Female Lyretail changing over to male.....

[SPotter]

I've had one female lyretail anthers for just about a year now, she's the only anthias in the tank and probably the biggest fish in the tank. I am noticing that she is changing over to a male. The purple on her gills is become deeper and the her tail fins are becoming purple as well. I didn't think they would do this without another anthias in the tank. I am going to take some pictures and document the progress.

 

[MuffsAbby]

I'm looking forward to your pictures and progress! I currently have 3 female lyretails in QT. One is very small (1 inch) and the other two are each about 2 inches. I imagine it will be a while before one changes, but it should be fascinating when it happens.

 

[SPotter]

mine is about 3-3.5" now and I have noticed that the orange has been getting darker and the edges of the anal fins are now purplish/black. I am going to look for old pictures of it so I can compare to the present ones.

 

[robertcedgar]

Mine is doing the same thing. Be careful about adding another Anthias. Not knowing that she was changing, I added a male. She (or "it" at that time) quickly killed my new addition.

 

[jayinh]

i have one changing also, i started with 1 male, 6 female and now have 2 male 5 females. its a 125 and they fight but have not killed each other..yet.

should these be seperated? thats kinda cool that yours changed with no others in the tank, it is very neat to watch every day as they transform. i call shim " pat"