Description

⭐ Bartlett’s Anthias — Description & Care Guide

🐠 Description

Bartlett’s Anthias is one of the brightest and most eye-catching anthias species available for reef aquariums.

Key visual traits:

• Body color: A striking blend of yellow (front half) fading into magenta/purple (back half)

• Tail: Deep magenta or purple, often with a sharper color transition in males

• Size: Typically 3–3.5 inches full grown

• Sex & color changes:

  • All start life as females

  • The dominant individual transitions into a male, gaining deeper magenta and elongated finnage

Temperament: Active, mid-water swimmers; peaceful with most species but can be aggressive toward their own kind depending on group size.

🌊 Care Requirements

📏 Tank Size

• Minimum: 70–90 gallons for a small group

• Ideal: 120+ gallons with lots of open swimming space

• They thrive in deeper or open reef aquascapes.

🧪 Water Parameters

Typical reef conditions:

• Temperature: 75–78°F

• Salinity: 1.025–1.026

• pH: 8.1–8.4

• Nitrates: < 15 ppm

• Phosphates: < 0.05 ppm

• Flow: Moderate to strong, with plenty of well-oxygenated water

Anthias are oxygen-demanding, so good surface agitation is important.

🍽 Diet & Feeding

Bartlett’s Anthias have high metabolisms and need frequent feeding.

Feed 2–4x daily with:

• PE Mysis

• Calanus

• LRS Reef Frenzy (finely chopped)

• TDO Chroma boost small pellets

• Hikari Marine S or Micro Pellets

• Frozen brine shrimp enriched with spirulina

They’ll usually accept pellets faster than many anthias species.

👥 Behavior & Social Structure

• Best kept in groups, but the structure matters:

  • 1 male + multiple females works best

  • Keeping only two or three often leads to one bullying the other

  • Can be kept solo without issue if you don’t want group dynamics

• In small tanks, dominant individuals may become territorial and chase females constantly.

🪸 Reef Compatibility

Excellent reef fish:

• Safe with corals, clams, and inverts

• Doesn’t pick at coral

• Generally peaceful with tankmates like tangs, wrasses, gobies, and angels

Avoid aggressive tanks or boisterous species that outcompete them for food.

💡 Special Notes

• Bartlett’s are hardier than many other anthias and adapt well to aquarium life.

• Some groups eventually turn all-male, which can cause aggression—larger groups or a single specimen avoids this.

• Provide plenty of open swimming room and multiple feeding spots.