Tank Journal Archive

[Wrangy]

As I would hate to slack and not have any pictures on the first page of my journal, here's some of the thoughts I've made towards some of the choices I now face lol
Coral, clams and inverts are easy and the choices have been made haha but it's the room for the extra fish that I'm really excited about! As I've mentioned above my existing fish will of course be coming across into the new tank which will start me off with 5 fish and I want to aim for 10-13 fish in the tank so that it's nice and busy with plenty of friends and colour swimming around!
The new additions I do want to make and am fairly sure on are a kole tang, probably the last addition or at least after the anthias. The other addition I would really love to make would be a cleaner wrasse :) I think they're wonderful fish with an amazing interaction with other fish too. Something I've thought about getting before.

The real fish decision that is plaguing me is which species of anthias I decide to get for the tank! These are all species my LFS can get and the best part if they're all ridiculously expensive, god I love my fish tastes they're also all reasonably uncommon and rare but they're all absolutely stunning fish!

**none of these photo's are mine and if the original owners do not wish me to use them please don't hesitate to contact me a let me know**
Golden Anthias (Pseudanthias aurulentus)


Yellow-tailed Anthias (Pseudanthias flavicuada)


Sunburst Anthias (Serranocirrhitus latus)


Randall's Anthias (Pseudanthias randalli)


I'm rather stuck on the decisions as to which I go with but I think regardless of what I do I might throw in a lone sunburst as I love them so much and they do alright singularly :)

Another fish I've been thinking about is the extremely rare and goofy Ignatius-lepiggleious fish :lol:



I'm picking the tank up tomorrow afternoon so things will start to get real and I might kick the planning and buying into a higher gear now! :) I can't wait to get it and really start to visualise the scape and everything :)

 

[Andrew B]

i like the goldern anthias, and definitly put the Ignatius-lepiggleious in

 

[brendan88]

They are big decisions, I would say we go to the same LFS as mine had pretty much all those fish arrive last week.

The better half really does want a school of anthia for the upcoming 8 footer..

I really favoured the golden anthia in person.....

Or sunburst next, but they have to be small and only down side is as they grow,the colour changers on them

 

[lukusis]

 

[Mattres]

A second Bellus angel would make an interesting pair, not sure on the size requirement for them though.

The Golden Anthias would look great with a few sunburst mixed in!

 

[ReeferRob]

2 things, be careful of those Sunburst Anthias, make sure they're eating and have a decently filled out abdomen. Same with the cleaner Wrasse, both are problem children at times. It sounds like you have someone down there that takes extra care of his specimens so you should do OK. Cleaners are weird, 1 time they'll ship great with no losses, the next time over 1/2 will arrive DOA. I buy them from the same 2 places and the same thing. I REALLY like the Bicolours out of Kenya, they have a slightly different colour to them, the down side is they really ship like shit. :(

 

[Sam Parker]

Haven't heard of any great success with the golden anthias (myself included) - but they are gorgeous!

 

[ReeferRob]

I'm thinking about a Philippines shipment now, damn yer eyes!!
GREEN ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS SPECIES
LYRETAIL ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS SPECIES
PINK ANTHIAS - PARANTHIAS COLONUS
PURPLE ANTHIAS - MIROLABRICHTHYS DISPAR
PURPLE QUEEN - MIROLABRICHTHYS TUKA
TIGER QUEEN - MIROLABRICHTHYS IMELDAE
TRI-COLOR ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS SQUAMIPINNIS
TRUNCATUS ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS TRUNCATUS
SQUARE ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS PLEUROTAENIA
SUNBURST ANTHIAS - SERRANOCIRRHITUS LATUS
YELLOW ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS LUZONENSIS
KASHIWA ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS KASIWAE
RED ANTHIAS - PSEUDANTHIAS SPECIES
PACIFIC ANTHIAS - PARANTHIAS COLONUS
RANDALLI ANTHIAS (FEMALE) - PSEUDANTHIAS RANDALLI
RANDALLI ANTHIAS (MALE) - PSEUDANTHIAS RANDALLI
BANDED FAIRY BASSLET - PSEUDANTHIAS FASCIATUS
SUNSET ANTHIAS (MALE) - PSEUDANTHIAS LEUCOZONUS

There's what's available to me right now, sorry for the caps, not everyone knows binomial nomenclature. Either that or they're yelling at me to buy their fish or blind, lol!

 

[Wrangy]

They are big decisions, I would say we go to the same LFS as mine had pretty much all those fish arrive last week.

The better half really does want a school of anthia for the upcoming 8 footer..

I really favoured the golden anthia in person.....

