Anthias school or pair?

[Hammer100]

i have 6 lyretail in my 180. one full male, a couple look like they are trying to change to male but havent made the full change. 2 much smaller than the rest that keep to themselves.
they dont really school together but depending on the flow they will gang up at certain times.

 

[ca1ore]

Ever tried Red Saddled ( P. Flavoguttatus)?

Yes, they are doable, but not in a 'typical' community tank with tangs, angels, etc. They, along with species like princess (smithvanizi) really need a calm, species tank to thrive.

 

[HairyGary]

Yes, they are doable, but not in a 'typical' community tank with tangs, angles, etc. They, along with species like princess (smith_____) really need a calm, species tank to thrive.

No angles or tangs. Only peaceful fairies and flasher wrasse here. Maybe a pair of Swallowtails in the future.

 

[Kmsutows]

Whichever anthias you decide to go with I highly recommend all females. Let them decide who turns to male. You stick a male in there and more often than not the male doesn't do well and a female changes and takes over anyway. This worked for my Ventralis. I've read good things about resplendents not as likely to kill eachother off. I would not suggest barletts and would not suggest mixing lyretails with any other anthias

 

[Belgian Anthias]

A school of Anthias needs a lot of space to show there natural behaviour. a school has normally one male which swims on top. One needs at least 1 meter between the front glass and the reef and the aquarium must be at least 1.8 m deep to give the school room to move in a territory that is big enough. +- 10 fish for one male. These fish must be from the same group otherwise the male will certainly be killed and one of the females will take its place. One must not buy a male as if the group is introduced without a male there will be one fish developing into a male.
These fish are in fact not suitable for normal home aquaria as they will not be able to develop there natural behaviour. If they have not enough space they will develop aggression.
If you buy one you will have 1 unhappy fish, when you buy ten, you will have ,for a wile ,10 unhappy fish but not for long. And they need live food to be happy and live long!
Please, do not by them!

 

[ca1ore]

No angles or tangs. Only peaceful fairies and flasher wrasse here. Maybe a pair of Swallowtails in the future.

The issue with the smaller, slim-bodied pseudoanthias in my experience is that they are easily intimidated and then don't get enough to eat. Probably with peaceful wrasses in a decent sized tank they would be OK. Still not easy though. Resplendent/randalls probably a better choice for a smaller anthias.

 

[HairyGary]

The issue with the smaller, slim-bodied pseudoanthias in my experience is that they are easily intimidated and then don't get enough to eat. Probably with peaceful wrasses in a decent sized tank they would be OK. Still not easy though. Resplendent/randalls probably a better choice for a smaller anthias.

Thanks for the insight. Not to highjack the OP thread but also just looking for active peaceful fish for an active tank with many wrasse.

 

[ReeferBri]

I've had lyretails a number of times and mine did group tightly a good bit of the time, though not always, and I have never experienced them picking each other off, bartletts seem to be notorious for that as mentioned.

I also had other anthia mixed in as well, typically lyre's, carberryi's, dispars, no issues w/ that mix.

These groups were in 120,150, 180g tanks

I prefer 1 male w/ at least 3 females in order to spread the badgering around done by the male, he will dart at females once in a while to let them know who's boss, you don't want that towards just 1 or 2 females.

This was a pretty typical grouping/shoal of my anthias, and they hung pretty close to my green chromis as well, also a common fish I usually have in my tanks.

What’s the secret keeping 2 Flames together? I was told same type angel will fight and what’s the secret keeping 2 purple tangs together? My yellow killed my purple years ago and I haven’t attempted adding another purple. Old thread but I’m always learning.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What’s the secret keeping 2 Flames together? I was told same type angel will fight and what’s the secret keeping 2 purple tangs together? My yellow killed my purple years ago and I haven’t attempted adding another purple. Old thread but I’m always learning.

Large tank(space) introduce at same time

 

[ReeferBri]

Large tank(space) introduce at same time

Is my RedSea 525xl large enough, display is 108 gallons? You think I can add 2 same size Purple Tangs together? There’s a medium sized Yellow in there already.

 

[JCM]

A school of Anthias needs a lot of space to show there natural behaviour. a school has normally one male which swims on top. One needs at least 1 meter between the front glass and the reef and the aquarium must be at least 1.8 m deep to give the school room to move in a territory that is big enough. +- 10 fish for one male. These fish must be from the same group otherwise the male will certainly be killed and one of the females will take its place. One must not buy a male as if the group is introduced without a male there will be one fish developing into a male.
These fish are in fact not suitable for normal home aquaria as they will not be able to develop there natural behaviour. If they have not enough space they will develop aggression.
If you buy one you will have 1 unhappy fish, when you buy ten, you will have ,for a wile ,10 unhappy fish but not for long. And they need live food to be happy and live long!
Please, do not by them!

I'm surprised to read this. I've seen other posts from you and trust your knowledgable advice. My experiences have proven contrary to this though.

I kept a mixed group of dispar/ignitus for about 5 years in a medium sized tank. They never seemed unhappy? I agree, they probably weren't exhibiting their natural behavior but they seemed to thrive. They also ate frozen/dry food very excitedly. I've had the same longterm experience with lyretails.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is my RedSea 525xl large enough, display is 108 gallons? You think I can add 2 same size Purple Tangs together? There’s a medium sized Yellow in there already.

Flame likely, yellow tang maybe BUT you want to go with one or three as two is a certain war. Purple, probably not, in fact don’t

 

[ReeferBri]

Flame likely, yellow tang maybe BUT you want to go with one or three as two is a certain war. Purple, probably not, in fact don’t

Thank you, I’ll stick with adding 1 Flame, maybe some peaceful tangs,(different body shape than the yellow) and a bunch of anthias.