Rare and Gorgeous: Bennett's Anthias
All Anthias are amazing. They can bring some of the most intense coloration and high activity levels to tanks, though some of them shine just a little brighter, and most of those are really, really rare. One of the least seen is Tosanoides bennetti which predictably goes by the common name, Bennett's Anthias. These are collected in incredibly deep water (over 500 feet deep in some instances) from our Short Supply Chain Vendor in Coral Sea, the only place that Bennett's is found. Diving this deep is a technological feat that limits dive times because of the intricately planned and painstakingly slow process of surfacing from these depths. These logistics further increase the rarity of these fish in the hobby.
All the Tosanoides genus Anthias are rare and gorgeous and all of them hail from really deep water, which can make acclimating them tricky. Bennett's Anthias are not a beginner fish. While they can be hardy given the right conditions, their new aquarium home needs to be rock solid stable in every way. Just envision the natural habitat of these fish; at 300 feet down, the ocean is colder, higher in oxygen, and has almost no variation in temperature, pH, salinity or anything because it is so far from the sun's warming power, or a river's dilution. With this in mind, your tank should be cooler than what you might expect for a reef tank, somewhere in the high 60s to low 70's would be ideal. You'll also want to add as much flow as you can in order to help the oxygenation level stay high. The tank should be well aged before the Anthias are introduced, and the parameters should be rock solid; SG at 1.025 or 1.026, pH locked in between 8.2 and 8.4 and your nitrates should never get above a couple ppm.
Their display should also be larger than expected for such a small fish (only two inches long or so), but the extra size will aid in the stability needs. We'd suggest keeping them as a trio or more if possible and a 90-gallon tank would be about as small as we'd consider for this arrangement. The tank should also feature strong filtration, strong flow and be covered. Bennett's Anthias aren't necessarily jumpers, but they can bolt if surprised, and if they do it in the wrong direction, they can end up on the floor, which is always a shame with any fish, but with one this rare and pricey, it would be really heartbreaking. The tank doesn't need to have substrate, but should feature lots of rocks for the fish to swim through and hide in. We recommend acclimating them to bright lighting over a couple weeks.
Bennett's Anthias are very active and thus need frequent feeding. Here they get a mix of frozen offerings from Gamma Foods, like Brine Plus Spirulina, Brine Plus Omega, Mysis shrimp, and we offer them Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots as well. In the wild, a portion of their diet is made up of algae and we find it important to get them some greens. Getting any Anthias onto a pellet diet is important for their long-term success in the aquarium. High quality pellets like those from Nutramar offer protein density and a nutrient spectrum that thawed foods can't match. It also makes it possible to utilize an autofeeder, which makes getting them their three (or more) feeds a day much easier.
Bennett's Anthias are peaceful fish and could share a tank with a wide variety of tankmates as long as those tank mates are also calm, cool and collected. Almost all of the marine aquarium fish and coral you can think of can be kept in the slightly lower temperatures that these Anthias like as you acclimate them slowly to it. Fish like Cardinals, Fairy Wrasses, Shrimp Gobies, Firefish, Ocellaris Clowns and similar would all be good choices. Some other species of Anthias can work as well, just choose ones that are on the more peaceful and smaller side, like Compsanthias or some of the Nemanthias.
For those of you who are ready, and have an appropriate display, Bennett's Anthias are on the very short list of Uber-Anthias available to the home aquarist. If you're looking for a fish that absolutely no one else is going to have, Tosanoides bennetti is a contender for that role. Are a beginner fish? Nope. They are the pinnacle of Anthias keeping. If your tank is dialed, and your skills are there, think about asking your Local Fish Store for a Trio or more of Bennett's Anthias from Quality Marine today!