Anthias & Perciformes

Feeding of anthias & damsel fishes

Anthias live on plankton which they usually have even in open water. They eat continuously in the sea, in the same manner, they should be fed often during familiarization. Once they are familiar with the surroundings, then it is easy to keep anthias P. squamipinnis by feeding just ca. 2 times a day. We recommend NYOS Goldpods for all anthias which can be added through a dosing pump several times a day.\n\nThe changeover to new food habits can be very tricky for few species like P. ventralis or P. Tuka in which case these species are recommended only to experienced aquarists. Our anthias are sold as fixed-feed,i.e. they accept frozen food very well. Please check with us about the feed varieties used for individual species.\n

Tanksize and behaviour

Anthias have a very interesting swimming behaviour which can be observed only in aquariums upto 500l. Each harem consists of one male fish with several female fishes in a different hierarchy. If the male anthias dies or has become weak due to some disease, the highest-ranking female fish converts to a male within few months.\n

\n

Buy and order anthias online:

When ordering online, you can select anthias at Whitecorals: Either you decide directly for a harem with one male and several females which we can arrange for you. Alternatively, you can order females only out of which the highest -ranking would convert to male. Please try not to put two males in one tank.

Problems and diseases in anthias: Pop eyes

In addition to the somewhat tricky feeding during familiarization, the male anthias are susceptible to so called „Pop eyes“. This is due to the intra-species skirmishes of ranking in the harem and stress in the tank. In nature, this would cause death of the animal. In the aquarium the swelling rebuilds often, sometimes even leading to blindness. A good and vitamin-rich food and limited stress in the tank supports the healing process.\n