

[microbubbles]

rejoice! ich's all gone overnight. love these fish