All my anthias end up dying.. though I can keep other fish no problem. Any current known issues with anthias?

[FishPersonFL]

Hi
My anthias can look, act, and eat very well for months on end, then all of a sudden get lethargic, want to be reclusive, stop eating, 90% of time rest on a rock or sand. Then die from not eating. It's happened to all three species I have tried. Bartletts.. I had 2 of them for about 6 months then I got a carberry (sp) that was looking really bad from get go, died, and the bartletts followed suit within a few weeks. The carberri woudl look emmatiated, eating very little, got a arch to its back, went to hiding all the time, died soon after the period of hiding out. It was pretty quick. The barts did same thing, but took longer. one got the same arched back, and all the other symptoms. I tried dispars, im on my second group of three. They look great for months on end. Then the same as above happens. I even try to feed them 4+X a day as I know ideally they eat as frequently as possible. When I fed fewer, it seemed the 'disease' started faster. The tank water is fine, so it's likely not an issue of overfeeding. My acros are growing fast, looking great. My CBB is doing relaly well. My ritteri great, etc... So 'sensitive' life in my tank doing fine, but the anthias no go.
Anyone know if there is some syndrome or something going on with them?
Heres a pic of one in a reefer's post on here. resting on the ground, one of first 'signs': https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/anthia-on-bottom.800907/

I know it's not jus† my tank. Liveaquaria sent me one in the same condition before even hitting my tank last week. I see them in this condition more often than not at LFS. Last year I didnt see them come in the LFS like this.
TY!

 

[vetteguy53081]

You wouldn’t by chance have pictures when you had them by chance?
Uronema and bacteria is generally what knocks them down

 

[ca1ore]

It’s part of the ‘joy’ of keeping pseudoanthias. If really months, then not disease. Could be cyanide, but I’ve not heard of that with these fishes. Bartletts are notorious for picking themselves off. You need a HUGE tank to keep more than a single for any length of time. I’ve not kept carberyii. A bit strange with dispar, they’re generally less bickery than Bartlett.

How are you feeding. Best with pseudoanthias is to pour thawed mysis into your circulation pump so that it gets distributed quickly and is moving. That way the lower pecking order fish will get some.

I’ve had the most success with bimacs .... usually able to keep a stable group for a few years.

 

[FishPersonFL]

Ill try to get pics. But that thread i linked to has a dispar resting on bottom. Thats all the one i have now is doing. And not eating. When they eat they eat fine no issue with them being out competed. There is no agression. None were bettered to death or to sickness.
it is odd to me that i see a fair proportion of them often looking like this in LFS’s now also. But I havent seen other fish types show these symptoms in my tank or LFSs

 

[wishnewfish]

how many times did you feed them per day?
I heard that this is common with anthias , they look fine and eating but dont thrive unless you feed 3-4 times per day depending on type of anthias

 

[Kal93]

There are many possibilities. I don't think that it's uronema, as you would have noticed the growths on the body. The emaciated body makes me think 1) internal parasites, 2) aggression preventing the less dominant anthias from eating (anthias can be very aggressive to each other), or 3) not feeding enough. You don't need to feed 3-4 times a day unless they are picky eaters/eat brine, etc. but you should be feeding twice a day.

 

[FishPersonFL]

PIcs really dont do anything if I can even get one. The one now is just thin and always rests, and doesnt eat. Again no aggression, zero to or from it from anyone in tank at all. I also heard they ned to bed many times daily. I thinjk there is some disease going around esp since I see it in the LFS's I go as well a majority look sick like this, either the beginning stages or further in.

 

[reef80]

I've had this problem for years with anthias; thus why I stopped buying them. I'm unsure how true this is but I have some being quarantine right now on a different method with some reefer who seems to know what he is doing. The reefer informed me that there are certain types of fluke that will slowly crawl up in the membranes of anthias and cause the slow deterioration of the fish and basically disorientate it and starve it to death. He says they work with a nearby university to inspect and dissect and perform these autopsies to conclude those causes. I'm buying my first batch of anthias so I'll see if they will survive my usual rate of past 3-6 months.

 

[FishPersonFL]

I've had this problem for years with anthias; thus why I stopped buying them. I'm unsure how true this is but I have some being quarantine right now on a different method with some reefer who seems to know what he is doing. The reefer informed me that there are certain types of fluke that will slowly crawl up in the membranes of anthias and cause the slow deterioration of the fish and basically disorientate it and starve it to death. He says they work with a nearby university to inspect and dissect and perform these autopsies to conclude those causes. I'm buying my first batch of anthias so I'll see if they will survive my usual rate of past 3-6 months.

TY very much for that.. That coincides with the time frames that many of my anthias got obviously ill and ided after a few or several months. What makes you want to buy more anthias now? I mean do you know where you can get them that will likely not have the parasite? I wonder if once if infected anthias are in the tank how long it takes if ever for that parasite to not be in the tank anymore (??)

 

[reef80]

Last I bought a group was couple years ago. This is a whole new system that I have not introduce any anthias in. Apparently they treat the fish with all sorts of methods and medications because they been experiencing with these kinds of flukes already. I love anthias but their survival rate is so poor in captivity. I’m just trying these out and see how they fair.

 

[reef80]

TY very much for that.. That coincides with the time frames that many of my anthias got obviously ill and ided after a few or several months. What makes you want to buy more anthias now? I mean do you know where you can get them that will likely not have the parasite? I wonder if once if infected anthias are in the tank how long it takes if ever for that parasite to not be in the tank anymore (??)

My post before this. Forgot to tag it...