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Wanted to start an on-going discussion around the care of some specific family groups of fish. Mainly to share some of the info I have been collecting in my preparations for the big tank, but also to see what others experiences are with these fish. Did you try a group only to have them pick each other off till it was one male, or have you managed to keep a small-large group for many years?
To date I have only kept a small group of lyretails for about 3-4 years. They started out as one male and 2 females, but one transitioned to a male at one point soon after I had acquired them. They are great fish but I have been waiting for many years to expand their family group and get a small school going.
I have always wanted to keep a large school of fish. I remember trying to cram way too many fish in a 10g when I was 8, thinking I could get a school that way. I tried years later with a 55 and then a 75 but obviously that never worked out well. Mainly due to lack of knowledge, tank size, not meeting the water quality, and feeding requirements to sustain a large group like that. I'm older and wiser now, and I know better then to cram a bunch of fish in a tiny box, but that still hasnt quelled my desire to house a large school of fish.
The design and planning of my current tank build is centered around keeping a large amount of small fish, mostly anthias, with a group of jawfish, and some engineers, plus an assortment of other reef community fish. The shape of the tank should also help give a shoal the room to swim and move about. The tank will also not be brightly lit like most reef tanks, as I want to have darker areas that can accommodate those species of anthias that generally live at depth, and dont always care for the bright lights.
Anthias are to be the main group of fish in my tank. Varied mix of anthias planned, but the largest group will likely be lyretails. The anthias I want to keep the most is the borbonius anthis - http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+2981&pcatid=2981
but I also plan a few sunbursts, bartletts, and others.
As I see it, in order to keep a large shoal of any fish, several key factors need to be addressed, but the most important one with anthias is feeding. Tank size, swimming space, and sleeping space are also key considerations. A few other things that I think shouldn't be overlooked either is lighting, other tank mates, water params, and qt processes.
For each of these factors I try and think up a series of questions that will hopefully pave the path forward to successfully keeping these fish. Each questions often leads to more questions, but I will start detailing each of these factors in the post(s) below, or at least the pieces I know currently. There is much still to learn, and many questions to be asked yet. So please feel free to add in your questions/ answers/ insights / experiences, as well.
Feeding
- What do they eat?
- Do all species eat the same thing?
- Live, Frozen, Flakes, Pellets?
- How often do you REALLY have to feed them?
- How to feed them 5-10x a day, everyday without fail? Continuous feeding?
Tank Size
- How many can I keep in my X gal tank?
- Swimming space
- Sleeping space
Lighting
- Which species like the dark?
- and which like the light?
- Which don't care?
- Acclimating dark water fish to the light
Water params
- Do any anthias need perfect water quality to survive?
- How forgiving are they?
Other tanks mates
- Who not to keep with Anthias?
- Which Anthias dont get along?
- Who can be kept with caution?
- Who makes a great tank mate?
QT
- General process
- First arrives
- Gets sick
- max number to qt at one time in a 40-75g tank?
- Lighting acclimation for deep water species
- Are there specific things that anthias are more prone to carry, that should be pre-treated for?
Resources
Good 5 part series on general Anthias care
http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=266
Decent article on acclimating anthias to a tank
\https://reefbuilders.com/2016/03/11/acclimating-anthias-to-aquarium-life/#
Article on first bred Borbonius Anthias by Biota
https://reefbuilders.com/2017/08/23/borbonius-anthias-captive-bred-by-biota-palau/
Long standing thread on Borbonius care
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1335953
Old thread on Barletts
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=938988
To date I have only kept a small group of lyretails for about 3-4 years. They started out as one male and 2 females, but one transitioned to a male at one point soon after I had acquired them. They are great fish but I have been waiting for many years to expand their family group and get a small school going.
I have always wanted to keep a large school of fish. I remember trying to cram way too many fish in a 10g when I was 8, thinking I could get a school that way. I tried years later with a 55 and then a 75 but obviously that never worked out well. Mainly due to lack of knowledge, tank size, not meeting the water quality, and feeding requirements to sustain a large group like that. I'm older and wiser now, and I know better then to cram a bunch of fish in a tiny box, but that still hasnt quelled my desire to house a large school of fish.
The design and planning of my current tank build is centered around keeping a large amount of small fish, mostly anthias, with a group of jawfish, and some engineers, plus an assortment of other reef community fish. The shape of the tank should also help give a shoal the room to swim and move about. The tank will also not be brightly lit like most reef tanks, as I want to have darker areas that can accommodate those species of anthias that generally live at depth, and dont always care for the bright lights.
Anthias are to be the main group of fish in my tank. Varied mix of anthias planned, but the largest group will likely be lyretails. The anthias I want to keep the most is the borbonius anthis - http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+2981&pcatid=2981
but I also plan a few sunbursts, bartletts, and others.
As I see it, in order to keep a large shoal of any fish, several key factors need to be addressed, but the most important one with anthias is feeding. Tank size, swimming space, and sleeping space are also key considerations. A few other things that I think shouldn't be overlooked either is lighting, other tank mates, water params, and qt processes.
For each of these factors I try and think up a series of questions that will hopefully pave the path forward to successfully keeping these fish. Each questions often leads to more questions, but I will start detailing each of these factors in the post(s) below, or at least the pieces I know currently. There is much still to learn, and many questions to be asked yet. So please feel free to add in your questions/ answers/ insights / experiences, as well.
Feeding
- What do they eat?
- Do all species eat the same thing?
- Live, Frozen, Flakes, Pellets?
- How often do you REALLY have to feed them?
- How to feed them 5-10x a day, everyday without fail? Continuous feeding?
Tank Size
- How many can I keep in my X gal tank?
- Swimming space
- Sleeping space
Lighting
- Which species like the dark?
- and which like the light?
- Which don't care?
- Acclimating dark water fish to the light
Water params
- Do any anthias need perfect water quality to survive?
- How forgiving are they?
Other tanks mates
- Who not to keep with Anthias?
- Which Anthias dont get along?
- Who can be kept with caution?
- Who makes a great tank mate?
QT
- General process
- First arrives
- Gets sick
- max number to qt at one time in a 40-75g tank?
- Lighting acclimation for deep water species
- Are there specific things that anthias are more prone to carry, that should be pre-treated for?
Resources
Good 5 part series on general Anthias care
http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=266
Decent article on acclimating anthias to a tank
\https://reefbuilders.com/2016/03/11/acclimating-anthias-to-aquarium-life/#
Article on first bred Borbonius Anthias by Biota
https://reefbuilders.com/2017/08/23/borbonius-anthias-captive-bred-by-biota-palau/
Long standing thread on Borbonius care
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1335953
Old thread on Barletts
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=938988