I already have my few show fish. Im hoping the smaller group with shoal.
is one of the three a male yet? also how long have you had them?
Looking at mainly randall, I have a purple tang and a midas blenny. Also going to add a fathead sunburst anthias but I know they hid most of the time.Maybe Ignitus, Carberyyi?
What are your “centerpiece” fish?
I've had them about 6 months. I started with 3 females and a smaller male from Liveaquaria. The females have grown quickly but the male hasn't. One of the females is now transitioning to male. I suspect she'll kill the small male eventually. I haven't been able to catch him to get him out. Lesson learned... do not buy a male unless he is the only one that's gonna be in the tank! The females grew from 2.5 to almost 4" in the 6 months I've had them. They don't bother anyone but each other. The little male doesn't bother anyone. He's even kind of hen-pecked by the females. They do hog a lot of food quickly though. Slow eaters might struggle. I have them in with PJ Cardinals, Wrasses, Damsels, and a sand sifting Goby with no issues.
Thank you for all the advise! Ill post pictures once I get them.Barbonius get very large and are absolute vacuums, they eat everything and always want more, so to your question of if this is too many fish, it all depends on what your tank can handle. If you have a skimmer 12 is fine, I had almost 30 fish in my 135 g and felt comfortable with both the swimming space available and the bioload. It’s important that you take into consideration what levels of the aquarium the fish are likely to reside, as if you have all benthic fish then the tank can be quickly overstocked, and same with if you have all pelagic fish that like to swim towards the top of the tank. Long story short I think your at a good number
I love the look of the lyretails just don’t love the aggression I read about lol. Hope everything goes well with your 4 though!!
Beautiful group! Love the lyretail just heard too many horror stories. Can I ask your thoughts on Randall’s?Just about any species besides Bartletts. I've kept hundreds of anthias, and wouldn't hesitate about adding groups of small females of most species. There's chasing, but I rarely see damage or mortality. Ignitus or dispars would probably be my recommendation though for hardiness. A few of my current group
What do you feed your fathead?? I’ve had mine for a few weeks. Seems to BIBBLE at mysis but doesn’t chow down like my other fish. Should I be worried??Just saw your post. Let me recommend one that you had already mentioned. Fathead Sunburst Anthias. I have 2 along with 10 other larger fish in my 180g. They seen real peaceful. They don’t hang around each other much. Beautiful fish. Feed at least twice a day. Good luck. Pic of one of mine:
