lyertail antias fight to the death?

[murphreef]

ive got a lil school of lyertail anthias 1 male and 3 females

all were fine but the 2 smaller females scrap with each other non stop now and there fins are getting ragged

how do i stop them from fighting each other and what are they trying to prove here i thought they were supposed to be peaceful fish right??

any suggestions or experience is welcome

thanks!

 

[ObscurityKnocks]

This is what happens with anthias. Lyretail anthias are one of the more agressive anthias. There is a dominance hierarchy with the male at the top and then the females form an order of dominance by showing agression to eachother. So the weakest female gets picked on by all the others and eventually dies. This is why it is suggessted to keep just a male or groups of 8 or more to spread out the agression.

I thought I could get away with 1 male and 3 females in my 240. I have not seen any aggression myself but I noticed one of the females with torn fins hiding in the rocks 2 days ago and now she has disapeared.

You can't stop them from fighting. Either you get rid of the females or hope after the weakest one dies the aggression stops.

 

[orion76]

Yep, you'll need to get more females... otherwise two of the females will probably die eventually.

 

[murphreef]

wow that really sucks i wish they would told me that at the store cuz i hate to see them die maybe ill try to get more.... so the more the better huh

i noticced its the 2 smallest feamles battling the bigger one no one bugs

 

[AcroSteve]

I am getting 10 females next week. We will se how it goes.

They will be in a 65 gal qt for a month or so.

 

[orion76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7311991#post7311991 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by murphreef

i noticced its the 2 smallest feamles battling the bigger one no one bugs

In a harem of Anthias each fish has its class in the pecking order, these two fish are fighting for their position in the pecking order. When one of them dies the bigger Lyretail is likely to start harrassing the smaller one.

In a larger group the one on one violence is reduced significantly.

 

[Angel*Fish]

In my experience if you buy fish that are clearly different in size there is less fighting because the fish more readily agree on the order of dominance. But some fish - maybe lyretails, are so aggressive that this isn't enough

 

[murphreef]

ya it sucks that they are picking on each other i mean the tanks pleanty big for them to go there own seperate ways but they always swim by each otehr flaunting and fiting

i wonder if i add lets say 6 more females then they should calm down