Lyrethail Anthias questions

[Krully]

Hey guys,

I currently have a Reefer 350 with the following stock list:

2 clowns, flasher wrasse, Midas blenny, yellow clown goby, Tomini tang and one female lyretail anthia. Everybody gets along great.

The anthia was bought recently, I saw her in the store, didn’t really consider anthias before because of feeding requirements but saw her eating pellets and flakes. She’s still eating anything I throw in the tank so I’m very happy with that.

Now you can see where I’m going, I’m really loving the behaviour of that fish and would like to add more but I’m questioning a few thinks.

I’ve read about tank size and I’m obviously in the lower end. Would it still be okay to have a group of 3/4 lyretails or should I stick with one?

Does the fact my anthia eats prepared food means the others are more likely to accept it if they’re not already doing so?

How bad can agression get in a small group? I’d obviously would rather have one anthia eating anything and doing well than a group that will end up with one picky anthia because of agression. I mostly don’t have any issue feeding several times a day (I work mostly from home) but there are times I’ll leave for a few days and rely on the auto feeder.

thanks!

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

I have 3 lyretails anthias in a reefer 350. The agression is minimal and the group has been going for almost 3 years. The male is 4 years old,( his past females died after a tank move sadly). However from what i have seen, my experience seems to be the exception to the norm.

It is possibly they will learn to eat prepared foods from one another, lyretails tend to be quite greedy and sample anything that looks like food. Mine eat pellets, but i prefer to use frozen.

My group has pretty much no agression, the male does dive bomb the females as usual, but never resulted in killing off one another. One female has resulted in a malformed skull i assume from jaw locking, but is perfectly fine like that and has been like that for a year.

 

[Krully]

Thank you for your input. I’m really torn on the whole thing, on one hand everything is going fine and I’ll obviously be taking a risk (also, 3 or 4 anthias? I’d think 4 would help disperse agression) but on the other hand I fell in love with the fish.

I’m more concerned at how these fish would do if they don’t eat pellets or flakes when I’m going on holidays and I don’t want to starve some fish because I’m greedy.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

My lyretails do find on a cube of mysis and brine a day when im on holiday if they dont take to prepared food, if you can get someone to do that for you. Just make sure to fatten them up before you leave. Mine are extremely fat and im not too sure why lol, they get the same amount as food as everyone else.

But if you can get them on to pellets etc, that will be quite be helpful for holidays

 

[Krully]

Yeah I guess having someone come and feed the tank is an option, I just don't like relying on other people especially for my tank.

 

[Billdogg]

I started with 3 lyretails, sadly one died so now there is 2, a smaller female and another that is someplace in between male and female, seemingly sorta stuck there for the last few months.

They eat anything and everything and do just fine on my feeding schedule - NLS pellets most days with the occasional Rods original or frozen mysis. They have gone several days without feeding without problems, although my tank, with some of the LR going on 30 years old, probably falls in the "well established" category.

Lyretails in general seem to be the exception as far as anthia sp. go - IMHO, great, colorful reef friendly fish that require pretty much nothing special in terms of care or feeding.

 

[Krully]

This is reassuring thank you. Some online shop sells a group of 1 male and 2 females for 60€ which seems like a great deal. I've seen people with 4 of them in a 75g with no issue, I have lot of caves for them to hide in and I'm really tempted to pull the trigger.

 

[Billdogg]

I would suggest getting 3 smallish females and letting them decide who the male will be. The chances of the trio you describe having grown up together are rather slim, and if one of the females has begun to change to male, there will quickly be just two in your tank.

 

[Krully]

That's a great point, I was thinking it would be risky having only females but it makes sense, also I'll get to enjoy watching the transition! Just need to settle on whether I get 3 or 4 total, not quite sure yet.

 

[Billdogg]

Odd numbers seem to work out best IME

 

[Krully]

Will probably order two females once I get back home next week! Thank you guys

 

[Arabyps]

If possible you might consider trading the Lyretail for Threadfin (every bit as beautiful). I have a group of 5 Threadfin in my Waterbox peninsula. The tank is bigger but I have more bioload. Threadfin require a minimum 70 gallon. Anthias do best in an odd number group, not just 1. As with all anthias one male to a female harem. Just a thought.

 

[DylanE]

I have had 4 lyretails in my 75g for over a year. Started as all females and one transitioned to male. Definitely the way to do it. I feed frozen once daily, and they have had no issues.

 

[Oz_Puffy]

I ordered 3 female and 1 male. I got sent a male, 2 small females, and another, that is the size of the large male and has a dorsal spike but is the colour of the females. The idea was a harem, not so sure that’s what I’ve got. I’ve had them for a few weeks now in a Waterbox 130.4 without any aggression and eat anything/everything. Flake, various pellets (they love the Aquaforest anthias pellets), and frozen foods. All going well I might add a couple more females at some point.

 

[Krully]

Thank you guys for you added input, definitely going to order next week!

 

[Oz_Puffy]

Thank you guys for you added input, definitely going to order next week!

Keeping in mind of course every fish is different and every tank is different. Obviously other people’s experiences are excellent in determining the probable outcome, but anything can happen irrespective of any advice
I hope it all goes well though!