Just bought the most beautiful fish!

[sean]

Hi all,
Just had to tell you about the fish I added to my reef on Monday. He is a four to five inch square back anthia. He is an absolute jaw dropper! I am trying to get a friend with a digital camera to take a photo of him to post.
He is the brightest pink, with a very nice brilliant purple spot on his side. The thing that makes him so nice is that the purple spot is not a 'bold' square like on others I have seen. The purple and pink merge together and the purple spot is more rounded. His tail fades from pink to flourescent yellow with iridescent blue/purple/green edging. His dorsal fin is large with the same blue/purple edging but with a little bright red line as well.
I was so surprised to see him the LFS for $30! That is less than most wholesalers I would trust buying from.
He has acclimated well and is eating. He is a true showoff too. He will come to the direct middle of the tank and just hover in the current and show off! I know that they are prone to fading, but I'll enjoy his colors while they last!
I would be happy with just him in the tank! I hope to post some photos soon.

anthias are my favorites for a reason.... in order to not have him fade feed often and make sure that it is a mixture of foods

[sean]

I have read everything I could find on the internet and have learned that feeding two to three times per day is required. I have taken to making my own fish food (after reading some posts here) so variety is no problem. I hope that he will eventually take to flake, but I don't recall reading that they will.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
Sean

[JennM]

I get Anthias on flakes all the time. We too, make a mixture- although it's not "home made" we make a mixture of various prepared foods, flake, pellet, frozen, freeze dried, etc... I offer flakes in between hearty feedings and have no problem getting Anthias to eat them.

Jenn

[valexia]

love my
Barltlett's, he's a flashy guy, but nothin' like a big square!
congrats on a good find..Anthias rock!

[sean]

Thanks! I am lucky to have found one this nice. I sure hope I don't mess anything up and cause his, or anything else in the reef for that matter, demise.

[AquaticCo]

Hey Sean,

Can't wait to see pictures