Need help with 3 Dispar Anthias

timrellis · 05/02/2010, 01:49 PM

I just added 3 Dispar anthias three days ago but so far they have only hidden in the rocks and above my powerheads. Aren't these supposed to be open water fish? Is this normal behavior days after adding them? Also what should I feed them? I know in the wild they eat zooplankton but people say either mysis or brine in the aquarium. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

minhvu · 05/02/2010, 08:37 PM

it'll take a few days before they swim around. Very shy fish. I started mine with mysis, now they eat anything including NLS pellets

timrellis · 05/02/2010, 09:13 PM

Thanks for the reply! It's good to know this is normal. How long did it take to get them to eat at first?

smoothdog · 05/03/2010, 12:37 PM

All anthias can be difficult to transition to frozen/prepared foods. The key is to go with variety. Don't just stick to one or two kinds of food. Rod's food has a good mix of many different things that may encourage them to eat. Dispars also tend to go after smaller items and cyclopeze has worked well for me to get them started. If you can't get them to eat within 2-3 days hatch some baby brine, the live food will almost always trigger a feeding response. You could also do the live baby brine and mix in some other food at the same time, if they grab the other food while eating the brine they will usually realize it's food and start eating it.

R.W. · 05/03/2010, 04:22 PM

Mine also hid for a while too until they got the courage to come out into the open. Take a peek at your tank when there is no one around, they might be swimming around.

timrellis · 05/03/2010, 04:29 PM

Cool! Alright thanks! I just picked up some Kent marine zoo plex so hopefully they will go for that. If not I do have brine I can hatch for them but I'd rather not set all that up if I don't have to lol!

harlequin tusk · 05/06/2010, 05:59 PM

yea when i first got my dispar they would only swim around when noone was near the tank. I also started mine out with cyclopeeze for the first couple days and they eventually got the message to eat anything that goes into the tank haha. If you can you might wanna try to feed them a couple times a day tho if possible, unless you have a refugium, which should give them food throughout the day

lostintheocean · 05/07/2010, 08:42 AM

they should be in QT

mykil · 05/07/2010, 09:58 AM

^^ ditto to harlequin tusk..I've been lucky with cyclops,reefbugs,frozen brine, mysis & various flake foods.

Merfin70 · 05/07/2010, 06:26 PM

Mine only came out of hiding when I added a couple of green chromis to draw them out from the rocks. Now they enjoy swimming with the chromis. Interesting that they have bonded in that way and all now swim together as a pack.

timrellis · 05/09/2010, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merfin70

Mine only came out of hiding when I added a couple of green chromis to draw them out from the rocks. Now they enjoy swimming with the chromis. Interesting that they have bonded in that way and all now swim together as a pack.

Hmmm that's strange! Right now mine just hide behind the rocks together amd the only thing I can get them to come out and eat is the live baby brine.

anbosu · 05/10/2010, 08:54 AM

With time they will get more comfortable.

Hdhuntr01 · 02/01/2011, 09:06 PM

I am glad I found this post. I just put 4 Anthias (2 Mirolabrichtys ignitus + 2 Mirolabrichtys bartletti) in a 120 gallon tank that will be dedicated to SPS. They are the only fish in this tank. They have only been in the tank 3 days and will only dart out of the rocks when food comes within a few inches of the rock. Fortunately, they will eat pellet foods as well as frozen. I hope they get over their shyness soon! I also plan on adding 2 or 4 Pseudanthias squamipinnis to the group.

tchndie · 02/01/2011, 09:23 PM

If you read up on dispar anthias you would know you should buy 1 male and 7 females so a total of 8. They are a schooling fish. They are more likely to eat in a school than in small groups of 3 or 4. They are a very hard fish to keep alive!! They need to be fed a lot!!! I have dispars and I had some hide for 2 weeks before they would come out. Out of 9 I only have 2 left. My friend that have been in the hobby for 30 years had 8 and he only has 4 left. Good luck with yours.

Hdhuntr01 · 02/01/2011, 09:31 PM

I am waiting on 4 Pseudanthias squamipinnis to come in. I am going will all juveniles and will let nature determine which one will turn Male.

05/02/2010, 01:49 PM	#1
timrellis Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 33	Need help with 3 Dispar Anthias I just added 3 Dispar anthias three days ago but so far they have only hidden in the rocks and above my powerheads. Aren't these supposed to be open water fish? Is this normal behavior days after adding them? Also what should I feed them? I know in the wild they eat zooplankton but people say either mysis or brine in the aquarium. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

05/03/2010, 12:37 PM	#4
smoothdog Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: St. Charles, MO Posts: 4,916	All anthias can be difficult to transition to frozen/prepared foods. The key is to go with variety. Don't just stick to one or two kinds of food. Rod's food has a good mix of many different things that may encourage them to eat. Dispars also tend to go after smaller items and cyclopeze has worked well for me to get them started. If you can't get them to eat within 2-3 days hatch some baby brine, the live food will almost always trigger a feeding response. You could also do the live baby brine and mix in some other food at the same time, if they grab the other food while eating the brine they will usually realize it's food and start eating it. __________________ Everything's better with Bacon! Current Tank Info: 150DD SPS dominant mixed reef. 100g sump/fuge, 6'x28"x12" frag tank, Diablo xs200 skimmer, Apex controller, Custom GEO 824 calcium reactor, panworld 200PS return pump. Lumenmax Elite reflector with Radium 250HQI bulb and 3 AI 32 HDs.

