lyretail anthias anthias changing sexes

[mike werner]

after 6 months one of my female lyertail anthias is changing sexes.it's amazing how fast this is happening.i noticed a slight color change two days ago.today I see the fin spots starting to appear (see spot on rear of dorsal fin) and the body going from orange to purple.to cool.it's hard to tell from the pics but I'm sure in a few days when I post new pics it will be much clearer.stay tuned

 

[Brew12]

That is awesome!

 

[User1]

I just picked up 4 of these. They are awesome fish. I'm thinking of adding another 4 in a couple months. I really enjoy how they swim out into the open water column then dart back to the rock and coral. Pretty voracious eaters I must say.

 

[mike werner]

after 6 months one of my female lyertail anthias is changing sexes.it's amazing how fast this is happening.i noticed a slight color change two days ago.today I see the fin spots starting to appear (see spot on rear of dorsal fin) and the body going from orange to purple.to cool.it's hard to tell from the pics but I'm sure in a few days when I post new pics it will be much clearer.stay tuned
4 days after last pic.the new colors don't show up as good as they look in person.

 

[Pinback]

How big is your tank and how many lyretail do you have

 

[mike werner]

How big is your tank and how many lyretail do you have

these are in a 54 corner and I have 4 that started as females.i'm gonna post a new pic tonight and every 2 or 3 day till she is a complete he.

 

[mike werner]

this is 7 days after the first pic.of he/she

after 6 months one of my female lyertail anthias is changing sexes.it's amazing how fast this is happening.i noticed a slight color change two days ago.today I see the fin spots starting to appear (see spot on rear of dorsal fin) and the body going from orange to purple.to cool.it's hard to tell from the pics but I'm sure in a few days when I post new pics it will be much clearer.stay tuned

this is 7 days after the first pic.i'll keep putting up pics until she is a he.he is really starting to be a Richard herding the 3 other girls.his maleness shows up much better in person but i'm trying to figure out how to take better pics

 

[User1]

Do they just randomly change with it usually being the more dominate one aka bully? Is this even something that will happen in time if they don't kill one another? Just wondering how it works because with my four there is one that is clearly the more dominate and keeping the others in check while it stays out in the open water column more. The other three all get food still so not a issue and no major fighting but it is clear that it is the boss of the bunch. Interesting fish for sure. I am really enjoying them and requested the store I bought them from to order another 4 for me.

 

[mike werner]

Do they just randomly change with it usually being the more dominate one aka bully? Is this even something that will happen in time if they don't kill one another? Just wondering how it works because with my four there is one that is clearly the more dominate and keeping the others in check while it stays out in the open water column more. The other three all get food still so not a issue and no major fighting but it is clear that it is the boss of the bunch. Interesting fish for sure. I am really enjoying them and requested the store I bought them from to order another 4 for me.

not in my case.they all got along equally until a week or so ago when I started to notice a color change in the one that is turning.the body started going from orange to maroonish and I started seeing the fin spots starting to appear.they are light and not as defined as they will be.they don't show up well in the pics.in the last few days he has started herding them a lot.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Do they just randomly change with it usually being the more dominate one aka bully? Is this even something that will happen in time if they don't kill one another? Just wondering how it works because with my four there is one that is clearly the more dominate and keeping the others in check while it stays out in the open water column more. The other three all get food still so not a issue and no major fighting but it is clear that it is the boss of the bunch. Interesting fish for sure. I am really enjoying them and requested the store I bought them from to order another 4 for me.

The biggest, strongest one turns male. Transition is based on social queus.

 

[mike werner]

latest pic of the change.this time I included a pic of the females for comparison

female

 

[User1]

Nice photo and thanks for the update. Mind if I ask what pellet food you feed, if you use any? I'm feeding enriched brine which is their favorite and mysis shrimp (seems to fill them up more). I have some pellets but they don't engage them at all. I also have some older flake that I feed some of the other fish and they only pick whatever the red flake is. The rest they ignore.

Figured I'd ask. Wish they had pellet food sample packs to try I want to get a automatic feeder in place since these guys are so active. If I had to travel for work these guys would be in trouble. My daughter can only get in one good feeding and I'm currently feeding them three times / day.

 

[ca1ore]

It is quite remarkable how quickly some pseudoanthias species change gender. My long time male bimac died a few months ago and it took the largest female less than a week to make the change. Versus my resplendents where the three have remained females for over a year with none changing.

Although I don't keep lyres anymore, when I did they would mostly take the NLS pellets .... but it always took a little while.

 

[Reefer Deez]

It’s really awesome that your documenting the change mine just started to change she’s not changing as fast as yours I have had her for a few months now! This thread is really cool keep up the pictures of the progress!

 

[mike werner]

that's the only pellet I feed.new life spectrum +.it did take a long time to get them to eat it so frozen seems like the only option when first adding to the tank. i feed them all different kinds of frozen.some days 4 times a day some times i'm lazy and they get only pellets once a day.i have kept lyretail anthias for years feeding two times a day and not really that heavy.people say they are hard to keep and you need to feed them many times a day.i have never found that to be true.i treat them like any other fish.
they do change quickly.for me it seemed like it has slowed the past few day however.i'll be adding 6 more to the 4 females I have now in my larger system as soon as liveaquaria puts them on sale.i've gotten all of mine from them and they always arrive fat and healthy.if ya haven't tried la I would give them a shot.QUALITY FISH

 

[User1]

Thanks - I believe that is what I am feeding now. The Marine Formula. Everyone else eats the stuff but these four. Ok, thanks all for the input. I'll keep trying.

 

[ca1ore]

Whether anthias are hard to keep or not depends greatly on the particular species. Some easy; others almost impossible.

 

[Philt56]

Wow, mine is changing now too. Got the black on its fins and turning more of a light brick red. Got him as a her first, added 2 more females a couple weeks ago and he was clearly dominant and a little bigger.

Unfortunately they are with 2 sunburst anthias. One is really big and the lyretail won’t mess with him, the smaller one has a body about the size of a quarter and was initially really shy but seemed to be improving. But today it didn’t want to come out to eat and I saw it way in the back behind rock. I saw now when the lights went out it was at the front of the tank along the sand, upright but real still. So I grabbed it pretty easily with a net and put him in a fish trap in the tank . Hopefully I can get it eating more and strengthen up and grow some before putting it back. I assume the male lyretail decided to start pushing him around too.

I’m in the midsize t of moving other fish from my other tank to this one. Hopefully he’s not a jerk to those fish too or if it’s just an anthias thing. Haven’t noticed it bothering my percula clown.

This a reefer 425 by the way.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Wow, mine is changing now too. Got the black on its fins and turning more of a light brick red. Got him as a her first, added 2 more females a couple weeks ago and he was clearly dominant and a little bigger.

Unfortunately they are with 2 sunburst anthias. One is really big and the lyretail won’t mess with him, the smaller one has a body about the size of a quarter and was initially really shy but seemed to be improving. But today it didn’t want to come out to eat and I saw it way in the back behind rock. I saw now when the lights went out it was at the front of the tank along the sand, upright but real still. So I grabbed it pretty easily with a net and put him in a fish trap in the tank . Hopefully I can get it eating more and strengthen up and grow some before putting it back. I assume the male lyretail decided to start pushing him around too.

I’m in the midsize t of moving other fish from my other tank to this one. Hopefully he’s not a jerk to those fish too or if it’s just an anthias thing. Haven’t noticed it bothering my percula clown.

This a reefer 425 by the way.

Sunbursts are pretty shy. The behavior you described is pretty normal.

 

[Philt56]

My transitioning male and one of the females.