Or sunburst next, but they have to be small and only down side is as they grow,the colour changers on them

haha I think everyone got a similar delivery this last couple of weeks, the sunbursts that came in were stunning!!
I'm thinking 4-5 anthias that will add some very nice colours to the tank! I do love the golden's but the p. flavicuada are winning at the moment in colour and price lol I love the shape of the sunbursts as well as their amazing colours lol

A second Bellus angel would make an interesting pair, not sure on the size requirement for them though.

The Golden Anthias would look great with a few sunburst mixed in!

That was definitely a thought that crossed my mind! I'll probably have a little more thought on it though as I would LOVE to have a pair of bellus as well as my hawks! I'm definitely thinking about having a sunburst in there just because lol

2 things, be careful of those Sunburst Anthias, make sure they're eating and have a decently filled out abdomen. Same with the cleaner Wrasse, both are problem children at times. It sounds like you have someone down there that takes extra care of his specimens so you should do OK. Cleaners are weird, 1 time they'll ship great with no losses, the next time over 1/2 will arrive DOA. I buy them from the same 2 places and the same thing. I REALLY like the Bicolours out of Kenya, they have a slightly different colour to them, the down side is they really ship like shit. :(

You're spot on about having someone who looks after the fish better than anyone else I've seen! Dave does the hobby the best that I've ever seen from anyone. So if I were to trust anyone to bring in sensitive fish and have them ready and feeding strongly it would be Dave :) I would definitely be comfortable about any fish from him! These fish like all of my will get the attention and care that would be necessary for their survival :)

Haven't heard of any great success with the golden anthias (myself included) - but they are gorgeous!

Yeah and given the prices it's something that's turning me off a little but the flav's are coming out in front by a decent margin at the moment!

 

[suta42]

Hey wrangy,

I've kept flavicauda, cf. aurulentus and flatheads.

I still have five golden from the time CM first offered them on the local market. Tbh I think they're one of the hardiest locally caught anthias available. Easy to feed, pretty hardy for an anthias but...very narky amongst themselves. The dominant male needs to have a few females so he can spread his aggression, so I doubt you'd find long term success with a pair or trio which is why I bought five juvies to start with. A dominant aggressive female soon morphed into a male and changed from small and placid to large and bitchy. YMMV. :)

If you want a trio flavicauda are equally hardy but seem to be less aggressive with one another and a trio would probably work. I love sunbursts and they become more beautiful with age. A solitary individual or two juveniles would work. With all these species, you can breathe better once they're on a DIY mix as they put on weight and grow fast. The goldens and flavicauda will eat anything. Including pellets over time.

Have not kept randalls so can't help there.

GL with whatever you decide to do.

Angie

 

[slin1977]

Since I can't help sticking my neck out every now and then most days , here is my tip for Friday .

Personally three foot tank anthias / sps ...... No way would I try it again . Mine were the easiest to keep type and I am left with two out of nine . Even four years ago I tried and failed with a different species.

That's just me and my three foot tank two cents.
I will give anthias a miss in the future.

 

[Wrangy]

Hey wrangy,

I've kept flavicauda, cf. aurulentus and flatheads.

I still have five golden from the time CM first offered them on the local market. Tbh I think they're one of the hardiest locally caught anthias available. Easy to feed, pretty hardy for an anthias but...very narky amongst themselves. The dominant male needs to have a few females so he can spread his aggression, so I doubt you'd find long term success with a pair or trio which is why I bought five juvies to start with. A dominant aggressive female soon morphed into a male and changed from small and placid to large and bitchy. YMMV. :)

If you want a trio flavicauda are equally hardy but seem to be less aggressive with one another and a trio would probably work. I love sunbursts and they become more beautiful with age. A solitary individual or two juveniles would work. With all these species, you can breathe better once they're on a DIY mix as they put on weight and grow fast. The goldens and flavicauda will eat anything. Including pellets over time.

Have not kept randalls so can't help there.

GL with whatever you decide to do.

Angie

I always love your input Angie, thanks for stopping by! :)

I've thought about the goldens the most and would really like some but given the price that they come in at, I probably can't afford my 4-5 group lol $160 a fish is a bit much for me :(
I am really glad to hear that flavicauda are hardy a reasonably peaceful fish as that's one of the criteria I was after for my anthias addition! I was thinking that it would be a mix of 4-5 flav's with a singular sunburst as they are stunning fish, absolutely gorgeous! The best part is knowing that regardless of what I order my LFS will have them on pellets for me before I buy them! So he really does an amazing job and because of his capabilities he really is able to get them feeding on pellets and flake in a small amount of time :) I'm sure he'll have them nice and fat for me though!

