So my purple anthias eat through osmosis

[derek_s]

I have had theses purplle queen anthias in QT for about a 2 weeks, and apparently they just absorb food through the water. I have yet to see them eat. They seem pretty active as long as I am not too close to the tank, and they do not appear skinny or unhealthy at all.

I have tried feeding them live brine, arctic pods, pe mysis, Hikari plankton, and spirulina brine. Whether they are eating or not I dunno.

Any other foods I should try that might trigger a better feeding response? (other than baby brine, which I have no luck hatching)

 

[steve]

cyclopeeze.

 

[derek_s]

Oh, tried that too.

 

[ace1204]

human blood

 

[skriz]

Phyto

 

[enderg60]

We got a batch of about 20 of them in at CBA once(we didnt order them BTW), they were there for about 3 months without eating. It was very odd and just as you described they were very active and didnt seem to loose much weight. We tried everything we could think of, and nothing worked.

good luck man, i have only seen/heard of one account of someone getting tuka's to eat. My best advice would be to re try all the foods, and live really helps, but put a big power head in there with them. Anthias seem to respond to fast moving food.

 

[kevinbeth]

I second the fast movement thing, it drives mine crazy!

 

[FutureInterest]

I think they are relatively deep water anthias. Perhaps you could dim the lights on them a bit more to make them more comfy. Keep trying the live brine as nothing else will really entice them to eat as much as live foods. From the few success stories I'm familiar with they all started eating live brine 2-3 weeks into captivity. So don't get too discouraged quite yet .

 

[smoothie]

Like stated above try am and pm feedings with your lights dimming out. Also don't know anything about the qt tank so maybe add some more hiding spots and flow at the top of the tank as mentioned.

 

[derek_s]

Thanks guys, I will utilize the multi quote now!

Skriz;257027 wrote: Phyto

What specific product do you recommend?

EnderG60;257050 wrote: We got a batch of about 20 of them in at CBA once(we didnt order them BTW), they were there for about 3 months without eating. It was very odd and just as you described they were very active and didnt seem to loose much weight. We tried everything we could think of, and nothing worked.

good luck man, i have only seen/heard of one account of someone getting tuka's to eat. My best advice would be to re try all the foods, and live really helps, but put a big power head in there with them. Anthias seem to respond to fast moving food.

Thanks man for raining on my parade. J/K, thnks, maybe I will miracle them to health. I will try the fast thing as well.

reef1973;257134 wrote: Becareful with them jumping. I lost almost all of my Purple Queen by jumping of the the tank. You have no luck feeding them frozen mysis?

No Rit, they wont touch pe mysis, or anything I listed. They are being whiny babies.

FutureInterest;257320 wrote: I think they are relatively deep water anthias. Perhaps you could dim the lights on them a bit more to make them more comfy. Keep trying the live brine as nothing else will really entice them to eat as much as live foods. From the few success stories I'm familiar with they all started eating live brine 2-3 weeks into captivity. So don't get too discouraged quite yet .

Thanks Jin, I had them QT's, but after 10 days I moved tehm to my external fuge for a little more natutal environment. I have plenty of PVC and rocks for tehm to hide in, and the lighs are relatively low. I will keep trying!

 

[chauwall]

I know this sounds weird, but I saw someone on RC put food in the tank and walk away. They are shy and don't want to eat in front of you. He put a video camera to see if they were eating and they were. Try that.

 

[skriz]

you can try DT's.

I can't believe they're not going foro the live stuff though.

Chau's right on; a lot of fish don't like you standing over them while they dine. They eventually get used to it, but it may be worth a shot.

 

[derek_s]

chauwall;257859 wrote: I know this sounds weird, but I saw someone on RC put food in the tank and walk away. They are shy and don't want to eat in front of you. He put a video camera to see if they were eating and they were. Try that.

Hah, funny you say that, as i have noticed and tried this too. They are very weary of me over the tank, so I have tried even putting in the food covertly, while hiding out of view and reaching over. I have even considered hooking up my peristaltic pump to my live brine container so I can further remove myself from view while feeding. Even the splahs the food makes in teh tank scares them.

Skriz;257902 wrote: you can try DT's.

I can't believe they're not going foro the live stuff though.

Chau's right on; a lot of fish don't like you standing over them while they dine. They eventually get used to it, but it may be worth a shot.

I didnt think anthais would go for phyto, only zoo? Do they just strain it out of the water?

 

[derek_s]

Ok, update:

I hooked up a peristaltic pump do I could inject live brine remotely, and something strange happened....

THey didnt go and hide. They stayed out and watched teh shrimp float by.

BUT, they did open their moths just like they were feeding, but I never once saw them eat a brine shrimp. It was always just in open water with no apparent food. But it was so similar to a feeding action, I wondered if it is some really small bits of brine that are just floating by. I certainly cant see them though.

 

[steve]

super weird...

 

[derek_s]

Raj, is this the reason you thought phyto might work? Are they capable of eting phyto out of the column?

 

[suasati]

Start with live Baby brine, you can slowly upgrade to daphnia and cyclops, always give them a mixture with every feeding, never too much, only small amounts several times a day, then you can slowly upgrade them to live brine and frozen brine then to mysis, as they grow bigger....

 

[derek_s]

Thanks SusAsti. I have tried hatching baby bine with no luck, but I will try again with some fresh eggs.

 

[suasati]

You need to talk to rit, he made a contraption that will feed the newly hatched ones constantly...

 

[blind1993]

is it active diffusion or passive? endocytosis?phagocytosis(everyones favorite)? exocytosis?