Anthias, planktonic feeder????

[REV]

I was just told yesterday at a LFS that anthias are planktonic feeders... true??? If so, knowing this would make them much easier to keep... I just love anthias and am looking for any advice that might prepare me to be more successful keeping them. Thanks for any input!

[raddogz]

For the most part they are.

I have a pair of Lyretail Anthias and they eat whatever I throw in the tank - Spectrum Pellets, flake, frozen brine or mysis, bloodworms, and Cyclop-Eeze as well.

[falconut]

I had a male Lyretail for over a year and it too would eat almost anything. But, don't expect that they'll start off that way. It took me a week to ween it off live brine and about 6 months before he started eating the prime reef flakes. Unfortunitly he died during a power outage. Now I'm starting over with 2 females. Again, they are only eating live & frozen brine & mysis. HTH

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7600123#post7600123 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REV
I was just told yesterday at a LFS that anthias are planktonic feeders... true??? If so, knowing this would make them much easier to keep... I just love anthias and am looking for any advice that might prepare me to be more successful keeping them. Thanks for any input!

More specifically, zooplankton. It just means they eat smally meaty food items from the water column all day long, as opposed to rasping plants or animals off a substrate.

Here's an article:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anthiina.htm

[REV]

SDguy, thanks for the article. Any suggestions that might improve my success with a few lyretails would be grrrrreat! I had one male before and he ended up getting injured somehow and he, sniff, passed.

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7605333#post7605333 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REV
SDguy, thanks for the article. Any suggestions that might improve my success with a few lyretails would be grrrrreat! I had one male before and he ended up getting injured somehow and he, sniff, passed.

IME, I've yet to see any of the more common and hardy anthias species (lyretail, bartlett, bicolor, etc) succumb to anything like ich or velvet. Starvation, bullying, and sometimes red areas/sores (bacterial?) on unhealthy stock to begin with, I have seen kill. So I'd suggest you find healthy specimens with good appetites at a LFS or quality etailer, buy all you plan to get at once, and provide typical high quality reef environment/water quality with frequent feedings. As you get used to keeping them, you can adjust their feedings as you see fit.

hth.

[MG21]

I have 6 female lyretails in my 240 and they eat just about anything (mysis,cyclopeeze, squid, brine, pellets, seaweed). Make sure before you buy them you watch them eat at the store. Also soaking there food in something high in HUFA's like selcon will help them retain there color. Don't worry if you get all females either, the dominant one will change into a male. Good luck.