Reef Discussion

[potatocouch]

4 questions:

1. Are they pretty in reality ... as in real life pretty, not picture pretty?
2. Are they quite hardy?
3. Will they fight if I am to keep it with 1x sunburst and 1x orchid dottyback?
4. How much are they (Randall) normally cost these days?

 

[Andrew B]

I have been on the hunt for quite a while, seem to be fairly hardy. I have been told by my LFS to expect around $35

 

[potatocouch]

I have been on the hunt for quite a while, seem to be fairly hardy. I have been told by my LFS to expect around $35

That's fairly cheap; just curious, why do you opt for Randal than the commonly available Dispar? Just personal preference or are you seeing something in Randal that you don't in Dispar/Lyretail?

 

[NiCd]

1. Are they pretty in reality ... as in real life pretty, not picture pretty?

The males are the females are not as pretty but still ok

1. Are they quite hardy?

On the scale of anthia's they are but there is a but - Anthia's ship badly and these are not collected locally so they go through a month or so of crap before they get here, if you happen on some that are in a dodgy LFS that have been there for a month or so and are eating well they are really good. If you get them from you LFS a day or two after they land I have had pretty poor success

1. Will they fight if I am to keep it with 1x sunburst and 1x orchid dottyback?

No worries there

1. How much are they (Randall) normally cost these days?

Varies from shop to shop, ironically your dodgy seems to sell there for about $30 and the primo shops about $60-$80

Others to look at are;
Dispars (you have already mentioned) good side is they are cheap, pretty, colorful, peaceful, tend to cope with single meals each day quite well and usually take pellets within a day or two. the downside of them is they ship bad, the Australian variants look bad compared to the imports and seem to give up on life for no reason

Bi colours - a better-looking fish than dispars in my opinion, the females look just as nice as the males, they hold their own a bit better than dispars and will rush with tangs to eat, are one of the hardiest and easiest to keep anthias IMO, they are usually that same $30 mark and are locally collected. Downside is if you are keeping a mix of anthias some of the more placid ones find it hard to eat next to them, they also grow bigger than dispars

Bartlets - The nature of a dispar, colour that beats everything but ventralis, the ease of care of a bi colour. The downside is they are pricey - $80-$160 depending on the shop, they are hard to come by, seem to fright/jump more than most anthia and they are also an import.

There is another one that I frequently get from Auburn aquarium which they call a Flame Anthia but it looks nothing like ignitus to which this common name is normally associated, I have no idea what its proper name is but they are a bright red anthia, eats pellets straight out of the bag, seem indestructible and to get along with everything. Auburn does them 5 for $100 the only issue I have with them is they jump and are not as active swimmers as the other above, they will frequently just sit on the sand bed and chill.

 

[Andrew B]

That's fairly cheap; just curious, why do you opt for Randal than the commonly available Dispar? Just personal preference or are you seeing something in Randal that you don't in Dispar/Lyretail?

i Just did some reading up on them and seemed to like them. Not much more than that i guess. Again tho please i have never had anthias let alone the randalls so i am still new to it...

 

[potatocouch]

Thanks @NiCd @Andrew B