Thanks! I'm hoping that with relatively peaceful tankmates and some good feeding they'll settle nicely!

Since I can't help sticking my neck out every now and then most days , here is my tip for Friday .

Personally three foot tank anthias / sps ...... No way would I try it again . Mine were the easiest to keep type and I am left with two out of nine . Even four years ago I tried and failed with a different species.

That's just me and my three foot tank two cents.
I will give anthias a miss in the future.

Just ruin all my fun! You're lucky I absolutely love the zoas!! :p haha

Hmm it is one thing I've been very wary of, I was able to successfully keep a pair of bicolours in my cube for a good while until the restart and they didn't like tub life :( I'm hoping that I can achieve similar results and I'm sure if I see any declines that a few people I trust would enjoy some stunning anthias at a lower price haha I'm definitely going to have a nice tight cover on this tank though!

 

[slin1977]

Well .... I planned to get about five Ventralis. But thought let's give the dispar a shot as they are hardy little things , with the multiple brine shrimp feedings and long conversion to pellets really gave the tank a big whack. If you doing LPS then give it a shot.

Granted the colony I had were about 3cm big , all juvies.

 

[ReeferRob]

I love Anthias, I mean I really do and they're the driving force behind finding a decent place to open a retail operation. I priced out the glass to do a 3mx1.5mx1m tank, not gonna be cheap, but I love them and Purple Tangs to pieces. I want a school of 12 Purple Queen Anthias and a pair of Purple Tangs.

 

[slin1977]

I love Anthias, I mean I really do and they're the driving force behind finding a decent place to open a retail operation. I priced out the glass to do a 3mx1.5mx1m tank, not gonna be cheap, but I love them and Purple Tangs to pieces. I want a school of 12 Purple Queen Anthias and a pair of Purple Tangs.

A tank that big you could charge entry fee for viewing.
You'll have to sell a ton of anthias to cover the cost.

 

[ReeferRob]

I have a friend who works for a glass company and they want to see how this tank holds up so it's not going to be as expensive as it could be. When I bought the 240 in 1986 it was $600, this tank is gonna be a little more than that, lol. 30mm bottom and 25mm sides.

I would stay with something else in a tank this small, there are some small sized Anthias available out of Irian Jaya and Fiji, but damn, they're $160 landed here wholesale. I don't wanna think what they'd be there, plus, they're deeper water species. I don't like making something that's evolved to live at a deeper depth with lower light live in a brightly lit tank.

 

[suta42]

Fwiw we get indo stock pretty cheaply, not so much Fiji (unless the same species is found in Vanuatu.) Locally we have access to plenty of moderate to deep water species, but ventralis are the only true deep water ones I've seen here that are small.

... there are some small sized Anthias available out of Irian Jaya and Fiji, but damn, they're $160 landed here wholesale. I don't wanna think what they'd be there, plus, they're deeper water species. I don't like making something that's evolved to live at a deeper depth with lower light live in a brightly lit tank.

Geeze, I can't help myself - so which species are these rob? :)

(PS wrangy, don't get too hung up on price point with anthias since many pretty ones are inexpensive. Admittedly in that size tank I would mainly avoid narky species or fish that are touchy to feed. A trio of flavicauda sound nice, but the point about heavy feeding and acro is also valid... ;). )

 

[ReeferRob]

Fwiw we get indo stock pretty cheaply, not so much Fiji (unless the same species is found in Vanuatu.) Locally we have access to plenty of moderate to deep water species, but ventralis are the only true deep water ones I've seen here that are small.



Geeze, I can't help myself - so which species are these rob? :)

(PS wrangy, don't get too hung up on price point with anthias since many pretty ones are inexpensive. Admittedly in that size tank I would mainly avoid narky species or fish that are touchy to feed. A trio of flavicauda sound nice, but the point about heavy feeding and acro is also valid... ;). )

One is the Hi fin Anthias, the other is Carlson's Anthias. Neither of which is very attractive in my eye. I'll have to wait until Vanuatu opens back up for export to get the list from them, sometimes the digital age sucks, no paper list so I don't have a record of availability. Those are the only 2 that jump out that I can remember. I thought they were from Fiji, it's actually Vanuatu where I saw them on the list. The freight out of there for us is astronomical, worse than coming from your country.

Just an example, if I have to pay a collector $20 for a fish, after shipping costs, that fish ends up costing me $40-$120 depending on how much space it takes up in a box. Large angels and Tangs are big money in shipping costs. You can figure $4-$7/kg freight to the USA.

Here's the last list I got, unfortunately no prices on it, they love to do that to me and I get a HOLY SHIT IT'S HOW MUCH? After I place the order, lol.


