Anthias questions
 

I have a 150g that is going to be a mixed reef.
I was thinking about getting 5 anthias.
If I don't get all the same sub species, is it okay to just have like 2 lyretails, 1 dispar, 1 barlett, and 1 sunburst? Something along those lines..Or should I have a few of the same species not just one?

Is 5 an okay number?

Also, if having multiple species is okay, do I just need one male total or one for each of the subspecies?

Is liveaquaria the best place to buy them?

Thank you, and happy reefing! 😊


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It's not a good idea to mix the species. Is the 150 a 4ft or 6ft? I would do 1 male and 3 females and add at the same time.

6ft.
Okay, so just 4 then? that's perfectly fine.

Know any good places to buy them? Or just liveaquaria?

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The sunbursts generally do ok with other anthias species. They are a different sub-species from the normal anthias so there typically is not very much aggression

That's good. They're $80 on liveaquaria and out of stock though..ouch!

Does anyone know the difference between the Fiji ones and the Indonesia ones? I tried googling, but no success.

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Is 3 too few? One male two females?

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Different genus actually. The majority (perhaps even all) of the ones we keep are pseudoanthias, with three sub-genera, and many species. You are right that the sunburst isn't a pseudoanthias, rather it's serranocirrhitus. Not sure if it's even in the anthias family.

I actually mixed all them no issues.. I had 2 lyretails, 1 bartlett, 4 ignitus and a sunburst.. All in a 125.. The mail lyretail was relentless on the female though. Ignitus and dispar are pretty close to the same and hard sometimes to tell apart.

That sounds great! Thanks.
Did you buy them on liveaquaria? Spending 150 to get free shipping kinda sucks, then when you hit 150 and realize you only have 4-5 fish in your cart, that sucks too, haha.

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Na I am one of the few who have a local fish store which can order me anything. He can get me anything is a few weeks and very cheap.. It just amazes me the stuff he can pull in.

Yea the male lyretails are the only one you really need to watch out for because when they get big they can get aggressive and not just to other anthias. Bartletts pick on each other and will kill each other off but you said one only. Dispar/ignitus are very calm and actually will school and very little aggression even between males..

Sunburst are beautiful but will be on it own and not be with the other anthias.

I have had good success mixing the following species...
Ignitus, Bartletts, Red Striped. This is in a 300g. The bigger challenge is that eventually some of the females turn into males.

Would it be better to have a different male then? Like a barlett male?

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A bartlett anthias will turn male anyway, that is why they are so hard to keep as a group.. Most single anthias will turn male.. Like clowns all turn female when single just opposite.

Okay, I will stay away from the barletts then.

Any other subspecies males that can take the place of the lyretail male?

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Nothing wrong with a bartlett going in there..
If you put 3 different species of anthias you will end up with 3 males... 4 you will end up with 4 males and so on.

Okay, I understand. It would probably be better to just have like one male lyretail and then 2 or 3 females then.

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Sorry I am not saying that at all. It is ok to mix some of the different species most of the time.. Males do not usually fight with other males of other species normally.. Only have seen male lyretails fight with other species of anthias but they also can fight with other fish. My male bartlett was fine with my male ignitus.

Most anthias are not aggressive like lyretails and Bartletts.. Lyretails male can be aggressive to other fish usually just smaller than them because they are a aggressive fish. Bartletts are mostly just aggressive to each other.

Ahh, hmm..I'll have to think about that then. That opens up a lot more options, haha


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IME, I agree with this as well.