Lyretail Anthias Harem
- Thread starter hkgar
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kichimark
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I have 3 lyretails in my 100G. I started with one larger female and purchased two smaller females a week later. After a few weeks the larger female turned male and they are all one happy group. The male will chase the females every once in a while but otherwise just cruises the tank. I suggest if you want a harem to make sure you get females on the smaller side to prevent any "turning" males in the group.
jlanger
Get busy living...
I currently have five Lyretail Anthias in my 120gal, and they're all doing great.
I originally purchased a trio of females of various sizes and after a couple of months, the largest female transitioned to a male. After a couple of years, the male slowly declined and passed away. The larger remaining female began to transition to a male. I didn't want the new male to harass the single remaining female so I purchased another trio of smaller females. Since the all new females were smaller than the male and remaining female, there wasn't any issues when adding them to the tank.
A key to keeping the aggression to a minimum is to have multiple females of various sizes. This establishes a pecking order very quickly and everyone knows their role.
The five anthias have been together since August and are doing great.
I originally purchased a trio of females of various sizes and after a couple of months, the largest female transitioned to a male. After a couple of years, the male slowly declined and passed away. The larger remaining female began to transition to a male. I didn't want the new male to harass the single remaining female so I purchased another trio of smaller females. Since the all new females were smaller than the male and remaining female, there wasn't any issues when adding them to the tank.
A key to keeping the aggression to a minimum is to have multiple females of various sizes. This establishes a pecking order very quickly and everyone knows their role.
The five anthias have been together since August and are doing great.
Have kept Lyretails many times over a long period of time, I've had the best success either by buying smaller (2" or less) females and letting them decide, or by buying small females and one larger male. Either way intra-species aggression is likely to crop up at some point. Regular feeding, plenty of swimming space, high flow, and a few larger 'police officers' can help mitigate some of the aggression. Not my favorite anthias species though.
davocean
Active member
I have 5 lyretails in my present 120g, one male of course, no issues at all.
My last tank was a 150g that also had 5, had them nearly 3 years, no problems other than a submale that transitioned about a year later, I blame that on getting too large of females initially delivered from LA
My last tank was a 150g that also had 5, had them nearly 3 years, no problems other than a submale that transitioned about a year later, I blame that on getting too large of females initially delivered from LA
For me, it's a balance between husbandry (mainly feeding) and appearance. My top 5 ....
1. Bimacs
2. Squares
3. Resplendent
4. Tuka
5. Ventralis
Latter two present all sorts of challenges. Even though I've more anthias experience than most, there are lots of species I've not kept.
hobbzz
How do I change this?
Fwiw lyretails don't stick together too often. Dispar however, stick to each other like glue. I had 9 lyretails in my 300 and ended up with 3 males and 6 females. Most of the day you would find one or two over here, one or two over on the other side etc. My dispar and never more than 6 inches away from each other.
Either way would work. If getting all females I'd get one slightly larger than the rest.
Either way would work. If getting all females I'd get one slightly larger than the rest.
Thanks. Hopefully there will be one slightly larger one when I order from LA.
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