Keeping bartlett's anthias?

[Aqua fire/medic]

I have a trio of bartletts...... One male two females. I wouldn't say the male is overly aggressive but kind of just keeps the females in check once in a while. As long as they are well fed you will not see an exaggerated amount of aggression.

 

[Xingu]

On 3 different occassions I have purchased groups of 10-12 Bartlett's and i have ended up with 1 each time (it is never the best looking one of the group either).
They are one of the most beautiful fish and that is why I have repeatedly tried to keep groups.

 

[davocean]

On 3 different occassions I have purchased groups of 10-12 Bartlett's and i have ended up with 1 each time (it is never the best looking one of the group either).
They are one of the most beautiful fish and that is why I have repeatedly tried to keep groups.

This is the comment I see most, and the reason I don't keep them, and too bad, I agree, they are so pretty.
Great pic!

 

[Av8Bluewater]

I have 2 Lyretails that have been in the tank for months. I added a bartlett a couple weeks ago. The bartlett swam all over first week and seemed happy but now the lyretails are keeping the bartlett contained on one side. I'm hoping the aggression will die down.

 

[Kworker]

Bartlett's are great kept as individuals but their "desire to be male" is stronger than most species. In a 180 you will likely end up with multiple males and the aggression that comes with it, but I've seen tanks that size with 2 or 3 males do just fine. I've kept close to a dozen species of anthias and they are by far the hardiest.

+1.. I had 7. Went from 7 to 0 over the course of several months. I will give them some benefit though, I am skeptical to the fact that 3 yellow tangs I had at the time teamed up to kill them one by one. The bartletts were turning male though one by one.

 

[KCSUMPS]

so guys - way late here but ready to get an athias - a go for multiple or no on the bartletts? Just wanted to know how it turned out...

 

[Musclebai]

I have 3 dispar, One lyretail and 2 barletts in my 55.barletts were a recent addition about a month back. Others have been together for about 6 months

 

[eatbreakfast]

My experience with bartletts is that longterm they don't last as a group. They slowly pick each other off, and when multiples do coexist, they don't group together.

Pink square anthias also aren't very social in aquaria.

One of the favorite anthias groupings I have kept was 12 dispars with a mff trio of bimacs. There were 2 male dispars that each had a group of females. The dominant male had 7 females, the less dominant had 3 females, but the whole group would spend time together. The males were almost constantly on display to the females and each other. And a male dispar in full regallia is quite a handsome specimen.

Having the bimacs helped keep the dispars grouped up, as the male bimac would make passes at them. But the dominant male dispar would stand up to him.

 

[Fishnut]

I started with a trio of Bartletts and within 6 months ended up with one. The remaining one is now raising hell, non-stop on the wrasses in the tank. The male Bartlett is beautiful but too aggressive for my tank.

 

[KCSUMPS]

I am getting the picture. Right now I have the bartletts a lyretail and an evansi. The bartlett is the bigger and more agressive of the bunch. Not sure where this will end up (hopefully not like yours) but obviously it is NOT peaceful right now and that is frustrating...