Long term success with a harem of bartlett anthias?

[Poseidon]

The mix up did happen earlier then the wholesaler, it was a Hawaiian diver that sent a bunch, 15-20 "Bartletts" directly to a LFS that I go to. My first impression was that they were not all Bartlett's, but there was a few that I knew for sure were, like the single that I ended up with. When I got home I noticed that 2 of the 3 females that I asked for had the magenta dorsal fin. From there I started digging a bit, but came up empty.

I think I have 2 male Bartletts too don't I? ???

 

[SDguy]

The only male bartlett I see in your very nice photos is in the second one.

 

[Poseidon]

That is great news! Thanks!

Thanks for the compliment on the images, I will do better on those bicolor's, they hang out up top, very close to the lights. I can't capture the their colors very well shooting up into the bulbs!

 

[Grunt]

They kinda look like dispars to me. Not mature fish though. Bicolors would have whiter undersides, I think....Peter may be right, I dont know...just a thought.

I do know though that they are pretty fish and nice pictures.

 

[SDguy]

Unfortunately I cannot take credit for being a smarty pants here Kevin Kohen and I saw these fish mixed in with bartletts at last years RAP. He obtained fish just like these, mixed in with bartletts, and grew them out. They ended up being bicolors.

Photo of a grown-out specimen, courtesy of Kevin:

 

[Grunt]

Thanks for the information Peter Nice picture also.

 

[Poseidon]

Well they are a great looking fish anyway! Kinda like a cross between a Bartlett's and a Lyre tail! LOL!

I appreciate the help for sure! Later this weekend I will try to get a better image.

 

[Aadler]

So i purchased 3 barts awhile back and there was so much trouble catching them that i decided just to take what they had caught already, now I have two supermales and a female. the female is owned by one of the males, I was wonder what the success people have had over the last year adding additional females to an established order. i wanted to add 2 more, i dont care if they pair with the male/female pair or with the single male.

the male with the single female is more developed (longer fin on top and his streamers are a bit ahead of the other male's.

is it not worth the risk throwing off the pairing that I have?

 

[Aadler]

adding two females or adding a trio of lyretails i guess. wouldnt make much diff to me, maybe i could pull the single male bart out as well.

 

[drouner]

I added 3 to my tank this afternoon, unfortunately I didn't find this thread until tonight. My 3" blk and white clown fish is not to happy with them in the tank and is picking on the smallest one that is now in hiding. About 5 minutes after introduction, the clown went after one and it cleared about 2 feet before landing on the carpet. Luckily I was watching the tank and was horrified.
I'm hoping in a day or 2 the clown will settle down and let them come up to the front of the tank.

Pictures are hard to take right now, two are about 2" long with pink on the head. The other is about 1.5" and has a yellow head. Sounds like a juvenile after reading through this thread.

I have to say, I'm have grave second thoughts about this purchase after reading through this thread. I'm also worried about the harassment by the clown. I did feed Rod's tonight and all 3 did eat. The little one did come out for a few minutes but seemed very skiddish.

 

[NexDog]

Old but great thread for anyone thinking about getting Barletts Anthias. I had 5 Lyretails originally and lost 3 over the years to jumping (have covers now). I was thinking of boosting the Anthias population with Bartletts but I'll go for more Lyretails and maybe add in some Dispars.

 

[SDguy]

I've had a trio of bartletts for well over a year now. The females have stayed female. It may help that my big male carberryi is the only carberryi, and has adopted the bartletts. So, in essence, I have two males and two females in my "bartlett" group.

 

[NexDog]

Finally some success.

 

[SDguy]

LOL, yeah, at basically a 1:1 ratio!

 

[ostrow]

ugh

ugh

I started with 1 male and 3 females. After about 2 mos had 1 male and 2 females.

Yesterday the male was gone. Didn't jump (unable to get out of my covered tank). Just dead. Was previously fat and eating.

My question -- is it possible/advisable to add another male?

