Official Borbonius Anthias Thread

[The Fish Finder]

I have noticed a few people getting these fish. But there is still little information and everything is scattered all over the place. So i decided to start a official thread dedicated to these fish. Please use this thread to post pic's of yours. To offer info you have learned about them. Both positive and negative. Where you got yours from if you wish to share. And any info that will be usefully about these great fish.


I myself have two of these great barbs. There both on the small side because that's what i requested. About 1 1/2 inch each. I picked them up about two month's ago from a local pet store here on the island. The name of the store i got them from is Country Critters. My two barbs currently live in a 22G pod and will be there till they grow to 2 1/2 then they will be ready for the 150G display. I have noticed there is a little aggression towards each other at feeding time and a established picking order. They are fed mysiss shrimp dipped in garlic extract. I've also noticed that they are fast growers. Mine have grown about 1/2 inch in two months (feedings twice a day) Here are a few pic's of min and other's that i had the honer of taking pic of.


Here are my two babys 2"




A friend of mine barb that's 3"



Full grown 4 1/4" beauty

[SDguy]

Nice fish! Is the adult an established specimen, or also new?

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by SDguy
Nice fish! Is the adult an established specimen, or also new?

The adult came in about a month ago to a local fish store here on the island. He is not sold yet do to the price being so high but eats everything that hit's the water and gets along with hit tank mates from what i saw the two time's i saw him. They received two of them that were the same size. The other one had a swim bladder issues and didn't make it more then a few day's. I have herd quite a few of them have come in like this due to improper collecting. I did get a pic of him also.

Here's a pick of a Borbonius Anthias with a swim bladder issue.

[giller]

I wonder if this is a supermale of some sort, absolutely awesome

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research...z97/fish1.html

I dont know how to post pictures, if someone would be kind enough hehe

- Dave

[JHemdal]

That's a shame about the fish with the gas bladder problem that died. Barring any secondary infections, you can sometimes solve this problem by re-compressing the fish to 1 atm in a chamber and then releasing the pressure slowly over 12 hours or so. I built a 4" clear PVC tube with caps and valves that I've used with some success. As expensive as these are, it might be something to try.
There may be other ways to decompress these anthias after-the-fact. I saw a picture from a Japanese supplier of a bucket full of Sacura anthias (from around 50 m) all floating at the surface like so many bright red corks. They were fishing for them with hook and line! They must have a technique to solve that problem as they said they got 85 of them rehabilitated and ready for sale.

JHemdal

[myerst2]

Many fish with decompression issues will work it out on there own as long as it is not being harassed by other tank mates. Also I have heard inserting a small needle into the swim bladder to release the air. One of my friend who is a collector in Hawaii has done this successfully with Bandits, Declevis, etc. I have a Borb that I picked up about 10 days ago and he is tough fish for an anthias. He has some tough tank mates and feeds quite aggressively. Acclimated much better than any other anthias I have seen. Also it has been very easy to keep weight on this fish and doesn't look emaciated like many other captive anthias you see. Here's a few pics of mine. Regards, Tim

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by JHemdal
That's a shame about the fish with the gas bladder problem that died. Barring any secondary infections, you can sometimes solve this problem by re-compressing the fish to 1 atm in a chamber and then releasing the pressure slowly over 12 hours or so. I built a 4" clear PVC tube with caps and valves that I've used with some success. As expensive as these are, it might be something to try.
There may be other ways to decompress these anthias after-the-fact. I saw a picture from a Japanese supplier of a bucket full of Sacura anthias (from around 50 m) all floating at the surface like so many bright red corks. They were fishing for them with hook and line! They must have a technique to solve that problem as they said they got 85 of them rehabilitated and ready for sale.

JHemdal

Thanks for that info JHemdal. That was very informative. I wonder the japanese supplier did to get them all good.

[The Fish Finder]

myerst2: your little guy is looking great. How big is he?

[BangkokMatt]

Simply stunning anthias

[LargeAngels]

They are showing up more frequently now.

Even on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blotchy-Anthias-...em150222205026

[takayan]

They are coming from Indonesia not from Japan.
In Japan, their price is around $1,000.

By the way, I got two of them recently. They are so beautifull.

[JHemdal]

Takayan,

Sorry for the confusion - the Japanese fish I mentioned were Sakura anthias - a different species, but with some of the same husbandry issues.

Jay

[takayan]

Jay,
Oh! I misunderstood what you mentioned. I am sorry too.

Sakura anthias is not popular in Japan. I do not know why.
If they are in shop, my friend told me that their price may be around $100.00.
In US, they are very expensive.

[ezcompany]

can someone elaborate on swim bladder issues? does it only happen after it was initially shipped after collection for being poorly decompressed? can stress "reintroduce" it?

i got a fish where the store said none of the fish had decompression issues, but when i received it, the fish was floating in the bag swimming in circles. the bouyant part seems to be the stomach area.

[achillesheel]

i got a pair from phishy and they are doing great. ate the first night. they are currently in a separate tank in line with rest of my system until i can get one up for just them. are you guys keeping them in your reefs?

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by LargeAngels
They are showing up more frequently now.

Even on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blotchy-Anthias-...em150222205026

That one doesn't look like it's going to be alive for very long . Very bad coloration and looks like it got beaten to death.

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by takayan
They are coming from Indonesia not from Japan.
In Japan, their price is around $1,000.

By the way, I got two of them recently. They are so beautifull.

Do you have any other pic's of them other then the one in your avatar?

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by ezcompany
can someone elaborate on swim bladder issues? does it only happen after it was initially shipped after collection for being poorly decompressed? can stress "reintroduce" it?

i got a fish where the store said none of the fish had decompression issues, but when i received it, the fish was floating in the bag swimming in circles. the bouyant part seems to be the stomach area.

From what i have been told it comes from being collected poorly. And from the pressure change when it is shipped in the airplane it causes the fish to get like that. I am not to sure if i am right. Will someone please FYI us.

[The Fish Finder]

Originally posted by achillesheel
i got a pair from phishy and they are doing great. ate the first night. they are currently in a separate tank in line with rest of my system until i can get one up for just them. are you guys keeping them in your reefs?

I keep mine in my reef pod. The pod has t5 lighting so it's not to bright for them. Watter temp is kepted at 72. They are very happy in there. Once they grow up a little more i will move them to my 150G. Do you have any pic's of yours?

[takayan]

I will post other one tonight. The one is around 2".

[ezcompany]

72 degrees? I know they are deeper water but can you post some info on this?

[tobasdad]

I have lots of customers who keep them in warmer reef tanks.
It just takes them longer to get active and spend more time swimming.

Lots of luck with them.

[takayan]

I maintain the temp below 74 because I have Bandit angel and Tiker as well as Borbon.

[ahoyhoy239]

how much do these fish normally go for in the lfs?

[tobasdad]

Around here, they run $350 and up