The Other Japanese Cherry

One of the more famous public aquariums in the world is the Kaiyukan Aquarium in Osaka Japan; the central display is absolutely massive and a descending walkway encircles it like a corkscrew from the surface all the way down to the huge spider crabs on the seafloor, with smaller displays opposite on the pathway down. It is stunning. The entrance to this display is a feature called “The Aqua Gate,” a tubular aquarium you walk through, teaming with fish unfamiliar to most north American hobbyists. Among the most numerous of these is the species Sacura margaritacea, a fish they call Sakuradai or Cherry Porgy, but we know more commonly as the Cherry Anthias.

Cherry Anthias are an excellent choice for the display as they are absolutely gorgeous, very active and quite hardy. In the wild they are plantivores, meaning they mostly grab small meaty meals from the water column, making them well suited for maintaining this feeding response in captivity, which they do. They are a local fish for the aquarium, as Sacura margaritacea has a native range that exists in a narrow band from the northernmost islands of Japan down to the northern coast of Australia. They are very common in moderate depths near rock and coral reefs in both temperate and tropical waters where they live in massive congregations, sometimes in the thousands. They are a haremic fish, and as such, the distributions of these massive groups generally has one male for several females.

All the factors that make Sacura margaritacea amazing for the public aquarium make them very suitable for the hobbyist. Cherry Anthias are hardy, disease resistant fish that require nothing special in the way of water chemistry. Specific gravity should be in the 1.055 range, the pH should be close to 8 and alkalinity in the 8-12 dkh or so. They do best in cooler water (with higher oxygenation). Many public aquariums and hobbyists around the world have successfully kept Cherry Anthias for many years in a variety of temperatures ranging from the mid 60's Fahrenheit to the high 70's. We suggest keeping them slightly cooler than is “standard” for tropical marine aquariums, mid 70s or lower. Lastly in regards the display, flow should be high and it should be large enough to accommodate a group of fish that will likely to be at least four inches long and maybe up to six inches for males as they have been proven to live very long lives in captivity, sometimes in excess of ten years!

Their amazing activity level equates to an animal that needs regular feeding. Here at Quality Marine, we feed them twice a day. They get a mix of small, thawed meaty foods and a well rounded, high quality pellet from Nutramar. Sacura margaritacea should always be purchased in groups. We recommend no less than 5 with 4 females for every male; more would be better. An optimal number would be more than 10 with a 5:1 ratio males to females. They are very unlikely to bother invertebrates, with the possible exception very small ornamental shrimp. While no fish is 1000 percent reef safe, these are as good a bet as any fish you could chose to be safe with your corals. Cherry anthias do well with other fish, and you have a wide variety of fish you can choose as tankmates, though we suggest you avoid keeping them with very timid fish who will be scared into hiding and we also suggest you don't house them with notorious fin nippers like pufferfish to help the males maintain their flowing fin streamers.

Of all the unique fish that come from Japanese waters, the Cherry Anthias is one of the most desirable for all the reasons we've touched on: beautiful, rare, active and reef safe. They tick pretty much every box you could ask for. While they get bigger than some anthias do, they are also more hardy than most anthias that are available to the home hobbyist. These are here at Quality Marine for the first time in a long time, and we don't know when they will be available again. If you're interested in a group of sustainably sourced Japanese Cherry Anthias, have your Local Fish Store get a hold of us asap. Or if your aquarium just isn't ready for such a gorgeous addition, maybe book some tickets for Osaka and see them for yourself (it's totally worth the trip).