Will my female lyretail ever change?

[Arkaeus]

First off I would like to say hello as Im somewhat new to R2R. I browse a few reef forums on the net, as I love to learn about other peoples experiences and we never know everything there to know in this hobby so why stop learning =)

I currently have 3 Maldive Lyretail anthias in my 250, all female. I purchased them from LA about 3 months ago with the "the dominant female will turn male" approach. 3 months later, I have one dominant female and 2 submissive females lol. From my understand females changing to males can happen almost over night... I want one male and a few females. Should i keep waiting it out? Am I safe to add a male, or will the dominant female get to him? Calling the anthias experts, as I just dont know the answers.

In the future I was also wanting to add some bartletts or maybe a few carberryis. If any more info is needed please just ask, I do have a build thread but its on my local reef site and I don't want to break any rules by linking to it =P

 

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[ReefRacer]

Hey Arkaeus,

Welcome to R2R. I have 2 and it was probably around 3-4 months before one of them changed. The difference though is that mine were actually purchased seperately....about 3 weeks apart. They were about the same size and show no agression towards each other. The smaller of the 2 was the one that ended up changing and RAPIDLY got much bigger. He's twice as big as she is now and probably 5-6" long. It did seem like his dorsal fin got long in a matter of days, but it took a good month before his colors really started to change. I say wait it out unless they start getting agressive towards each other. My male has absolutely stunning color and he does this crazy sideways swimming around the female every now and then that my kids love...the wait is worth it.

 

[Arkaeus]

Thanks for the welcome. Im going to take your advice and wait it out. I noticed last night the dominant female has a longer top fin than the other two. My understanding is, this is a sign of her changing?
Would also like to ask... Do you think i will run into any issues adding a trio of bartlettes or carberryis in the future?

GalaxyS3/Tapatalk

 

[Dowtish]

I would just wait it out as well. The possibility of the dominant female already beginning to change makes it risky to add a male.

 

[butts182]

Took mine like a year for the dominate female to change, but it is really cool to watch. Just wait

 

[Rayzback]

Great question, I'm in the exact same boat.. Think this is my third month, no change.


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[Rayzback]

Anything yet?


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[Mike&Terry]

Speaking from personal experience, I'd prefer they just stay female, LOL! We have kept Lyretail Anthias for many years and to say the males are brutal is an understatement. About 3 years ago, the dominant female decided she was tired of waiting on the 6yr old male (not sure of his real age) to kick the bucket and she morphed into a full-on male. This left us with a (geriatric) male, a young male with raging hormones, and a lone female who was constantly being picked on. So, what did we do? We brought in 3 new Maldives females thinking they would become one big happy family... Well, not exactly, but we were hoping that the new additions would take some pressure off of our female. Sadly, things did not go as planned. The largest female from the new group took out the three original anthias and turned male. Flash forward to today, and it's de javu as once again we have an "old man male" (although younger than the original) who avoids the "young male" and the lone female who is constantly being picked on.

 

[Arkaeus]

Its still in the half n half. I did add 4 Bartlett anthias about 3 weeks ago. The dominant female was ****** for about a week before she chilled out. I do have to say though, the half male female look is def pretty.
Mike- thats crazy man. I could see how in nature, that scenario could play out.

GalaxyS3/Tapatalk

 

[Arkaeus]

I also would like to add the dominant female did get more male coloring after adding the Bartlett's.
O!!! And how could i forget, i also added 4 more female lyretails. Total of 7 swimming in my mp60 current is amazing.
If the males become that aggressive i wonder if i need to add my trio of carberryis asap?

GalaxyS3/Tapatalk

 

[Rayzback]

We brought in 3 new Maldives females thinking they would become one big happy family... Well, not exactly

Kind of a pack mentality? I ordered online and received 3 healthy young lyretail females and 1 runt. The pack of 3 picked on the runt until it died. I've always thought about replacing the 4th I originally wanted. However, when I watch the 3, I've noticed that there is definitely a pecking order established among them. I've not added a 4th because I didn't want to disrupt things, and I wasn't sure how the group would accept a single addition. They're still pretty young, so I need to make up my mind I guess.


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[Rayzback]

Total of 7 swimming in my mp60 current is amazing.

I bet that is cool...

 

[Arkaeus]

I believe the main thing here is never add just one. Add two or three to blend in with them. The four i added from LA were a lot smaller. Anthias from what i understand are very rough fish when it comes to whos proving their dominance. The dominant female did let the newbies know this was here tank and put them in there place a few times, but thats exactly how it is in the wild. My tank is so alive now. All i can do is look at my tank and smile. When newcomers open my front door and there jaw drops, is also pretty exciting haha.

GalaxyS3/Tapatalk

 

[Arkaeus]

Sheesh, I'm going to have to get used to this "no editing after you post" deal.... Im always a post and edit, edit and post kinda guy ><

**this was her tank**