I picked up a trio of Bartlett's Anthais this weekend. All of them look healthy and ate Formula 2 pellets in the store. When I got them home they still looked great. All three are swimming and not picking on each other. So far the male and larger female eat brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, reef plankton, and New Life Spectrum pellets, but the other female has not eaten yet. She swims all across the tank, but when I feed she seems uninterested in the food. I am also soaking the frozen food in Selcon. Any one have any experence with this?
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Bartlett's Anthais not Eating
- Thread starter KillaGoby
- Start date
To get the fish eating, I'd try live adult brine shrimp. Yes, by itself, it is a lousy food, as far as food value goes, but it is a food a non-feeding fish may take.
I would also make a large partial water change, maybe 20 - 25%, since it can't hurt.
Anthais are sometimes tricky to get feeding, and they are a fish that usually needs to be feeding most of the time, so one not eating is headed for trouble.
I would also make a large partial water change, maybe 20 - 25%, since it can't hurt.
Anthais are sometimes tricky to get feeding, and they are a fish that usually needs to be feeding most of the time, so one not eating is headed for trouble.
I feel the same way. Yesterday I tried mysis brine shrimp and reef plankton soaked in Kent's Garlic. I also tried Formula 2 Pellet like she was fed in the store. She did not take any of it. She still is swimming like she is healthy and looks fat. I'm wondering if she is eating pods which are all over my tank. I'll have to try live food next. I think my Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse might have been picking on her. The flasher wrasse is now in hiding though so now I've got 2 new fish to worry about. Ahhh, the joys of a new tank.
Don't be surprise if you find them missing one by one. Sorry to disappoint you Mike. Sounds like my 3 anthias that I had 3 months ago :'(
They were 3 Lyretail and came from AO also. They ate @ AO and looked great. Wish you luck Mike.
roadking05 said:
Yes, I have had this problem with anthias myself. I suspect that it's caused by the fish being of poor quality to start with, possibly because of collection by the use of cyanide. It could also be because of poor handling from the collector to your tank.
I will admit that this is some speculation on my part, but consider this, The fish look great in the store, even eat there. They are brought home and placed in reef systems, which usually have high quality water, filtration, light, et cetera. They are fed well, and they still semm to drop off one by one.
In other words, everything seems to be done right, yet they don't do well. This would seem to indicate the the fish was exposed to something that did some long term damage.
On the other hand I've know people that have had anthais for long periods of time, and they seemed to be doing well. I hope some others can provide some additional information.
I had 3 Bartletts that were eating suddenly stopped eating and then died 4 days later. Anthias aren't the hardiest of fish. They aren't hand collected. They are collected like common feeder fish most likely using nets and cyanide, treated like common feeders and shipped poorly. most will probably die shortly after being acquired. I for one will probably never buy another Anthias unless it comes from a fellow reefer who's had it for a while. I would probably not purchase anymore anthias if i were you.
Harry
Harry
Ok, here's the latest update. The one female that was not eating chose to eat New Life Spectrum pellets tonight. I believe she might have been living off off pods coming out of my refugium all week. Thanks to Will at AO. He said to give her some time to settle in so I did. It looks like all 3 fish might make it.
