Single female Anthias addition, and more!

[makers marc]

Hello,

I tried parousing through the 1st 3 pages of the search engine ("Anthias") but couldnt find an answer. I am looking at adding a single Anthias to my tank, but first some facts:

75g mixed reef, 1 year old, 110 lbs LR stacked as 2 islands; Current stock list:

-Yellow Tang (3 inches)
-Flame Angel (trading in simultaneously due to SPS nipping)
-Pajama Cardinal (trading in simultaneously due to ugly)
-Yellow Striped Cardinalfish x 6
-Green Mandarin Dragonet
-Various LPS/Softies/SPS x 20

Questions:

1. My LFS has a single female Lyretail, if I add that one will it eventually convert to a male if I do not add another Anthias? (note: my concern is I like the vibrant colors of the female better)

2. Two weeks ago, my pair of red firefish died a few days after adding the YS cardinalfishes. My guess is they got stressed since at night they all hovered low near the firefishes' cave. At the same time, my flame started nipping my SPS, so I've decided on doing HOUSEHOLD CHANGES all at once.

So, if I removed my Flame and Pajama then added an Anthias, Midas Blenny, and pair of occelaris all at once, you think that is the best way to make the household changes? I figured it would spread out the YT aggression.

3. What other Anthias species do you recommend for adding individually, that has the most vibrant colors?

Thanks so much.

 

[shred5]

Lyretail do fine singly and is how I recommend them unless you have a large tank..

The female will change to male for sure.

Sometimes just rearranging a tank a little can disperse some aggression.

Firefish are super shy fish but usually cardinalfish are not aggressive, That is odd...

Male Lyretails are very aggressive fish to their own kind and to some other male anthias so adding other anthias may be a problem but doing it while female should help a lot..

Bartlett's Anthias are another that do well singly and should do well with a lyretail.. Like a lyretail they are hardy and easy to get to eat. There are few others that do well singly but most are rather big and you have not said what size tank. Anthias require lots of feedings and require larger tanks if you start adding more or one hell of a filtration system...

What size tank? If you want a shoal of anthias I highly recommend ignitus.. They are easy to keep and eat rather easy, they stay small and have very little aggression. Next I recommend dispar. Those two dont ship as wall as Lyretails or Bartletts but are not too bad, if you get them to live two weeks they are very hardy... If they die it is usually a day or two after shipping.

 

[makers marc]

Thanks Shred5.

Those Yellow Striped Cardinalfish are a handful, they even outcompete my YT for mysis since they zip to the surface in chaotic fashion which causes the other fish to retreat in their cave temporarily.

So you are saying that I can get a single Bartlett and Lyretail and keep them together? Would it be better if I just got 2 females of one kind?

I don't necessarily need a shoal as I assumed it would be overstocking if I added 4 of them, along with the clown pairs and a midas all at the same time. Perhaps I am wrong.

The tank is 75 gallon.

 

[shred5]

2 females of one kind, one would eventually kill the other in most cases. These two species are exceptionally known for that.. All of them want to be male so they fight to be male. If you start with a male and females the male will beat up on the female.. The next largest female is next inline for male so it beats up on the next smaller female and so on till one is left.. Lyretails and Bartletts are especially aggressive this way and unless you have lots of space for them to get away when they need a break or enough of them to spread the aggression out. Sometimes it does work out with 2 or 3 but usually not..

Yea usually these two species wont fight but with a 75 it might be pushing it.. You have to watch how many other fish you put in...
Male lyretails are absolutely stunning.. You never know though you might be ok with both.. 75 is the minimum size tank for these fish.. Lyretails are very aggressive at feeding. My ignitus will take food from my tang at feeding and they are a shy fish.. My tang dont bother my Anthias much, he did at first. He bull rushes them from time to time to let them know he is still boss but they move out of his way and it does not bother them..

Ignitus you could get 3 in a 75 and have a small shoal.

I have 5 in a 75 but it is really really hard to keep water quality up especially since I feed them about 6 to 7 times a day....