2nd out of 3 Lyretails is changing to male...

[overexposed]

For about the past year I had been keeping 3 anthias in my 90 gallon tank. My LFS got in a huge shipment of Lyretails and I purchased 1 male and two of the smallest females I could find. They did wonderfully in my 90 gallon. The male looked a bit haggard at times around the fins, which I assumed to be from harassing his ladies. One of the two girls grew to be a bit bigger than the other, but still much smaller than the male.

This Sunday I swapped the livestock from my 90 into the new 205 gallon tank I've been building. Everybody was out and eating and happy within hours, huge success. Yesterday when I went downstairs and looked at the tank, I noticed that my larger female had suddenly developed male colours!! Her bright orange has darkened considerably and taken on a purple hue, the dorsal fin is getting blue at the back edge, and her pectoral fins have developed dots on them.

What does this mean for my existing male?

 

[Winwood]

Probably bad news. Lyretail males don't tolerate one another very well, especially in that size tank. I'd remove one of the two males asap.

 

[3FordFamily]

I've heard that this is common. Eventually many of not all will turn male. I've also heard that of they change male and coexisted before, they're generally fine. Not sure how true this is but do know several hobbyists with far more males than females. I do not own ANY anthias, however.

 

[jbvdhp]

Tagging along, as I am putting 4 Lyretails through TTM at the moment, and all are females for sure... ATM. Want to see how this plays out

 

[ca1ore]

Not uncommon to have multiple males. Happens a lot with Bartlett anthias. Typically you have one dominant male and then sub-males. Lyretails are notorious for winnowing themselves down but probably no need to take any action.

 

[jbvdhp]

Not uncommon to have multiple males. Happens a lot with Bartlett anthias. Typically you have one dominant male and then sub-males. Lyretails are notorious for winnowing themselves down but probably no need to take any action.

That's disheartening.

 

[ca1ore]

That's disheartening.

Maybe a better fish keeper than I (or a very large tank) would have more success. Is one if the main reason I don't keep Lyretails anymore (though I do fund other species more appealing anyhow). If you are going to try for a group, I'd suggest starting with a bunch of smaller females. May ultimately knock each other off regardless, but at least it will take longer.

 

[jbvdhp]

Maybe a better fish keeper than I (or a very large tank) would have more success. Is one if the main reason I don't keep Lyretails anymore (though I do fund other species more appealing anyhow). If you are going to try for a group, I'd suggest starting with a bunch of smaller females. May ultimately knock each other off regardless, but at least it will take longer.

I have 4 small females in TTM at the moment. They've been coexisting since 12/20. Reading your post make-a me sad...

 

[ca1ore]

Sorry, didn't mean to bum you out. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did; plus, remember fish are individuals so you never know. Also, I feed my fish much more now than I used to back when I kept Lyretails, so perhaps more frequent feeding will allow you to keep a group stable for longer. Plus, make anthias chase their food by pouring it into a powerhead. They compete better for food that way because they're fast and far more agile than my piggish tangs.