Adding Squamipinnis Male first

snake

New member
I'm about to order a Squamipinnis Male, unfortunately Females are not available to order now in my location.

If I add Squamipinnis Male first to my reef, would not be a problem to add a couple of females later?
 
I disagree, with lyretails (depending on size of tank, or course). IME, and from what I have heard from others, one male is the general rule of thumb, unless you are talking about a large tank, where there is enough room for multiple males. I have several lyretails, and never had more than one male at a time.
 
The idea is to add a male first, then add the females, being a male already in the tank then the females won't turn into male
 
after the male is in what would happen if you were to put in a sub male (front dorsal slightly spiked but no color change) would the sub just stay that way or after it starts there's no turning back..I'm asking because I have a three and it looks as if one of my girls is starting to flip. hope this isn't a highjack , it's kind of what your talking about.
 
I have 7 Lyretails. I large male, 2 sub males, that were female, and 4 females.
The big male, 4.5 in., keeps them all in line but no harm.
 
Was the question whether or not the male, existing without females, would pulverize the new girls upon them being introduced? I'm interested in finding out as well. My LFS gets gorgeous males in all the time but it's hard to find females.
 
Was the question whether or not the male, existing without females, would pulverize the new girls upon them being introduced? I'm interested in finding out as well. My LFS gets gorgeous males in all the time but it's hard to find females.

You got it, that's the main question
 
Sorry,
I have added 4 females to the origonal 3 small females that I had.
Of the origonal 3, 1 turned male, 1 became a submale and 1 remained female.
Of the other 4 I added, 1 became a submale and 3 remain female.

Edit; I tried to add a smaller male once and the large male wouldn't tolerate it.

Edit2;
I don't have direct experience with a lone male but the large male has not been particularly aggressive to the addition of new females.
 
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As long as you add females that you are certain are 100% female (ie small, no dorsal spike, solid pure orange coloration), AND the male is healthy and well established, you should be fine.

The problem is that it is sometimes tough to tell if a female has started to change. Also, even a pure female will attack a male that is weak/sick, etc, since that is how they get to be the new male.
 
Out of the 26 I currently have, 2 were male and the rest were female (<2"), and over the past 2 1/2 years, a third have fully changed sex, or started to. And I don't see them stopping anytime soon. Same has held true for the other 3 or 4 species I've kept larger numbers of. P. squamipinnis however, aren't as aggressive as some of the others.
 
Out of the 26 I currently have, 2 were male and the rest were female (<2"), and over the past 2 1/2 years, a third have fully changed sex, or started to. And I don't see them stopping anytime soon. Same has held true for the other 3 or 4 species I've kept larger numbers of. P. squamipinnis however, aren't as aggressive as some of the others.

26?! How big is your tank?
 
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