Bartlett Anthia Acclimation Help?!

[brannock_16]

Hello everyone,

Today I am having 4 bartlett anthias shipped to me and I wanted to get some input on how best to acclimate them. Through doing research, I have heard that they do not ship well, and as such, I want to ensure they have a good chance at surviving.

Since I do not have the capacity to run a QT tank, I wanted to know if once drip acclimation is complete, if I can keep the bartletts in my 40 B segmented sump for a week or two to build up their fat reserves and allow them to adjust to and develop a taste for food with no competition.

The sump is segmented into three chambers with the middle chamber being the largest (its the refugium). It is about 2/3rds of the 40 B sump and consists of a shallow sand bed and sparse live rock as well as a small ball of chaeto. Will this be a suitable QT for them for a few weeks?

[djkms]

Fish shipped is much different then picking them up from the LFS. There will be a bit of accumulated waste in the bag so as soon as you open it the clock is ticking. You have roughly 30 minutes tops to get them out of the water and into clean water.

I get all my fish shipped and this is what I do. Float the bag for 15-30 mintues to temp acclimate, dont open the bag! I then open the bag and use a drip line and do a continuous drip (in other words I dont crimp the line so that it actually drips). After 15 minutes I remove half the water from the bag and continue the drip for 15 minutes. After 30 minutes is up I release the fish into the water with the lights off all day. The place I order my fish from keeps their salinity the same as mine, so no worries there.

First thing you need to find out though is what salinity the water in the bag is. I would call the retailer who sold the fish to you. If its more than .002 lower than yours thats a problem. Maybe someone with more experience can help you there. Now if its higher than your salinity, no problem. Fish can handle lowering salinity much better than raising.

Now on to the sump idea. I have no idea why you would go that route. The whole point of QT (IMO) is so you don't introduce parasites into your main display (and to a lesser extent getting the fish accustomed to captive life). Putting the fish in the sump makes no sense and all your going to do is stress them out more. If you don't have a QT setup then you misewell roll the dice and put them in the display lights out. Anthias should be able to hold their own and depending on your stock I doubt anyone will mess with them. Just make sure to introduce them lights out.

Also, IME, competition for food is good, Anthias generally have no problem getting food in a crowded tank. I think its the shy fish you have to worry about competition with and IME Anthias are not shy!

[brannock_16]

The reason I was contemplating placing them in the sump for a week or two was to.provide them with an area of no competition for food. I currently have 3 lyretail anthias in my tank and don't want them to out compete the bartletts during feeding.

Is this an unnecessary precaution.?

Thanks for your input.

Robert
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[djkms]

If you're worried about competition then I would suggest broadcast feeding. Anthias require a lot of room with plenty of current, neither of these conditions can be met in your sump.

[brannock_16]

I typically do broadcast feed so that the current lyretails and mandarins have the opportunity to "hunt" food while the hippo tang tries to devour everything else being fed.