Ventralis Anthias are they hard to keep?

[cyberpanther]

I recently came across an online supplier who has several Ventralis Anthias available. I am interested in purchasing one of these for my 75 gallon reef (all my fish are peaceful,or non-aggressive fish), and was wondering if they are hard to keep? Meaning are they hardy if kept under the proper conditions and feeding regimen? I did as much research as I could about this specific fish and have come to the understanding that they like low to medium lighting conditions since they come from deeper water. From my understanding the Ventralis Anthias eats meaty foods like zooplankton feeders such as mysid shrimp, vitamin enriched brine shrimp, frozen preparations. They are also a peaceful fish that needs to be quaratined in a seperate tank until it begins feeding (I normally do this anyway). Does anyone else know anything about these fish, and if they are long lived if taken care of properly, thanks.

 

[Len]

I've tried a few in the past and they all proved very difficult to feed, and extremely shy (one of mine never appeared again after the first day). I have heard of a few people acclimating them to captivity (and more importantly, to bright reef conditions), but I think it's safe to say P.ventralis isn't a hardy species. Too bad, since they are gorgeous!

 

[Anonymous]

I just spoke at length about these fish with a friend of mine who just dove with Chip Boyle, a longtime fish collector down in the Cook Islands (?).

According to him, these fish aren't all that hard to acclimate to captivity once settled in--they just ship terribly. He was saying that all the other fish that they decompress can be needled, but Ventralis have to be brought up from the depths over a 48 hour period b/c you can't needle them. They're so delicate that if you handle or touch them in any way they pretty much just croak from the stress. If I were to get one, I would get it from www.themarinecenter.com. I've read where Scott Michael has said they should be moved as little as possible. Don't ever use a net to catch them. For the price I think I would go with something a bit easier to keep.