Sexing Anthias

[Apparition]

I'm wondering if anyone knows of an online retailer that sells seperate sexes for anthias? I know Live Aquaria and The Marine Center both sell seperate sexes for the lyretail and bimaculatus, but what about bartlett's, dispar, or evansi?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[tom obrecht]

I don't know if you are planning to keep a group of these fish together or not, but a couple of things to think about. First of all anthias will do better in groups. Even if you get all females, they will determine who the "boss" is and one will switch to lead the group. I've had this happen numerous times. I would try to keep groups of at least 5-6 individuals. I noticed you have a 55 tank. I don't feel this is large enough to house a clan of anthias properly. I'm sure some will disagree, but after talking to Scott Michael personally, he mentioned a 180 or larger is best suited for most anthias groups. Might also want to rethink the Evansi sp. At least I've never had luck with these. Tricky to get these guys settled properly.

 

[bjolly]

I'm interested in this also - I have a 125 and would love to do a small group of Bartlett's or threadfin, but I've never seen a retailer that offers them labelled by sex. any suggestions?

 

[Apparition]

Tom,

I'm well versed in the needs of anthias and trust me I have no intention of ever keeping anthias in my current 55. However, I am planning a 300 gallon tank in a year or two and am just trying to plan ahead.

Of course, a group of females will sort it out, but most sites do not even indicate whether or not you are buying male or female, hence my question. The last thing I want it to order 7 Bartlett's and get all males.

I've read many threads of yours and that you've discussed in and know of the variety and quantity of anthias you keep. I would very much like to know how you've procured all of your specimens. My LFS in the area never has anthias and wouldn't be able to sex them anyway.

Thanks.

 

[tom obrecht]

To answer the question at hand of sexing, I'm not sure where to order them from to be perfectly honest. The three varieties you mentioned do not lable the different sexes as you said. I do believe I ordered my Bartletts from Live Aquaria. I do really think that if you added a variety of species into a 300 you would be ok and the fish would sort things out. Even if you start with all females, my experience has been that more than one female might still change to challenge the current head male. Nothing is for sure when you get a grouping of these fish. My suggestion would be to either email them or call to see if you could get an answer from the company. My LFS's get varied anthias species from time to time and through the years I have built (or perhaps overbuilt) my current stock. Let me know what you find out for I think you ask a very good question. Tom

 

[Apparition]

Well, I talked to LiveAquaria, Marine Depot, and The Marine Center and here's what I found out.

For starters, all three were in agreement that the majority of the anthias they sell are considered to be male if no sex is specified. LiveAquaria said they could accomodate trying to sell specific sexes, but said that they could make no promises about completely accurate sexing. Marine Depot and The Marine Center both pretty much stated that they are sold as is.

I guess my only worry is that if I order a group of bartlett's is that I'll end up with a group of all males and I assume, a potential case for disaster. Unfortunately, I haven't even seen pictures of the individual sexes for these online so it would be hard to even tell the difference in person. I guess the best bet, as you said, is to get a large group and work from there. I would be really interested in any and all pictures of your anthias as I remember following a thread you talked a great deal in about bimaculatus anthias and if the bartlett's work out I think some day I'd like to try the bimaculatus too.

Thanks.

 

[tom obrecht]

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This is everything I have on my anthias. Hope I don't bore anyone!

 

[pk1]

Tom (Sorry to jump in here), why do you have that grid materiel in your nori clip? Does it help keep the nori from being torn off by the tangs (what a pain that is!)
PK

 

[tom obrecht]

pk1 The clip is great! I purchased it through Marine Depot years back and it really works nice. You can even put frozen foods in it as well.

 

[ScubaTC]

Tom, what type of butterfly is that in your pic and does it ever seem to bother your corals or clams? - Thanks

 

[tom obrecht]

ScubaTC It's a copperband. I've had it for over a year now and it's never bothered any of my corals or clams. I added it to control an aiptasia plague I had. I literally had thousands of aiptasias and he cleaned them up withing a couple of weeks. They are very cool fish. They can be difficult to acclimate although I got lucky and he started eating right away.

 

[Apparition]

I'm busy for the next couple weeks, but how about in a month or so we switch tanks? I'll take your silence as a sign of aquiescence.

 

[tom obrecht]

Before I agree...I showed you mine, now you show yours

 

[Psyire]

I have 7 Bartlett's Anthias in my 180g. (2M/5F)

I've noticed that the dominate male runs the tank and the less dominate male stays on one side. They get along fine though and the females seem to swim all over. But there is definately a dominance displayed by the bigger male.

 

[NicoleRM]

LOL That tank reminds me of the crazy photoshopped stock photos they usually put in aquarium ads. (I'm just jealous )