Bicolor Anthias - Pseudanthias bicolor
Carlsoni Anthias - Pseudanthias carlsoni
Coopers Anthias - Pseudanthias cooperi
Dispar Anthias - Pseudanthias dispar
Fusiler Anthias - Pseudanthias sps.
Highfin Anthias - Rabaulichthys altipinnis
Striped Anthias - Pseudanthias fasciatus
Orange Anthias - Female Pseudanthias squamipinnis
Red Anthias Male - Pseudanthias squamipinnis
Pictilis Anthias Female - Pseudanthias pictilis
Pictilis Anthias Male - Pseudanthias pictilis
Princess Anthias - Pseudanthias smithvanizi
Purple Queen - Pseudanthias tuka
Splitfin Anthias - Luzonichthys waitei
Square Anthias Female - Pseudanthias pleurotaenia
Square Anthias Male - Pseudanthias pleurotaenia
Stocky Anthias - Pseudanthias hypselosoma
Sunburst Anthias - Serranocirritus latus
Sunburst Anthias - SMALL - Serranocirritus latus
Sunset Anthias Male - Pseudanthias smithvanizi
Sunset Anthias Female - Pseudanthias smithvanizi
Tiger Queen - Pseudanthias lori
Tri-Color Anthias - Pseudanthias rubrizonatus
Ventralis Anthias Female - Pseudanthias ventralis
Ventralis Anthias Male - Pseudanthias ventralis
Yellowtail Anthias - Female - Pseudanthias flavicauda
Yellowtail Anthias - Male - Pseudanthias flavicauda
Yellow Spotted Anthias - Pseudanthias flavoguttatus

Sorry for the derail mate.

 

[Wrangy]

Well .... I planned to get about five Ventralis. But thought let's give the dispar a shot as they are hardy little things , with the multiple brine shrimp feedings and long conversion to pellets really gave the tank a big whack. If you doing LPS then give it a shot.

Granted the colony I had were about 3cm big , all juvies.

Vent's would be awesome but too shy and I'd get tuka in a heartbeat if they weren't one of the most difficult to keep fish out there haha I currently am feeding the tank 3-6 times a day as it is though lol th fish seem to be loving it and I've recently upped the variety of foods being feed and the colours have just jumped out at my after only a few days! Goes to show the importance of variety! lol NLS flake and pellets (colour enhancing), elos pellets, mysis and artemia with spirulina and garlic :) Fish love it! So I think with an extra 100L and maybe a bigger skimmer I should be able to adjust for a few anthias without much extra pollution :) Zeo seems to help a lot in this regard!

I love Anthias, I mean I really do and they're the driving force behind finding a decent place to open a retail operation. I priced out the glass to do a 3mx1.5mx1m tank, not gonna be cheap, but I love them and Purple Tangs to pieces. I want a school of 12 Purple Queen Anthias and a pair of Purple Tangs.

Now that would be AMAZING! Definitely not even in the same hemisphere as cheap haha but it would be absolutely incredible! You'd need a few skimmers running a tank like that :p

Fwiw we get indo stock pretty cheaply, not so much Fiji (unless the same species is found in Vanuatu.) Locally we have access to plenty of moderate to deep water species, but ventralis are the only true deep water ones I've seen here that are small.
Geeze, I can't help myself - so which species are these rob? :)

(PS wrangy, don't get too hung up on price point with anthias since many pretty ones are inexpensive. Admittedly in that size tank I would mainly avoid narky species or fish that are touchy to feed. A trio of flavicauda sound nice, but the point about heavy feeding and acro is also valid... ;). )

Yeah, we certainly can get some nice cheap Indo stock here, a relevant example is the local caught vs imported p. flavicauda which is $140 vs $70 a fish :) As much as I'd love to get Aussie caught specimens, I think imported will be what I go with. Dave gets ventralis occasionally and they are always stunning!

I'm trying to stay reasonably untoward about the prices but they do need some consideration for a uni student :p lol I'm definitely avoiding any narky or tricky species as I don't want to make things harder for myself or have them reduce their own numbers over time! lol
A trio does sound nice and probably wouldn't add too much difficulty or pollution on the scale versus say 5 of them haha Along with a nice fat sunburst (s. latus) I think that will do me for anthias :) I definitely think they're wonderful fish!

 

[ReeferRob]

Nothing Australian is cheap, especially here. The cost of living and the cost of fuel in Indo and the Philippines is probably 1/10 what it is there.

I'm hoping that when mariculturing becomes the norm prices will come down somewhat. I will only do Aussie fish 3x a year because they're so expensive and I want them gone, not sitting here. I've been trying to get some McCullough's clowns for a few years now for broodstock with no luck.