Purple Queen Anthia Question

[RynosReef]

I bought a male purple queen anthia about 2 years ago and have to say he's one of my favorite fish. I've thought of adding a couple females so he could have a harem. But I'm not sure if I should being that he's been by himself for so long. Would adding more anthia's be an issue? Thanks!

[aquaph8]

I would think as long as their all females you'll be OK.

[SDguy]

Should be fine. Just remember...lots of tiny foods often, especially for new imports.

[RynosReef]

I've always heard that. I think I must have gotten lucky with him. When I first put him in the tank he stayed in one cave of the rockwork all the time. To entice him I'd suck up mysis shrimp in a 5ml test kit dosing syringe and squirt it into the cave. After a little while he started eating, and ever since that's all he will eat. He won't touch anything else lol.

I would just hate for the new anthias to pick at him if he ends up being the weaker of them. I'm not sure if this applies but I've seen it with chromis'. Odd man out as they say.

[SDguy]

I think I must have gotten lucky with him.

Frankly, yes, you did :) So be prepared to deal with the difficult norm for this species if you want to get more, IMO

[schoi]

Are you sure it is a PQA? Everything I have read about them is that they are incredibly hard to keep, requiring around 8 small feedings per day. I saw some at my LFS and I wanted them but after the research decided not to.

They are beautiful though.

[RynosReef]

Frankly, yes, you did :) So be prepared to deal with the difficult norm for this species if you want to get more, IMO

I see. Hmm lots to think about then. I may hold off then. My tank is predominantly sps. So a constant supply of food (aka NPS tank lol) might be hard to manage. I would never want to jeopardize his health. Especially as it seems i've been lucky thus far. I wonder how other anthia species mixed in would affect my purple queen.

Thank you for the help.

[DrBegalke]

What size is your tank? Many people keep different species of anthia together without any issues.

[RynosReef]

Are you sure it is a PQA? Everything I have read about them is that they are incredibly hard to keep, requiring around 8 small feedings per day. I saw some at my LFS and I wanted them but after the research decided not to.

They are beautiful though.

Here's a few pics from my phone. Not the best pics. Ill try to take some good ones after work. I'm pretty sure it's a male purple queen as it has a solid pinkish purple color with an orange stripe on the face. I believe females have more color on the fins.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/flipside97ltd/photobucket-3149-1323697234786.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/flipside97ltd/photobucket-3161-1323697296107.jpg

Oh and its a 75g tank

[SDguy]

Tough to tell from the pic, but maybe a pascalus? I don't think that would really change any of the info in this thread so far...

[aquaph8]

Looks like a PQ to me.

[MIKE NY]

My male doesn't look like that..it doesn't have a strip across it's face and his fins are much longer with a dark spot at the rear base of it's dorsel fin...it does look like a Pascalus ...http://www.seascapestudio.net/reference/fish.php?id=518

[aquaph8]

Hmmmm, good call. The point on the nose had me thinking the other way. Pretty close though.

[reefsafe]

I tried to pq's....fed all the time and had major cyano issues....eventually they disappeared one by one.

[RynosReef]

Hmm I agree. It does look more like a Pseudanthias Pascalus. It's interesting though because if you search Purple Queen Anthia in a typical search engine both Pseudanthias Pascalus and Pseudanthias Tuka come up as Purple Queen Anthias.

So I did some more digging and found a gold mine of info! http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/hcs3/index.php

A few selected quotes for the less interested lol.
"The Queen Anthias - what an amazingly beautiful fish! It is a large Anthias, reaching nearly 7" in length as an adult. For those keeping track, ichthyologists and astute hobbyists refer to this species by its Latin name, Pseudanthias pascalus."

"Getting this fish to feed in captivity is a formidable task, however. Most specimens starve to death from refusing to eat, thereby making it a difficult species to keep and less than ideal for most hobbyists. Again, the one male to multiple females ratio is ideal, as well as providing several feedings per day. Among the female collective, try tossing in a few P. tuka, a closely-related species"

"One of my favorite Pseudanthias is the Purple Anthias, P. tuka (photos below). It is similar to P. pascalus, and the two species are easily confused. Pseudanthias tuka remains average-sized for Pseudanthias genus, not quite reaching 5"."

So I guess and correct me if I'm wrong, the Pascalus seems to be the true Purple Queen? But the Tuka is referred to as a Purple Anthia. Yet they are so closely related they can be interchanged as females in harem.

Still the question remains. Would I be pushing my luck to add females of either species (Pascalus or Tuka) to my current male? I wonder if new additions would be more apt to eat after seeing him eating? Or would it be possible to add more hardy anthias and leave him alone?

[SDguy]

Ignore the common names... they pretty much vary by region/country/continent.

[RynosReef]

Ignore the common names... they pretty much vary by region/country/continent.

I agree. The more I search the more I realize the names seem interchangeable. I think part of my success with my current purple queen has been my refugium which is likely giving him something to eat throughout the day.

Any advice on perhaps adding more as stated earlier? If not i've thought of adding different species anthias such as Randall's or Dispars.

It was also interesting in the reefkeeping link above that the Blue Jaw Tilefish Goby - Hoplolatilus starcki, was mentioned as a fish to pair with purple queens. It seems this is another notoriously difficult fish that tends to mimic purple queen anthias. But a strong lit sps tank might be too much for one of these guys.