Lyretail Anthias +1

[KillerReef]

I currently have a female lyretail and would like to get her a male. Can I just add an male Lyretail? What do you think would happen?

Also, I saw what I thought was a male lyretail at my LFS but its fins had red spots on them, they looked very cool, but hadn't seen that before. Was that a lyretail or a different anthias?

Thanks, Dave

 

[koga57]

Anthias

Anthias

for every male anthias, there should be a minimum of two females.

 

[KillerReef]

why?

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

Get another female. let them decide who will be male,plus the females are usually cheaper.

 

[KillerReef]

for every male anthias, there should be a minimum of two females.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but just want to know the reasoning. I've read that before, but have seen a number of tanks that have just the pair. I'd rather not add 2+ more anthias as i'd like to keep my bioload at 9 fish.(sig + orchid dottyback, melanurus wrasse, mccosker flasher wrasse in future=9)

Get another female. let them decide who will be male,plus the females are usually cheaper.

i've thought of that, too, but if 1 doesn't change, then i am stuck where i am at now.

Any reason besides being cheaper to not just get a male? I think it's like $2 more at my regular LFS.

 

[koga57]

Anthias

Anthias

I've read the exact same thing. Two females for every male. Is it a hardfast rule? NO. You can leave a single female and add one male. They will be fine. I currently have have two females and one is transforming into a male. Heckuva a thing to watch.

good luck

 

[KillerReef]

I've read the exact same thing. Two females for every male. Is it a hardfast rule? NO. You can leave a single female and add one male. They will be fine. I currently have have two females and one is transforming into a male. Heckuva a thing to watch.

good luck

hey koga, can you take some pics during the transformation? thanks for that info, I totally didn't think about watching them transform. That would be totally cool to see. Did you add them together? I do worry about adding another female and my current one not accepting the other....

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

the reason i suggest getting the female is ( and someone correct me if I'm wrong) after a female starts turning male there is no turning back. so if the one you have has started to change, Which you might not be able to see yet. you would have issues with having two males. and with two females i'm sure one will change.

 

[SDguy]

Best bet is to just get another, smaller female.

 

[KillerReef]

the reason i suggest getting the female is ( and someone correct me if I'm wrong) after a female starts turning male there is no turning back. so if the one you have has started to change, Which you might not be able to see yet. you would have issues with having two males. and with two females i'm sure one will change.

that makes sense trigger, thanks. I also forgot about how cool it would be to see the transformation. I will get a female...

Best bet is to just get another, smaller female.

Just curious, but why smaller? So that my established is the one to make the change?

 

[IFbettas]

Just curious, but why smaller? So that my established is the one to make the change?

Get a smaller one so that immediately they know which one is dominant and which one is submissive. If you got a new one that was the same size, then most likely your current female would beat up the poor new fish. By getting a smaller female you can often get away without any real fighting between the two, and the bigger one will then become the male. Good luck! They are great little fish!

 

[sanchoy]

Just food for thought..

Now I have a large lyretail female..

with a smaller formed male..

will the smaller formed male dominate, or will the larger female turn into a male, being that the formed male is smaller?

:worried:

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

Just food for thought..

Now I have a large lyretail female..

with a smaller formed male..

will the smaller formed male dominate, or will the larger female turn into a male, being that the formed male is smaller?

:worried:

I think with anthias it's a one way ticket ... but again i could be wrong... i know swallowtail angels go back from one to the other.

 

[SDguy]

Just curious, but why smaller? So that my established is the one to make the change?

Best way to make sure the new one is a pure female, and not a transitioning male. They can be diffulcult to spot, sometimes. Well, by us anyways

 

[vegaskid11]

I have a female lyretail making the change to male right now. It is remarkable to see everyday. The color change is dramatic and you can't mistake it.

 

[Amoore311]

I bought 3 Females about a month ago. All the same size.

2 of them immediately starter to turn male lol.

The female does not hang out anywhere near them, they harass her if she gets to close. To be honest I'm not sure if she is even still in the tank lol, it's a 180 and they are still kind of small.

I have 4 more females waiting for me at the LFS I need to pick up this weekend.


Only the mail lyretails have the High Spiked Dorsal Ray correct?

 

[SDguy]

The color change is dramatic and you can't mistake it.

Many changes happen before the dramatic color change which is so obvious to us. Hence the many threads on this site about people with "female" lyretails beating up on a male, or two "females" fighting to the death.

 

[vegaskid11]

Many changes happen before the dramatic color change which is so obvious to us. Hence the many threads on this site about people with "female" lyretails beating up on a male, or two "females" fighting to the death.

Oh I see, I didnt realize that. I originally had 15 female lyretails and one male when I purchased the shoal and two females and the male had some sort of bacterial infection where there nape (neck) just withered away. I suspect the change began soon after he died I guess. Its been about 2 months since the male died and with 13 lyretails and 20 other anthias its hard to pay particular attention to a single one. I wish I would have thought about examining them closer.