getting lyretail anthias to eat, advice??

[sabazerehi]

i got 3 females and 1 male lyretail anthias for my 135g, right now they are in a qt and i need advice on getting them to eat.

i've only had them about 2 days, and they're not eating yet. i tried pellets and i have a bottle of kent zooplex.

do u guys have any methods you recommend that have worked for you in the past?

like live zooplankton or brine shrimp? and slowly transitioning to prepared foods?

i want to get them eating something for now, and then work on getting them onto at least pellets.

as of now they all look pretty healthy except one has developed lymphocyctis, which from what i've read goes away on itself and i just have to keep the water as clean as possible.

thanks!

[Potsy]

I have a single female lyretail that ate frozen mysis right from the start. She also likes Hikari's frozen krill.

Forget the dry food for now. Get some frozen mysis and drop some in front of a powerhead. The movement should get their attention. I'd be surprised if they refuse it.

[Fishamatank]

Frozen or live to start will certainly work better than pellets.

[mscarpena]

I agree with above posts. They need to be fed about 3-4 times per day or they will starve to death. Also what were they eating in the LFS before you bought them. You should always observe fish eating before you buy them.

[falconut]

I've had to use live brine to start and then transition to frozen. My females took to frozen after a few days, but my male took a few weeks to transition over to frozen mysis/brine.

[Swolek]

Mine would only eat frozen mysis and frozen plankton. Mysis shrimp seems to be a big hit with them.

[twelvejewelz]

Live black worms will most likely get them to start eating and then from there you can ween to other foods. Live black worms are a godsend when it comes to getting hard to feed fish to eat. Also try live brine anything to get them to start eating so it will buy you time to ween them to other foods. I have gotten a few hard to feed fish go into a feeding frenzy when adding the live black worms.

[sabazerehi]

thanks soo much guys, so i tried frozen mysis/brine and i definitely got a better response, the male is eating well, and i think one of the females, but i couldn't really tell if they all started eating. part of the problem is the fish are still skiddish when i go up to the tank. so i try to stand back after i feed, therefore, i can't tell who's eating so well lol.

[sanchoy]

IME i have never had a lyretail that accepted pellet form food. They only go after live, mysis shrimp, or frozen cut food. Once in a while they will nibble on flake, but have never shown interest in pellets.

[The CHop]

I would just grow my own brine shrimp like I do. All ya need is a 2 litter bottle a air stone and some eggs ya can find online for pretty cheap. In the long and short run you save a bunch. Plus you can use your own ro/di water and get a quality product with much less po4 and other stuff that comes in frozen food. Plus there kinda cool to watch. Why not give your tank the live feeding response they are used to in the wild for less than what ya can buy out of a freezer. My anthias love them

If you don't have time to feed a few times a day my friend uses this method.

http://ozreef.org/diy_plans/additives/automatic_feeder.html

Not sure if it is cool to post other reef forums here if not just let me know wont do it again.

[djkms]

Can't get mine to eat pellets either and I have tried 4 different types. I feed my lyretails PE mysis and rods.

I am trying to get them on pellets so they can be autofed when I'm at work but no go so far. They are eating more on single feedings though so I think they are adjusting. I feed twice a day when I can.

They are active and seem happy. I know it's ideal to feed multiple times a day and im trying but they just show no interest in pellets.

Sent from my droooid using tapatalk.

[mscarpena]

Glad to hear they are eating. Once one or two start to eat usually the others will follow.

[falconut]

My Lyretail will eat pellets, but it took a while before he started.

[frankpayne32]

Start with frozen several times a day. Then start mixing pellets/flakes in with the frozen after a few weeks. Good luck, IME these fish are very difficult to acclimate to captivity. For higher levels of success never buy an anthias that isn't already eating in captivity.

[Amoore311]

Couple things:


First off don't feed more than twice a day (Lyretails don't need it), especially while they are in QT. I've had 10 Lyretails in my 180 for over a year and they get food once a day, and that food is NLS Pellets (Smallest Thera A Pellets). Excess feeding will whack out your QT parameters, and as I mentioned Lyretails really don't need multiple feedings like other anthias do.

I did have to start them on finely chopped mysis shrimp.

[falconut]

I've been feeding my Lyretails once a day and they've done fine. My latest have been eatting once a day for 4 1/2 years.

[sabazerehi]

that's great guys! that was going to be my next question, if it's possible to just feed them once a day once they are eating well.

looks like pellets aren't going to work out, but i'll still try to get them eating it, like mentioned above, it would be great to use an autofeeder if i can't be there to feed them everyday.

i really appreciate all the suggestions! i'm going to do everything i can to acclimate these guys properly so they can live happily for a long time :).

[Amoore311]

Pay attention to their size specifically. Anthias are very prone to flukes when they come in from suppliers. If they have flukes they should eat, but won't ever gain any weight.

I use Prazipro in QT with all of my fish since I've personally had more than half of my Lyretails come in with flukes.

[d3rryc]

One more bit for you to chew on: Bob Fenner over at WetWeb is a big fan of NOT putting anthias through QT. He says that in the specific case of anthias, the risk of introducing a disease agent to the main tank is outweighed by the benefits of having the anthias more comfortable in the bigger space, which usually leads to quicker healthy eating habits and an easier, more successful transition into captivity. From my own experience, when I tried to QT three females last year, all three died within a week; when I put my next batch straight into the DT, they all thrived. Tiny data set, I know, but FWIW...

