Lyretail anthia question

[zoajunkie83]

ok so looking for anthia expert advice. i have a male and female ( i now understand i should have more female ratio to the male but was not informed by the kid at the LFS ) so reason for the question is will there be a issue to add another female, i have had the ones now for a month. i'm not sure if there temperament will not be a issue or do they get territorial. i have had so called peaceful fish act up so want expert advice. thank you for looking!

 

[LondonJon]

you can add more Anthias, everything should be OK. If you have the space, I would add at least 3 more, all at the same time.

One of my favorite fishes.
You could have added all females, and one of them would have turned in to a male.

when your male dies, one of your females will take its place and become Male. This happened with my shoal of 7 fish. Really interesting to observe.

 

[zoajunkie83]

thats some awesome info i greatly appreciate it! then i will add the next time i'm at that lfs. i think on my part i should have looked up the information before i bought for myself but it was a last min decision due to understanding that they are not as dependent on multiple feedings like other anthias. thanks again!

 

[LondonJon]

Obviously it makes sense to research before buying

 

[LC8Sumi]

Easiest is to always add female(s). You shouldn’t really have more then 1 male in the tank IMO.

 

[zoajunkie83]

yeah i know lol, i should know better, i have been doing saltwater since 2003 , you got me there bud lol.

 

[zoajunkie83]

Easiest is to always add female(s). You shouldn’t really have more then 1 male in the tank IMO.

yes sir that was the plan to add more females. thank you for the heads up!

 

[LC8Sumi]

I was lucky, because the LFS educated me about the topic. But if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t know. Fortunatelly they only stock females as well to make everything easier. Then one transforms into a male at home.
Now the strange part is that I have a feeling that one of my females is also a male. So I might have two males, although this femalish male isn’t that fancy as the “alpha” male.

 

[zoajunkie83]

I was lucky, because the LFS educated me about the topic. But if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t know. Fortunatelly they only stock females as well to make everything easier. Then one transforms into a male at home.
Now the strange part is that I have a feeling that one of my females is also a male. So I might have two males, although this femalish male isn’t that fancy as the “alpha” male.

well hopefully there will not be any issues down the line. will they compete after a bit if this is true?

 

[LC8Sumi]

well hopefully there will not be any issues down the line. will they compete after a bit if this is true?

I don’t know honestly, but there certainly is a hierarchy between them going on

 

[zoajunkie83]

I don’t know honestly, but there certainly is a hierarchy between them going on

well let's hope not and good luck with it!

 

[LondonJon]

I don’t know honestly, but there certainly is a hierarchy between them going on

There will be a full hierarchy, from the top down to the bottom, but you will only have one male.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Yup, one male. I had 9 of them in my 300. The Male died and the female flipped in like 5 days. It was amazingly fast.

 

[nereefpat]

ok so looking for anthia expert advice. i have a male and female ( i now understand i should have more female ratio to the male but was not informed by the kid at the LFS ) so reason for the question is will there be a issue to add another female, i have had the ones now for a month. i'm not sure if there temperament will not be a issue or do they get territorial. i have had so called peaceful fish act up so want expert advice. thank you for looking!

I may have missed it. What's the tank size?

 

[Haydn]

...………..
Now the strange part is that I have a feeling that one of my females is also a male. So I might have two males, although this femalish male isn’t that fancy as the “alpha” male.

You are correct Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) have an interesting social structure, in a group there are full breeding females, full breeding males (one or more dependent on the number of females) and a 'transition' stage (my wife calls them 'males-in-waiting) these fish are non-breeding either as male or female, they look a bit more colourful than a full female but don't have the colours of a breeding male. They do seem to attract dominance displays from the breeding males more than the full females, presumably to keep them from changing fully and challenging the full males. These fish seem to be the ones that can change to full breeding males quickly if the breeding male disappears.

If the OP is buying more fish to add to his group I would suggest he chooses the smallest fish in the group at his LFS they are more likely to still be full females and not in a transition stage.

 

[ca1ore]

Adding females to an established ‘pair’ might work or it might not. Even the females have a pecking order. Best IME to add a few more females not just one.