I'm thinking about adding a school of Lyretail Anthias (1 male, 4 female). Does anyone have experience with a school of these guys? I've read they tend to be reluctant eaters, and even if they do start eating, they need to be fed several times a day. Do they require that much maintenance? I currently have a 125 gallon tank with a flame hawk, tomato clown, yellow team damsel, and a firefish. I know I don't have the ability to feed them more than twice a day without using an autofeeder (which I don't trust).
Lyretail Anthias School
- Thread starter Noobeef
- Start date
Oceanman79
New member
Go for it! I keep a male with three females in my 90 - one of my very favorite fish. Always active - the male has a kind of Ike Turner abusive relationship with his women, but never harms or stresses them. I never experienced any kind of reluctant behavior, they've eaten like pigs from day one. They do need a varied diet multiple times per day. I feed twice daily and it's never been a problem for me. Just make sure to mix it up, I use pellet, PE mysis, brine and a homemade mixture with many ingredients.
OK. So my next question is do any auto feeders work? I can't be home to feed them twice a day when the lights are on since I leave at 6:30am. Unless I feed them right when I get home and then 4-5 hours later before I go to bed (which probably isn't ideal). I had one auto feeder in the past and it basically poured way too much food in despite me setting it really low. I would like to get a school of anthias because as of right now, there are only 4 small fish in my 125 gallon tank, and none of them will get much bigger (Flame Hawk, Yellow-Tail Damsel, Tomato Clown, Firefish). One Kole tang and a basselet are the only fish on my radar, which would be a rather sad tank fish wise. 6 fish with 5 of them never getting more than 3" long. Haha.
acesq
Premium Member
I agree, excellent choice for a school. I added a group of four females two months ago to my 120. They get along fine with a Regal, a school of 5 apagon parvulus, a small striatus tang, a Yasha goby and a swissguard basslet. The coolest thing is that after two months, one of the females is in the process of turning into a male. The color change is amazing.
l3leedingstar
New member
I had an anthias and I was told the same thing they don't eat well and need to be fed multiple times a day. Just make sure you see the fish eating befor you buy them then once they get comfortable and start eating like pigs (took mine a few days) you can easily see if they are eating enough or not. These fish prefer multiple meals but they quickly learn what time and how much they get fed and they'll be fine.
Amoore311
New member
I have 10 in my 180. 7 females (Started with 10 females), 3 males.
They absolutely do not have to be fed multiple times per day. Other anthias maybe, not these. I feed once a day and that feeding isn't really all that big.
Mine are far from the small babies you usually see in the lfs though. Even when mine were small, they still got once a day feedings and have done just fine.
Mine get NLS Pellets for 90% of their diet. The rest is mixed with frozen mysis and Nutramar Ova.
For Auto-Feeders the only one I would trust is the one made by Eheim. The other ones I have tried are junk.
They absolutely do not have to be fed multiple times per day. Other anthias maybe, not these. I feed once a day and that feeding isn't really all that big.
Mine are far from the small babies you usually see in the lfs though. Even when mine were small, they still got once a day feedings and have done just fine.
Mine get NLS Pellets for 90% of their diet. The rest is mixed with frozen mysis and Nutramar Ova.
For Auto-Feeders the only one I would trust is the one made by Eheim. The other ones I have tried are junk.
Thanks for the input guys. I really want a schooling/shoaling fish in the tank, and I've heard of way too many horror stories of blue-green chromis just killing each other off until there's like 3 left.
That being said, if I were to go with this as my fish collection, would I be overstocking in a 125 gallon tank?
Flame Angel
Tomato Clown
Yellow-Tail Damsel
Firefish
Male Lyretail Anthias
3 Female Lyretail Anthias
Royal Gramma
Swallowtail Angelfish
Yellow Tang OR Kole Tang
It would be 11 fish, with only 2 having the potential to get large.
That being said, if I were to go with this as my fish collection, would I be overstocking in a 125 gallon tank?
Flame Angel
Tomato Clown
Yellow-Tail Damsel
Firefish
Male Lyretail Anthias
3 Female Lyretail Anthias
Royal Gramma
Swallowtail Angelfish
Yellow Tang OR Kole Tang
It would be 11 fish, with only 2 having the potential to get large.
VacavilleFC3S
New member
i have 4 little girls in my 90g there all under 2 1/2" i've had them for about 3 months now, i feed heavily once a day, there very fat and healthy. 1 is slightly larger than the rest but no signs of changing sex yet,
Oceanman79
New member
I think that stocklist is fine. I keep 9 in my 90.
Mrbeachbum2
New member
What else do you have in your 90? How often do you feed?
My only comment to add here is that lyretails are just one of those anthias that don't school, shoal, or even hang around each other all that much IME. Just thought I'd mention, since the OP threw out the term school, implying he/she wanted some anthias that will actually group themselves in the aquarium.
VacavilleFC3S
New member
my 4 lyretails interact and swim together all the time.
djkms
Fish Freak
+1. My 3 Lyretails rarely swim together. When they do its usually only in the morning before the tank lights come on.
They will sometimes hang out together but its usually stationary, they don't swim around together..
Also, IMO you need a large tank for Lyretails. Not so much for swim room but more for aggression reasons. My male is pretty aggressive towards the females and ample hiding/resting places is important.
Oceanman79
New member
That may have come off wrong. I don't keep 9 lyretails in 90 gallons. My stocklist:
4 lyretail anthias
orange spotted rabbitfish
melanurus wrasse
whipfin fairy wrasse
carpenter's flasher wrasse
yasha hashe goby
I feed twice daily.
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
IMO you could get away with a trio in a (4 foot long) 55 gallon. I wouldn't keep much else in there though. There are other, smaller choices too
Indeed Yoda, cool they are
