MattL
New member
?So 8 months after initially querying the RC reef fish forum , I felt my life and my tank had stabilized to the point where I was ready to begin increasing the fish population again. That, and ordering reef fish in the winter in Boston is unwise. Patience really is a virtue in this hobby.
I now have 6 Lyretail Atnias. Some are from Fiji. I'm not sure where the other two are from.
All six are currently in my quarentine system (a 40L), with a divider keeping themrestricted to 1/3 of the tank. There are plenty of hiding places on their side. The division is sued to better observe their initial behavior and feeding and have easier access should th eneed to remove a fish arise.
Two were bought at a LFS. I am fairly sure these are females, as they were in the presence of a very dominant male. Four were bought from an online vendor.
I agree with the word of caution that it takes a careful eye to observe the gender change. Despite ordering four females, I would up with what I believe to be three changing fish and maybe one female.
One is well on his way to becoming a male. He has a vastly elongated third dorsal spine, the blue by his gills is fading as his body begins to flush more scarlett, he is notably larger and more aggressive, he keeps apart from the others, he is most likely to flash his spine and chase the others. I assume he will be the male.
The question revolves around the other two that are suspect. These fish have varing degrees of dorsal spine elongation and signs of aggression. One will flash his mouth open. I am unaware of what this behavior means.
The fish will ultimately go in a 125gal system that is sparsely populated with plenty of rock and hiding places.
My question is: who should go, if anyone? Is this an unstable situation?
I worry that the other fish showing signs of changing will simply do so once given the space, and I will wind up with a ratio of one male to one female.
I can easily remove the next most dominant (two) males and find him (them) a good home.
Will two males and three females work? Or should it be one male to two-three females always?
Also, are agression (flashing) and elongating of the dorsal spine the first signs of sex change?
These Lyrertails were extremely quick to adapt, and they had to make a rather large salinity adjustment over two days. They all took to food almost imemdiately. They are wonderfully engaging and greet me when I walk in the basement room. They are far more alert than chromis in my opinion, plus they display very interesting behavior.
I do notice that they "mouth" food quite a bit. I assume this will pass as hunger begins to get the better of them.
And oh yes, I have pictures. Here are the four ordered online:
It's a quarentine system, so no, I don't really clean it. And FYI, they aren't too interested in the PVC piping. They mostly like to hang in and amongst the heater/standpipe.
Also, I learned the hard way that these fish are jumpers. I turned my back on the drip application bucket and had them jumping like popcorn, with them jumping back out as soon as I could put them in.
Matt
I now have 6 Lyretail Atnias. Some are from Fiji. I'm not sure where the other two are from.
All six are currently in my quarentine system (a 40L), with a divider keeping themrestricted to 1/3 of the tank. There are plenty of hiding places on their side. The division is sued to better observe their initial behavior and feeding and have easier access should th eneed to remove a fish arise.
Two were bought at a LFS. I am fairly sure these are females, as they were in the presence of a very dominant male. Four were bought from an online vendor.
I agree with the word of caution that it takes a careful eye to observe the gender change. Despite ordering four females, I would up with what I believe to be three changing fish and maybe one female.
One is well on his way to becoming a male. He has a vastly elongated third dorsal spine, the blue by his gills is fading as his body begins to flush more scarlett, he is notably larger and more aggressive, he keeps apart from the others, he is most likely to flash his spine and chase the others. I assume he will be the male.
The question revolves around the other two that are suspect. These fish have varing degrees of dorsal spine elongation and signs of aggression. One will flash his mouth open. I am unaware of what this behavior means.
The fish will ultimately go in a 125gal system that is sparsely populated with plenty of rock and hiding places.
My question is: who should go, if anyone? Is this an unstable situation?
I worry that the other fish showing signs of changing will simply do so once given the space, and I will wind up with a ratio of one male to one female.
I can easily remove the next most dominant (two) males and find him (them) a good home.
Will two males and three females work? Or should it be one male to two-three females always?
Also, are agression (flashing) and elongating of the dorsal spine the first signs of sex change?
These Lyrertails were extremely quick to adapt, and they had to make a rather large salinity adjustment over two days. They all took to food almost imemdiately. They are wonderfully engaging and greet me when I walk in the basement room. They are far more alert than chromis in my opinion, plus they display very interesting behavior.
I do notice that they "mouth" food quite a bit. I assume this will pass as hunger begins to get the better of them.
And oh yes, I have pictures. Here are the four ordered online:
It's a quarentine system, so no, I don't really clean it. And FYI, they aren't too interested in the PVC piping. They mostly like to hang in and amongst the heater/standpipe.
Also, I learned the hard way that these fish are jumpers. I turned my back on the drip application bucket and had them jumping like popcorn, with them jumping back out as soon as I could put them in.
Matt
