Lyretail anthia compatibility

[Bolo Tran]

I had a male lyretail by himself in my 120 for about 1 month. Today I added a beautiful female and the moment I put her in the tank, he was consistently chased by the male. Is this normal as a mating ritual or should I be concerned that she will be stressed out?

 

[MattL]

Don't ever add just one female. You will need 2 to 3 more ASAP.

The behavior is natural, but it is unnatural for the male to have one female. The male needs a harem of 3-4 females to disperse his attention. Otherwise, she will die from constant agression.

Also, be sure you have added a female. Many changing fish are offered as females as it takes keen observation to tell the difference (she should have no elongated dorsal spines).

Matt

 

[Bolo Tran]

That single female was the only one that my LFS had. They wont be getting anymore for another 2 weeks. What should I do now? Should I Take the maleand put him in my sump and put him back in a week? Will he be less aggressive then or would the same thing reoccur?

 

[amadillo]

Yea take it out asap because the male is a "pimp" he needs more than one female at all times

 

[MattL]

Well, you have a problem.

For the future, it is always best to research a fish before you buy it.

You will not be able to deter the male's aggression. He is only doing what comes naturally. The problem is, the poor female likely cannot handle it.

Removing him and adding him again will have no effect. In fact, it will probably make the problem much worse.

Lyretails will easily jump from any uncovered system they are unhappy in, and I imagine that will mean your sump. Moreover, the change from female to male starts quite rapidly. By moving the male to your sump for a few weeks, you afford the female the opportunity to change into a male. Then you have two males, who will never tolerate each other.

Lyretails have high metabolisms and fare poorly in fish traps or small, closed systems too.

Honestly, I think your best option is to return the female if you can catch her and find a new LFS that won't sell someone just a s8ingle female to go with a single male.

Matt

 

[SDguy]

What does the female look like? Can you get a pic? Size? Any dorsal spine elongation?

 

[Bolo Tran]

so lets say i were to find one in a couple of days, how many should be the minimum that I should get to avoid aggression?

 

[SDguy]

I personally don't think number is important. Making sure they are completely female (small, NO dorsal spine elongation) is key, IMO/E. I've added females to a giant male, no issue...ever.

 

[michellejy]

I only have two females with my male, and I haven't seen an issue with them. Before purchasing the lyretails, several people posted that they only had one male and one female, although that generally seemed to be because they started with a larger group that dwindled until there were only two.

Like Peter suggested, I'm wondering if your female was actually a sub male. Do you see any dorsal spine at all?

 

[Bolo Tran]

Truth be told, the LFS had app 3 other lyretails that they "claimed" were females but the reason why i chose this one was that it was a very bright and vibrant orange. The others were very dulled colored and to me they looked like they could have been changing to male, not really sure. I just wasnt taken by their colors as I am with this one. And no, I dont believe that it has the dorsal fins.

 

[SDguy]

Even still, if it was the dominant one of the group at the LFS, and if they had them for any amount of time, it could have been already starting the change. It is my opinion, after lots of good and bad experiences, that anthias begin to change before we can "see" it.....but the other anthias pick up on "it" very quickly.

 

[MattL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14394647#post14394647 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bolo Tran
Truth be told, the LFS had app 3 other lyretails that they "claimed" were females but the reason why i chose this one was that it was a very bright and vibrant orange. The others were very dulled colored and to me they looked like they could have been changing to male, not really sure. I just wasnt taken by their colors as I am with this one. And no, I dont believe that it has the dorsal fins.

The color of Lyretail Anthias varies greatly by origin. Yes, males are more red than their orange female counterparts, but Lyretails also vary orange to red by origin.

I have a harem of 5 Lyretails comprised of two distinct geographic origins. In my harem are two sub-male/changing fish, each who are more vibrant orange than the more dusky/red true females I have. In my opinion, color should be one of the last things to look for unless you know they all came from the same place. And I imagine even then, there might be some more variation.

Look very closely for dorsal spine elongation, as I believe this is the first sign they are beginning to change. From my experience, changing fish are not precluded from a harem as long as there si a dominant male and subordinate females. I wonder if your fish is a changing female.

Return to the LFS, and closely examine the other three Lyretails for dorsal spine elongation. If there is no dorsal spine elongation, then from what I understand, regardless of color, they are female.

Matt