Female Anthias Fighting

[azfishgal]

I've had Three Lyretail Anthias in QT for three weeks (one male, two females). They were added to my 125 DT almost one week ago. I only saw them fight once in the small QT (I'm sure they fought more though). Now that they are in a much larger tank they seem to be going at it all the time. They actually clamp onto each others mouth and twirl in circles. The male is pretty smart, he stays out of it. So is this normal behavior? Will they eventually settle down or is this a fight to the death.

 

[azfishgal]

 

[grubsnaek]

i would like to know to, for future cause i wanted 2 or 3 females and 1 male.

 

[azfishgal]

Well, I havn't seen them fight since earlier this afternoon, so I guess that's good. They are actually close to each other right now, but not showing any signs of aggression. That seems to be the pattern. They seem to get along fine and then boom, it's WWIII.

 

[david24]

That's one lucky Male Anthias. Two chicks fighting over him!

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by David24
That's one lucky Male Anthias. Two chicks fighting over him!

Yeah! They fight to get away from me!. Anthias are very social fish; I love them and think they're very under-appreciated. They live in huge schools and often develop a social order, almost like some animals. I think the little "cat fight" is part or seeing who the dominate female is. If the male croaks, the dominate female will change into a male. (without even any operations or counseling!)

 

[stanlalee]

very normal, thats why the more females the better. If its just two females all they have to fight is each other. If there are three, four or more females there is more diversion and its less likely for one individual to get picked on exclusively. In your case as long as they are fighting and one isn't dominating it may work out (I have two females that pretty much rank the same. I'm sure if I took the other female out they'd probably be fine). The male should be getting involved so that the females dont attempt to become dominant and turn male (that is more of a problem IMO than the females fighting). If your male isn't bigger or dominant over the females in the long run that can cause problems (one of the females may actually beat him or turn male which is when the fighting to the death will happen). When my females fight the male always rushes over and displays dominance (chases both, breaks it up, anything to show who's boss) which not only keeps him being the only male but further diverts them from being overly aggressive with each other. They high ranking females arent afraid of him though. they get out of his way but they dont move with fear.
It is funny though even if they fight all day the minute there is danger or the lights go out they are all schooling right next to each other.

 

[azfishgal]

Thanks stan for the insight. I have not seen them fight today and you are right about one thing, when the lights go out they seem to all hang out together like nothing happend. My male is definitely bigger than my females but I havn't seen him break up any fights, though he does chase them from time to time. I'll keep an eye on everyone, maybe I should add another female. Would that be dangerous though, since she would not be added all at once with the other three? As of right now I have a Sailfin in QT, so it wouldn't be for another 6 weeks before the new female would even be added to the DT. I would think by then they will have things figured out. Hopefully it will all work out.

 

[stanlalee]

I'd leave it like it is. they are going to fight sometime especially during feeding. as long as they are still coming out to eat and you see em out and about they are okay. I started with one female then added a male and two females. The old female and one of the new females probably had the longest fight known to fish within minutes of putting them in. I mean fighting until they were dead out of energy, stop and rest for a few minutes and back at it. that was not good but they worked themselves out. I think the 6ft tank makes the difference even though a few more feet wouldn't hurt.

 

[azfishgal]

They were going at it again this morning. But this afternoon they are both swimming around not bothering each other. I hope they figure it out soon, I would hate for one of them to become male. Then I'd have the trouble of trying to catch it.

 

[stanlalee]

its not likely one will become a male unless they are beating up the present male. the females have to establish their own rank within themselves so they fight even with a dominant male. eventually one should some what give way to the other (with mine even the least dominant one will defend themself to some degree rather than outright being chased all the time)