05/03/2010, 04:22 PM	#5
R.W. Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 890	Mine also hid for a while too until they got the courage to come out into the open. Take a peek at your tank when there is no one around, they might be swimming around. __________________ 180g FOWLR "Sun bathing on the floor next to your tank is not, in any way equivalent to spending time outdoors."

05/07/2010, 06:26 PM	#10
Merfin70 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 595 Blog Entries: 1	Mine only came out of hiding when I added a couple of green chromis to draw them out from the rocks. Now they enjoy swimming with the chromis. Interesting that they have bonded in that way and all now swim together as a pack. __________________ George Current Tank: Jan 2010, Custom Cadlights 65g Starfire Shallow Rimless (36"x24"x17") with 24g Sump, ATI Sunpower 6x39w, Aquamaxx ConeS CO 1, Vortech MP40 + MP10, Return Eheim 1260

02/01/2011, 09:06 PM	#13
Hdhuntr01 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Woolmarket, MS Posts: 395	I am glad I found this post. I just put 4 Anthias (2 Mirolabrichtys ignitus + 2 Mirolabrichtys bartletti) in a 120 gallon tank that will be dedicated to SPS. They are the only fish in this tank. They have only been in the tank 3 days and will only dart out of the rocks when food comes within a few inches of the rock. Fortunately, they will eat pellet foods as well as frozen. I hope they get over their shyness soon! I also plan on adding 2 or 4 Pseudanthias squamipinnis to the group. __________________ Red Sea Reefer 750XXL, Four Radion Pro's, NYOS Skimmer, APEX, Two EcoTech MP40QD and some other goodies. Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 750XXL

05/02/2010, 08:37 PM	#2
minhvu Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: West Monroe, LA Posts: 359	it'll take a few days before they swim around. Very shy fish. I started mine with mysis, now they eat anything including NLS pellets

05/02/2010, 09:13 PM	#3
timrellis Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 33	Thanks for the reply! It's good to know this is normal. How long did it take to get them to eat at first?

05/03/2010, 04:29 PM	#6
timrellis Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 33	Cool! Alright thanks! I just picked up some Kent marine zoo plex so hopefully they will go for that. If not I do have brine I can hatch for them but I'd rather not set all that up if I don't have to lol!

05/06/2010, 05:59 PM	#7
harlequin tusk Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: pittsburgh Posts: 138	yea when i first got my dispar they would only swim around when noone was near the tank. I also started mine out with cyclopeeze for the first couple days and they eventually got the message to eat anything that goes into the tank haha. If you can you might wanna try to feed them a couple times a day tho if possible, unless you have a refugium, which should give them food throughout the day

05/07/2010, 08:42 AM	#8
lostintheocean Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: deep blue Posts: 467	they should be in QT

05/07/2010, 09:58 AM	#9
mykil Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 22	^^ ditto to harlequin tusk..I've been lucky with cyclops,reefbugs,frozen brine, mysis & various flake foods.

05/10/2010, 08:54 AM	#12
anbosu Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Mount Juliet, TN Posts: 4,528	With time they will get more comfortable.

02/01/2011, 09:23 PM	#14
tchndie Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Angus,ON Posts: 335	If you read up on dispar anthias you would know you should buy 1 male and 7 females so a total of 8. They are a schooling fish. They are more likely to eat in a school than in small groups of 3 or 4. They are a very hard fish to keep alive!! They need to be fed a lot!!! I have dispars and I had some hide for 2 weeks before they would come out. Out of 9 I only have 2 left. My friend that have been in the hobby for 30 years had 8 and he only has 4 left. Good luck with yours. __________________ Current Setting up 250G Mixed reef tank, 125G sump, Refugium, skimmer Bubbleking 200, I am using a aquactinics constellation 7 bulb fixture , 4 tunze 6105 power heads, barracuda pump. Everything is hooked up to my Neptune Apex. Fish are ,mated pair oynx clowns, naso tang,Sohal Tang, Lieutenant Tang,Achilles tang, Powdwer blue tang, Horseshoe Tang, Indian ocean orange striped mimic tang, Magnificant foxface, fairy wrasse, cleaner wrasse, six line wrasse, carpenter flasher wrasse,10 green chromis, pistol shrimp, 12 cleaner shrimps, 1 blood shrimp,frog spawn, branching hammer, devils hand, colt coral, leather cabbage coral, leather kenea tree, 2 open brain, green plate coral, mushrooms, GSP, orange crush acan 50 heads,and 18 different sps frags and and a couple of SPS colonies. I am probably missing some corals lol!!

02/01/2011, 09:31 PM	#15
Hdhuntr01 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Woolmarket, MS Posts: 395	I am waiting on 4 Pseudanthias squamipinnis to come in. I am going will all juveniles and will let nature determine which one will turn Male. __________________ Red Sea Reefer 750XXL, Four Radion Pro's, NYOS Skimmer, APEX, Two EcoTech MP40QD and some other goodies. Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 750XXL

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