Good luck to you! I've had my three lyretails for about a year now, and I absolutely love them.

[Alex T.]

+1^

I didn't qt my 3 Lyretail Anthias either. They didn't eat Mysis right away. In fact, they hid fpor three days under a rock until they started venturing out into the open water of my 150. I've had all of them for going on 2 years now, and they've never even looked at pellet food.

What got them eating for me was frozen cyclops...it's like crack!

[d3rryc]

Cyclopeez and, of all things, glassworms got mine to start eating.

[djkms]

The above mentioned is one of the reasons I purchased my Anthias from Live Aquaria Divers Den. They do one heck of a job getting fish accustomed to aquarium life. My trio arrived in great health and ventured around the tank the first day. I wait 24 hours to feed new fish and they ate right away. They went right into my DT.

I do have a question though. One of my females did come in with a longer dorsal fin. its not as big as the males by any means but I am a bit concerned she is in the process of changing. The other female doesn't seem to have the elongated dorsal at all. Do some of the females have a longer dorsal fin then others without changing? I have had my trio about a month and haven't noticed any changes with the female, aggression, color or otherwise. I would imagine LA DD would be pretty diligent on not sending a changing female with a male in a trio but you never know...

[FoosballTony]

I have 3 Lyretails in my tank and they all eat Hikari marine s pellets. You also may want to try Nutramar prawn roe eggs mine go on a feeding frenzy when I feed them this.

[sabazerehi]

thanks guys!

well it looks like all of them are eating now, and unfortunately one of them has developed pop eye, but is still showing interest in food but not as aggressively as the other.

i do have prazipro and i usually do treat with it regardless, i just wanted to wait till these guys were eating well. however, is it a good idea to use prazi considering the fact that one fish has pop eye.

also what about freshwater dips? do lyretails do ok with them, or r they generally more sensitive?

thanks again!

[d3rryc]

I ordered three females from a well-reputed online vendor, and all three of mine came in with that longer dorsal fin, prompting me to fire off a panicked email to WetWeb. Fenner himself answered, saying I had three of what he called, "mostly-males." He recommended that I just sit tight, let things sort themselves out, and the fish would figure out who got to be which sex. Sure enough, the dominant one turned fully male (which was a REALLY cool process to watch over about six weeks!), and the other two reverted to fully female. If you've already got a male, I would expect the longer-finned female to revert as well, assuming she's still smaller in size than the male. Hope that helps!

[djkms]

See thats just the thing. The male is the smallest of the 3! We named him Napoleon. He is a mean little bugger and definitely shows the ladies who's boss. LA DD had them for at least 2 months and me 1 month, im pretty confident there is no female changing but thought I would ask to make sure since one has the longer dorsal fin.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cqs0-6HYV5I/TR_yrl6294I/AAAAAAAABOo/dm0WP5wcLMo/s912/DSC00898.JPG

[TripleT]

I have a single female lyretail that is the most voracious eater in the tank. I feed small amounts multiple times a day. Mysis, krill, NLS pellets, enriched brine.

When I transferred her to my DT, she spent the first couple of weeks hanging around my cleaner shrimp, constantly. Like mentioned above, they seem prone to parasites.

Popeye is often related to water quality. Make sure your QT water is perfect, and that your test kits are working well and not expired. I'd also soak all food in Selcon or Zoe until the popeye clears up.

They sound like they are having trouble adjusting to their surroundings. Make sure they have plenty of hiding places in QT, and you may want to cover the sides and front of the tank (fully or partially) with cardboard or tank background.

[sabazerehi]

thanks triple T, i actually do have the qt covered with a towel, and there are a few pieces of pvc pipe in there for them to hide in.

i'm also going to be moving them to a larger qt tomorrow, once i get more water to get it going.

i have selcon that i can soak the food in and will start doing that as well, does selcon expire though? i've had it for a while now

is there anything specific i need to be doing for the pop eye though? a specific medication that will help?

now i wish i just put them in the dt lol

[TripleT]

i have selcon that i can soak the food in and will start doing that as well, does selcon expire though? i've had it for a while now

is there anything specific i need to be doing for the pop eye though? a specific medication that will help?

now i wish i just put them in the dt lol

If your Selcon is old, I'd toss it.

I used Melafix or Pimafix (I forget which) to treat a clown with popeye. But honestly I think the real trick was improving my water quality (which I had let slip), and improved nutrition plus supplements (Kent Zoe).

Sometimes fish will get popeye from being netted (or similar physical trauma to the eye) as well, so this may just be an injury the fish needs to overcome.

My clown developed a horrible case in one eye over the course of a week. It subsided over the next couple of weeks.

QT is always the best idea. The first time you skip it, you know you're going to introduce something like marine velvet to your DT.

[sabazerehi]

the anthias with pop eye didn't make it unfortunately, i found it dead this morning :(.

i'd like to add another anthais to the 3 i have left, what's the best way of going about that? will they fight?

thank you guys for all your help