Lyretail Anthias

[HidingReefer]

So i've looking for a colorful fish to get for my 90g Reef.. and I'm interested in the lyretail anthias.

My reef currently has 4 fish, the anthias will be the last fish in, after two clownfish.

So I have a couple questions about these fish

1) Can I keep just 1? I know people keep them in trios, however I do have good filtration, however I do not think it is strong enough to manage 3. I know some fish NEED to be in schools, or else they get stressed, is this the case with this anthias?

2)Do I have to be consistent with the feedings? Some days I might be so busy I will only get to feed once, but most days I could feed 2-3 times, it's very easy to drop pellets into the tank, I would like to avoid automatic feeders. If they need to be fed consistently 3 times a day I will avoid this fish, I would want to bring one in and have it suffer

3) If it's possible for me to keep just one, will it turn into a male? Or will it remain a female?

Thanks for reading
Any advice is welcome

[Bent]

Originally Posted by HidingReefer

So i've looking for a colorful fish to get for my 90g Reef.. and I'm interested in the lyretail anthias.

My reef currently has 4 fish, the anthias will be the last fish in, after two clownfish.

So I have a couple questions about these fish

1) Can I keep just 1? I know people keep them in trios, however I do have good filtration, however I do not think it is strong enough to manage 3. I know some fish NEED to be in schools, or else they get stressed, is this the case with this anthias?

2)Do I have to be consistent with the feedings? Some days I might be so busy I will only get to feed once, but most days I could feed 2-3 times, it's very easy to drop pellets into the tank, I would like to avoid automatic feeders. If they need to be fed consistently 3 times a day I will avoid this fish, I would want to bring one in and have it suffer

3) If it's possible for me to keep just one, will it turn into a male? Or will it remain a female?

Thanks for reading
Any advice is welcome

1: I have just one, he is doing great for two years now.

2: yes they must be feed consistently small amounts throughout the day. They simply have too high of a metabolism and too inefficient of a digestive system to survive without it. Without an auto feeder, manual feedings will become cumbersome. I wouldn't want to do that. What's wrong with auto feeders?

3: it will turn male.

[HidingReefer]

Thanks for the info! Nothing is wrong with auto feeders, I think they are very convenient, it's just that im scared of an over dose, but I guess that's a risk im willing to take for this anthias

[Joke]

Originally Posted by HidingReefer

Thanks for the info! Nothing is wrong with auto feeders, I think they are very convenient, it's just that im scared of an over dose, but I guess that's a risk im willing to take for this anthias

Its a bit of extra work but if you are worried about your auto feeder failing you can put the the daily feedings in the auto feeder every day, if for what ever reason it dose fail it will only feed the daily feeding rather than the whole packet of food.

[Shaummy]

FWIW...I have a single lyretail in my tank, and I only feed pellets once a day and have had no issues for the couple of years I've had it so far.

[jusn317]

Well I have 5 lyretails and 4 bartletts in my reef for about 5 years, and with the exception of weekends I only feed my tank once a day. Although I'm sure the lyretails will do just fine alone just watching them interact is fun. If I were doing only one anthias I'd probably get something like a blotched anthias.

[LJLKRL]

Not to hijack the thread, but my LFS told me that anthias are similar to chromis in that they will die off and I would be left with only one. Is this true?
I would love to have some as well.

[Drewl117]

I had a single male for almost a year and then added 3 females. After 6 months one of the females disappeared never to be found. Almost another year has gone bye and I still have the same male and 2 females. They are always together and it is very cool to watch them. I also feed twice a day.

[jmike0311]

You can definitely do just one but a trio is so much more fun to watch IMHO

[Jeff4777]

Originally Posted by LJLKRL

Not to hijack the thread, but my LFS told me that anthias are similar to chromis in that they will die off and I would be left with only one. Is this true?
I would love to have some as well.

No. They all have a interspecies pecking order. Some species may be more aggressive than others. Bartletts have been known to kill each other if 2 try turning male but this isnt always the case. Male lyretails keep their females in line but never so much to kill them same as other types of anthias

[Jah2707]

I have a single male. Simply gorgeous fish. He will hide everytime I walk up to the tank but then will come out after a few minutes. He also eats better if you stand back from the tank a few feet. My thought is that if I had more then one maybe he would be out and about more...

He also loves to see his reflection in the glass. Kinda like a betta. Swirls and extends he fins.

With that said. He is in a 40 gallon with two clown fish. He has killed 3 different fish I have tried to add so .... he is apparently my last fish.

[ca1ore]

You could definitely keep a trio in a 90. Lyretails are amongst the easier of pseudoanthias because they are most likely to take to all aquarium foods (including pellets), but they are on the aggressive end. Intra species aggression (with other Lyretails, as opposed to inter species aggression with non lyretails) only though if sensible tank size. Whether they will pick each other off is difficult to say. It depends on how much food they get and individual temperament. Lyretails will develop a pecking order, and if fed insufficiently, the lowest female in the group may starve, followed by the next lowest, and so on. Fed sufficiently, they may not die off. BTW, I have kept single females that turned male, and others that did not.

