Bartlett's Anthias Aggression

[shadow1013]

Hello everyone! We have had four Bartlett's Anthias in our tank for a few weeks now. A couple of days ago one went missing and turned up dead which isn't too uncommon that fish do die from natural causes. We after that one died one of the three remaining started getting a bit aggressive towards the other two. So much so one would go into hiding and would hardly come out, sometimes not even for feeding. Last night I saw all three together and they were acting fine with one another and I wasn't worried about them.

Just a few minutes ago I fed the tank and no third one so I started looking around for him. In a cave under my rock I see a nose sticking out, it's dead. So now I have two, the aggressor and one that is hiding at the top in the corner by my power head. When all three were out they were all acting fine, but when the one would go hide then the aggressor would go after the only remaining one.

I guess the big question is should I get more of the Bartlett's, and if so how many more? My LFS is currently out of them and hopefully will be getting them in today or tomorrow. I'd prefer not to have to do this every couple of months.

And because more people ask this question with anthias I feed frozen three times a day.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Males can be pretty aggressive, particularly with other males. Getting more will diffuse the aggression, though I would recommend only adding females, and let them figure it out.

 

[MCooper]

How can you tell the difference between male and female bartletts? I have 3 currently.

 

[shadow1013]

From what I've been reading it seems no matter what they tend to all turn male in aquariums. I know some people have stopped getting them because of this reason :/

 

[eatbreakfast]

How can you tell the difference between male and female bartletts? I have 3 currently.

The female is on the right, male on the left. The yellow extends farther on the females, males are brighter.

 

[eatbreakfast]

From what I've been reading it seems no matter what they tend to all turn male in aquariums. I know some people have stopped getting them because of this reason :/

With 5 or more individuals in a group, I have found one or two will transition into male, the rest will stay female.

 

[shadow1013]

Is the fin another way of telling? Both of the ones that are left don't have that fin.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Is the fin another way of telling? Both of the ones that are left don't have that fin.

The fin and intermedial mark are signs that they are mature males, but young males don't always have them, so the color and where the yellow extends is a better way to determine gender.

 

[shred5]

Yea I only keep one barlett because they all turn male and are extremely aggressive with each other once they turn male, even more aggressive than lyretails.
They will kill another male. Barletts seem to be the only anthias I have kept with this issue of all turning male too.

 

[MCooper]

So your telling me that all 3 of mine will eventually turn into males and battle it out?

 

[shadow1013]

I just had to turn my white on and blues off and it appears that yellow goes to their eyes for both of the remaining ones so I'm guessing they are both females. Doesn't mean one isn't transitioning but not sure how to tell that.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I just had to turn my white on and blues off and it appears that yellow goes to their eyes for both of the remaining ones so I'm guessing they are both females. Doesn't mean one isn't transitioning but not sure how to tell that.

Yes, so then they are vying foe dominance to turn male.

 

[TCFletch]

One male to several females.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

The multiple males problem is a very long term issue with Bartlett's and I think a red herring for your current problem. If you're having trouble on the scale of weeks, I would consider other causes. Anthias will spar, and will do so a lot when first introduced. There's a lot you can do to get them through this stage: limit the number of males you introduce to a maximum of one, quarantine, give them a lot of calories, etc.

 

[shadow1013]

I guess I need to figure out what I should do next. I don't remember how long we have had them. I know for a month at least. It has only been this week since this all started to happen. Since the other one died. I think they were/are all females to begin with. I feed three times a day so they should have lots of calories. I'm not sure if I should get more barlett's or just wait and see what happens and maybe get other anthias or just give up on them.

 

[ryecoon]

They all start off as female and they aggressor ends up converting to become male. There can only be one male.

 

[shadow1013]

Okay. My other LFS said to hold off getting more until one of the two becomes male.

 

[Stigigemla]

I guess this can be a question of food. Many color enhanching foods - flakes or pellets contain male sex hormone to give the fishes good color.
Some exporters only sale male wrasses. They are very sensitive to this. Maybe its the same with the Bartletts.

 

[ryecoon]

I guess this can be a question of food. Many color enhanching foods - flakes or pellets contain male sex hormone to give the fishes good color.
Some exporters only sale male wrasses. They are very sensitive to this. Maybe its the same with the Bartletts.

Hmm this is a good observation. Now that I think about it.. Since I started keeping Anthias I had to implement an automatic feeder since they need to be fed numerous times a day. Most Automatic feeders work better with the use of pellets and flakes. Since then my Anthias started becoming more aggressive growing big. I think 3 out of 13 of my Barletts became males quickly. Till this day they still fight but with a lot of them they divert their attention and less isolated aggression towards one another.

 

[shadow1013]

I feed LRS and frozen Mysis