 

[cha0s]

Great thread. Very informative.

I have just purchased 11 females and 1 male Bartlett's Anthias. I cannot say for sure whether any of the females have started transforming, but I am certain that there is only one mature male.

They are all currently in a 30G holding tank plumbed to the main system. All of them are eating pellets and all appear healthy. There is no aggression within the harem.

Once I am confident in their health, they will be moved to the 300G display tank.

In consideration of tank size, I am hopeful that keeping them in the small tank before moving them to the large tank will allow them to form their social structure.

I am surprised that none of the posters to this thread have raised the question of feeding. Is it possible that abundance or lack of food plays a role in the transformation from female to male? I plan to feed 4 times a day at predictable intervals from both sides of the tank. In other words, there would be an abundance of food and therefore, no compition for food. However, could this be one of the triggers for transforming? Perhaps a lack of food would discourage female to male transformations?

I liked the concept of multiple harems within the tank to maintain stability within each harem. If one or two of my females transform, I may end up with this multiple harem scenario. How does the distinction between male and super male relate to this social dynamic?

One BIG question I have is in regards to flukes. How common are flukes in Bartlett's. It seems that the symptoms might not be visible for months after the initial purchase and I cannot safetly quarantine them for this long. Would you recommend treating with PraziPro just in case?

Wish me luck. I will post my results as things progress.

- Brad

 

[realjg]

is a 30g tank to small for one, do they need to in groups? I currently only have a pair of clowns, frags, and an anemone (20lbs of rock)


EDIT: I also have an open tank....Seems like there is a jumping problem?

 

[Golden Age]

Here's my story for those of you who are familiar with bartletts.

I had been wanting bartletts anthias for my 4ft 75gallon tank for a long time but never saw them at my LFS and if I did, they were already big and I like getting fish small so I can see them grow, but last week my LFS had 4 really small bartletts so I bought 3. I didn't quarantine since I wasn't set up for it since I wasn't planning on getting fish, but I couldn't pass them up.

During acclimation, one of them fell on the carpet and unfortunately died the next day, so for a week, I had only 2 in the tank.

The next week I decided to go back to the LFS where I got the other three and get the last one they had so I could have a trio. It was the same size as the others and they all look identical.

Yesterday I added it and it's hiding in the rocks and one of the bartletts is picking on it and the other bartletts went and hung out on the other side of the tank when all week long it was hanging out with the other bartlett that was already in there.

I can't tell which are the two that were added last week and which is the one that was added yesterday since they are all identical. The two that had been in there all week were sticking together and inseparable. Now one is off on it's own on the other side of the tank, one is hiding in the rocks and one is hovering around the one hiding in the rocks and when it does leave the rocks, it will leave it alone for a second and swim with it but then chase it and it goes back into the rocks.

My question is could it be 2 of them have already turned male and we are going to have problems or could it just be the newest one getting used to the tank and the ones that were already in there asserting their dominance?

They all come out for feeding and swim around and eat, but as soon as the food is gone it's back to how they were, one by itself, one hiding, and one hovering by the one hiding.

Here's the only good picture I could get of them. Is anyone able to tell if these are females or males?

 

[ca1ore]

All females still. Males are quite distinctive with pink heads. Very 'chippy' fish though, even females. I have had a trio for over a year - now two males and a female, but out all the time. Males are always being chased by my bimacs so no chance to bully the lone female.

 

[Golden Age]

All females still. Males are quite distinctive with pink heads. Very 'chippy' fish though, even females. I have had a trio for over a year - now two males and a female, but out all the time. Males are always being chased by my bimacs so no chance to bully the lone female.

Thanks for the ID. They seem to have sorted it all out now and all three are schoaling together.

All is well. FOR NOW.

At what point will one of them become male? They are about an inch or maybe a bit less now. And will it be the dominant female that will turn male?

These are beautiful fish. They pretty much stay near the glass fighting their own reflection, so they're not that bright, but they are really gorgeous.