It's highly depends on luck. This is my second time trying lyretail anthias and the first time all 4 of mine came in as female and they all went through a 6 weeks of QT process. And all of them started to change and fought each other to death.
This time around, things were almost the same, 4 females being shipped and one soon turned male during the QT process. There are a few minor things worth mentioning.
I was a newbie when I tried them the first time and I was drawn to them. Because it was a new tank, I spent lots of time watching them. I was also very concerned about their chasing worried about the smallest one would die from hiding.
This time, it's 4 years later. I have done this many times and I have 2 tanks to maintain and work was busy as well. The biggest difference is, last time I had a lot of presence in front of the tank. And when they started chasing each other, being a newbie I thought it would be smart to drop a little extra food so it'll ease the tension and nobody would get hurt. What I didn't notice is my presence and interacting with them did not help at all. They didn't have a chance to work out their order. And soon, all 4 started turning and only one was left.
This time, I was occupied and I'm also used to fish chasing each other. This time I let nature ran its course and I let them chase each other knowing that they will kill each other anyways. First week everyone was chasing a little, soon 1 became the boss and she chased everyone every now and then for no reasons. And 1 stood out as the last of the pack that gets chased by everyone. This one almost didn't make it, it hid for almost a week and did not come out to eat. It got skinny after 6 weeks of QT but has picked up weight since it went into the DT.
Long story short, try to give them time and space to fight it out. The sooner the better. It definitely was a little more action than I was comfortable but I knew it was necessary even means that one might not make it. Good luck!
