Lyretail Anthias??

[9supratt4]

I am thinking about adding a trio of Fiji Lyretail Anthias to my 180. I have been doing a lot of reading about anthias and how the more aggressive ones (the Lyretails) may slowly kill off the most submissive female, then the other female until only the male is left. Does anyone have any experiences with these fish that they can share?

 

[nissan577]

i have 2 lyretail anthias and idk if they are from fiji or not. one is a female and the other is a female which became a male. great fish. dont bother any other or themselves. HTH
and everytime i add a new baby to the tank they dont even bother them.

 

[gwhunter]

I have a male and female Maldives pair of lyretails. I find them to be peaceful even timid at times. Just make sure you get them eating. I thought mine were eating flake food but at closer inspection they were spitting it out. So I had to try different items till I found what worked. Mine are always out swimming in the current and are great inhabitants of my tank.
Matt

 

[cranberry]

Lyretails will pick on each other, it's their natural behaviour that becomes problematic in our sized tanks. But if they aren't showing this behaviour, then they aren't acting "natural".
Have you guys had yours for at least a year yet?

 

[stanlalee]

mine picked on each other but mostly during feeding and they all pretty much defended themselves as neccessary so none ever got killed or banished from the pack lol. they werent even afraid of the male or other fish much less each other.
I tell you one mistake I made. I started with a single female and a few weeks later decided I wanted the herim (three females and a male). Within a minute of putting the new females in one of the new females and the old one had the longest, ruffest more tiring fish fight I have ever seen live or on t.v. they faught and locked jaws for several minutes and by the time they were finished both were too tired to chase or run. they just sat there breathing hard. once that was over with there were no major problems.

 

[gwhunter]

I've only had mine for a few months. But haven't witnessed any aggression. I was hoping to add another female but may not if aggression with be an issue.
Matt

 

[cranberry]

It will be less of an issue if you had of added another female.... not sure how they will respond at this point, though.
I have found all anthias, no matter how timid of a species they are, pick are their conspecifics. Sometimes it's tolerated well, other times it is not. When I stopped trying to have pairs or trios of lyretails, I was able to keep one for 8 years. My red saddled anthias are starting to be very aggressive amongst it's trio and I think it may result in the smallest ones demise. My blotched anthias trio are very aggressive fish, however don't pick on each other near as much as I thought. The sunburst is a loner, so I don't know about them and their friends.

 

[srfisher17]

I agree with Cranberry's "pecking order" description. I love Anthias (in a large tank) and have kept quite a few. IMO, Lyretails are as easy as any to keep. IME&IMO; it is best to start off with a larger group of the smallest Lyretails you can. They will form a harem and any loss will not ruin the social order of the rest and you won't have to add a new one. I've had some Bartletts and some Carberris (different tanks) for about 4 years and kept Lyretails, Randalls, and others for several years (can't remember exactly) before moving. IMO&IME again; almost all Anthias really need to be fed often, 6X a day is not too much. With small feedings, they will usually learn to scarf most the food before other fish get much. I really like Cyclop-eeze as a basic ingredient in their food mix. If you can't feed often, use an auto-feeder or you'll have problems.