[MondoBongo]

i find my lyretails to be fairly forgiving as far as my number of feedings a day.

i haven't hooked my auto feeder back up yet, so typically i feed 2 - 5 times a day manually. a mix of hikari myses and PE myses.

i've had the anthias for a few months now, and they seem to be keeping on the appropriate amount of weight.

that's not to say using the auto-feeder wouldn't be a better idea. just that to date i haven't noticed any issues no using it.

[HidingReefer]

Thanks for the info guys, I think I will get him, feed manually, see what works, then purchase the auto feeder. Also how do I start by feeding less or more? If i'm not feeding him enough what are some signs I can look for?

[Bent]

Originally Posted by HidingReefer

Thanks for the info guys, I think I will get him, feed manually, see what works, then purchase the auto feeder. Also how do I start by feeding less or more? If i'm not feeding him enough what are some signs I can look for?

His energy level will drop, he will start to thin out. He should be cigar shaped, not leaf shaped.

Watch out for some aggression though.

Naturally in a group, the members develop a pecking order. The largest and most dominant fish will turn into a male. After the male turns, he will have to watch the group for signs of dominance to ensure that he is the only male of the group. So the male anthia has an instinctual aggression that serves a purpose in nature. In captivity, as a single specimen, those aggressive and dominating instincts often get turned toward other tank mates. It's often benign, and can take the form of an occasional mild nip or scuffle. However, sometimes depending on the personality of the anthia, and the personality of the bullied fish, these relationships can turn unhealthy rather quickly. Some tank mates (like my Kole tang) don't take too kindly to being bossed around can retaliate rather violently. So watch carefully the interactions between the animals.

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by Shaummy

FWIW...I have a single lyretail in my tank, and I only feed pellets once a day and have had no issues for the couple of years I've had it so far.

Yep. I have one and feed 2x a day without any problems.

[Drewl117]

Just thought I'd add... none of mine will eat any type of pellets, I e tried at least 4 kinds. But they do eat the scraps of nori that I feed my big fish.

[madweazl]

I had a male and female that were doing great for a while. One day the female has an abrasion just in front of the dorsal fin. A few days later, the male had an abrasion in the same area but the female had healed almost completely. The male never ate after the abrasion and died about a week later. The female has been going strong ever since (I imagine three to three and a half months). She has grown considerably and rarely hides (never when we come to the tank). We heavily feed three times daily. She has grown substantially and has exquisite color. I dont know why a singular female would change sex; there is no reason for this to happen.

[Bent]

Originally Posted by madweazl

I had a male and female that were doing great for a while. One day the female has an abrasion just in front of the dorsal fin. A few days later, the male had an abrasion in the same area but the female had healed almost completely. The male never ate after the abrasion and died about a week later. The female has been going strong ever since (I imagine three to three and a half months). She has grown considerably and rarely hides (never when we come to the tank). We heavily feed three times daily. She has grown substantially and has exquisite color. I dont know why a singular female would change sex; there is no reason for this to happen.

In order for the fish to remain female, it must be submissive. Without another fish dominating it, it will turn male.

The fishes default natural position is to turn male. The dominant fish prevents that. Even when there is a very large group, more than one fish will turn male simply because one male can't possibly prevent every single fish from turning female. So in very large groups you will end up with more than one male for that reason.

What I want to know is can a male fish turn female if a bigger male comes in the picture. Or is it once turned male always male?

[madweazl]

Originally Posted by Bent

In order for the fish to remain female, it must be submissive. Without another fish dominating it, it will turn male.

The fishes default natural position is to turn male. The dominant fish prevents that. Even when there is a very large group, more than one fish will turn male simply because one male can't possibly prevent every single fish from turning female. So in very large groups you will end up with more than one male for that reason.

What I want to know is can a male fish turn female if a bigger male comes in the picture. Or is it once turned male always male?

They cant go back and without other females present, I dont believe a female will change since she is the key to promoting life but this certainly isnt based on any fact, just my hunch. If there was another female, one would change and it happens rapidly.

Edit: there seems to be cases of them changing and others where they dont. One post I read somewhere had a female that hadnt changed in four years.

[75mixedreef]

Can you keep different types of anthias together or should you just stick to one type? Like could I put a sunset with a disbar or a lyretail?

[anbosu]

My single is a submale and it's been alone for a few years now.

They will hunt for pods to supplement what they are fed - if you have a really mature tank once a day might be ok for feeding. I've always had luck getting lyretails to eat NLS 1mm pellets.

[oseymour]

I have a Lyretail male for about a month now. I feed frozen 3 times a day. I went with a male because I love the colors and I've seen tanks with a group of females and non changes for a year.

[rodgerrr]

I have a single lyretail which is hung up halfway between female and male. It has killed numerous other fish including several lyretail females and a really nice blue reef chromis. Right now it is in a 300 reef tank with numerous big tough tangs that he leaves alone (or they'd kick his little butt!), but attacks a little neon cleaner goby every time he/she(it) sees it. It looks to me like he is going to attack any fish that he sees as a competitor for food (eg other plankton feeders). I'm starting to work on catching it and donating it to the LFS so I can put in a school of blue axle chromis.

[HidingReefer]

rodgerrr im sorry to hear that, I ended up getting a single Squarespot anthias, I personally think they are prettier than Lyretails, once again thanks for the help guys