help me pick 8 anthais for my 281 gallon?

[CHSUB]

i would like to add 8 anthais to my sps' reef. your thoughts are welcome. i had lyretail (2) and bi-colored(3) mixed about 2 years ago. one bi-colored killed the other 4 after about 2 months and last week he jumped to his death. i'm thinking of just getting 8 lyetails? no bi-colored, no shy types, $30-40 each not the $80 ones.
thx.

 

[jbvdhp]

I like lyre tails. Have had success with them in the past and currently QT'ing four atm.

I tried Tierra anthias recently to no avail. Purple queens seem difficult so i stay away, but man they're nice.

 

[benjc]

Lyretails are a good idea, so is the idea of getting a bunch of one type; how about ignitus or dispars?

 

[SoloChromis]

Resplendent and Lori's anthias are both very hardy, and highly underrated options. Stay small, typically eat well, and aren't aggressive with each other (usually run $30+ each)

 

[ca1ore]

Personally I don't bother with Lyretails anymore. Never could get a stable population long term as they always ended up killing each other off. I really like the Bimacs, though they are in the larger size and $60 plus a pop. Randall's are nice, though hard to find at the moment. Resplendents have done well for me in the past; in fact, I just placed an order for a group.

 

[jbvdhp]

How are you guys doing so well with resplendent/Tierra anthias? Secrets?

 

[ca1ore]

Assuming you get healthy individuals initially, I just always put them into their own QT (either a 20 or 30L) and feed the $hit out of them. Am doing that currently with a quintet of Evansi (much tougher).

 

[lhm nole]

I have 5 trucantus have had them for 2 years get along great eats everything I throw in the tank colorful and fairly inexpensive.... Biggest male will chase my tangs that twice his size havent figured that one out yet lol

 

[hart24601]

I have had better luck getting different species rather than try the groups. They get along better and still hang out together from my experenince.

 

[ca1ore]

I have had better luck getting different species rather than try the groups. They get along better and still hang out together from my experenince.

I think that's true. Groups with some species can be done, but it really requires a lot of space and plentiful feeding. Even then, some species will still resist your efforts.

 

[CHSUB]

thx guys for the input.

i'm going to wait about a month or two as i'm getting two flame hawks sat, filling my QT. i'm still leaning toward the lyretails as most of the others from LA don't allow selecting male or female; and i would like all females as it seems this gives one the best odds of success?