TankBud

Bartlett's anthias

Pseudanthias bartlettorum

Also known as Bartlett's Fairy Basslet, Yellowtail Anthias

SaltwaterFish

Bartlett's anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum)
Brian Gratwicke · CC BY 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–79°F
22–26°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
3.5 in
9 cm
Minimum tank
70 gal
265 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Swim level
Middle
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Serranidae
Origin
Western Pacific (Marshall and Caroline Islands)

Overview

Bartlett's anthias is one of the hardier and more peaceful anthias, which makes it a good first anthias. It still needs a keeper with some experience.

Did you know

Bartlett's anthias is widely considered one of the easiest anthias to get eating prepared foods. It takes frozen and even pellet food more readily than most of its relatives.

Caring for the Bartlett's anthias

Give Bartlett's anthias a mature reef of at least 70 gal (265 L), with plenty of caves and briskly moving water. Leave open space to swim, with live rock nearby for shelter. Keep the water at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4.

It is a constant planktivore, so it needs several small feedings a day. Offer mysis, enriched brine shrimp, cyclops and pellets.

Keep Bartlett's anthias as a harem of one male with several females. It harasses subdominant group members far less than the lyretail anthias, so groups stay stable in modest tanks. It is peaceful toward other fish and reef safe.

Males show a magenta to lavender body with a yellow back and tail. Females are more uniformly yellow and violet. Breeding it is hard.

Good to know

Bartlett's anthias, Pseudanthias bartlettorum, belongs to the family Serranidae. Like other Pseudanthias, it is a protogynous hermaphrodite that changes from female to male as the dominant fish in a group. Its name honors the Bartlett family, who collected early specimens.

In the wild

Bartlett's anthias comes from clear outer-reef waters of the western Pacific, especially around the Marshall and Caroline Islands. It schools in the open water above coral heads, feeding on drifting plankton.

Weekly picks

Tank mates

The Bartlett's anthias is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

What size tank does a Bartlett's anthias need?

A Bartlett's anthias needs at least 70 gal (265 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

What temperature and pH does a Bartlett's anthias need?

A Bartlett's anthias is comfortable at 72–79°F (22–26°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a Bartlett's anthias eat?

A Bartlett's anthias eats mysis, enriched brine shrimp, cyclops and pellets. Feed it several small meals a day, since it is a constant planktivore.

How big does a Bartlett's anthias get?

An adult Bartlett's anthias reaches about 3.5 in (9 cm).

How can you tell a male Bartlett's anthias from a female?

Males have a magenta to lavender body with a yellow back and tail. Females are a more even mix of yellow and violet.

Related species