Female Lyretail Anthias, maybe not the best pick for our tank?

[laguest]

Hi all,

We just started up our first reef tank about 3 months ago, slowly adding live stock. So far we have 2 x small Percula Clownfish, Six Line Wrasse, GSP, Torch, Zoanthids and a Clove.

2 weeks ago we went to the LFS and the wife really wanted to get a female Lyretail Anthias. We talked to the staff and they said if we wanted one we should either get 4, or just stick with 1. I really didn't want to toss 4 Anthias in a new 75 gallon tank, so we opted for 1.

In general she is a good tank mate. But when feeding she is a bit off the hook, pretty much eats everything in sight and has chased off the other fish. Found a few nips on the 6 line wrasses tail and my son said she has chased the clowns some. After reading more (should have done that before we bought her) we now understand they need to get fed 3-4 times a day. With a new tank that is not really established I don't think we want to feed that many times, right now we feed in the morning and night.

Then last week she started to bang into the glass, so much that she now has a fat bottom lip that is white.

While she is a beautiful fish, we can't help but wonder if she is not happy and maybe she is not a good fit for our tank right now.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[farfromsea]

If you aren't going to feed 3-4 times a day you should return the fish. I thought 75 gallons was too small for anthia but someone will reply to confirm or deny. But bottom line I would return the fish if you don't want to feed it

 

[Reefnub]

Yeah, anthias require multiple feedings to strive, I feed mines 4-6x a day.
I also feel minimum tank size for them should be 100g 4ft, they're active fish.

 

[maddhugan]

yes yes very true

yes yes very true

Yes! agreed. I don't even go to work or anything like that. I just stand near the tank all day long and feed that anthias 100 to 200x times a day. If you can't do that, then you should return that Poor little anthias, and shut down the tank.

common ppl!

 

[farfromsea]

Female Lyretail Anthias, maybe not the best pick for our tank?

^^??

No one is saying that. People do auto-feeders for anthia. And we aren't saying you have to shut down your tank just because you changed your mind about a fish. No shame in being concerned about multiple feedings requiring more stringent water management than fish that don't eat that many times a day. It isn't the end of the world to not want a fish that eats often, it is just sad and cruel IMO to not feed them that often if they need it


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[nanomarine]

+1 on return the anthias or give her to someone that has a bigger tank.

Based on your description, she's not happy and aggressive toward other fish so tank mates are unhappy as well...

 

[laguest]

Thank you for all the replies.

If anyone on this thread is interested in her please let me know.
I am in San Jose.

 

[rolfkern]

My experience, while limited, with lyretails was really quite good. My trio were aggressive feeders that grew quickly on 2 feedings per day. They never looked thin, acted cramped or seemed in any way unhealthy in the 8 months I had them in my 70 gallon. Mine were what I would consider "assertive", but not aggressive with other fish. But, as pretty much everyone will say, fish temperament is a very individual thing.

Wish I wouldn't have stupidly accidentally killed mine...

 

[maddhugan]

+1 on this

+1 on this

My experience, while limited, with lyretails was really quite good. My trio were aggressive feeders that grew quickly on 2 feedings per day. They never looked thin, acted cramped or seemed in any way unhealthy in the 8 months I had them in my 70 gallon. Mine were what I would consider "assertive", but not aggressive with other fish. But, as pretty much everyone will say, fish temperament is a very individual thing.

Wish I wouldn't have stupidly accidentally killed mine...

I feed mine only twice, and some days just once. They are fat and happy. I do feed variety of food though. The trick is to release only healthy specimens in the display. Prazi treatment before introducing into display would be the best way to go as lot of the anthias are prone to flukes, and they come with flukes. IMO 75 gallon is big enough for a lyretail.

 

[Psionicdragon]

interesting..i feed my anthias twice a day..and they are fine.

 

[Robert4025]

Yeah, anthias require multiple feedings to strive, I feed mines 4-6x a day.
I also feel minimum tank size for them should be 100g 4ft, they're active fish.

3-4 times a day may be a bit too excessive for this species. Those African Squamippinis Lyretail anthias are actually pretty hardy and fairly easy to keep compared to other species. Feed them high protein diet such as pellet foods and you should be able to get away with once a day feeding. IMO...next to Bartlett's, they are the hardiest species of anthias. I have them in multiple display tanks and often times forgot to give the their daily feeding. Still got fat really fast.

 

[MiddletoM]

I feed my carberryi anthias twice a day and about 3 times over the weekend when I can get a morning feed in. They are perfectly happy and not thin at all. mostly fed on various frozen sometimes with a few flakes chucked in. They also grab the stray bits of masstick the other fish break off and miss.

 

[650-IS350]

I've had Square back Anthias before, was fat and healthy. I only fed once a day. It grew rather large in my old 100 gal.

They do eat like pigs and are aggressive eaters.

Just my opinion, you really think people in general life have time to feed a fish 6-8 times in a day?