Anthis fish

[saltyguy]

I am about to start stocking my 125 gallon setup. I wanted a small school of Bartlett Anthis. At a minimum how many females do I need for one male? Also can I put other fish in with the Anthis? I want Tangs and Butterfly and a Majestic Angle. Oh yeah and a pair of Maroon Clowns and a Goby.

[HumbleFish]

The males tend to pester the females insistently, so I would add at least 3-4 females. To spread out his "love" and attention.

In nature oftentimes a shoal of anthias will comprise one territorial male to every eight females. However, the size of the male's territory can range from about 5 to 32 square feet in area.

In most cases, anthias just ignore non-anthias fish in an aquarium. Unless they are diseased or injured. In which case the other fish typically go into kill mode.

[billdogg]

I would suggest getting several small juvenile/females and letting them decide who the male will be.

[hkgar]

I all likely-hood it really won't matter. In such a confined space as our aquariums there will eventually be the lone survivor. But we have all tried.

If there is someone out their that has a school of Anthias for at least a year shout it out

[Michael Hoaster]

Consider other, sturdier fish for a harem, like Royal Grammas or Orchid Dottybacks. I had a harem of seven RGs in a 180, and it was pretty sweet.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Consider other, sturdier fish for a harem, like Royal Grammas or Orchid Dottybacks. I had a harem of seven RGs in a 180, and it was pretty sweet.

+1

I have a trio of royal grammas for and a trio of orchid dottybacks in my 100-gallon tank and they are great and beyond easy.

Dottybacks change sex (both ways actually) so getting a pair or a harem isn't difficult. Just get one large (ideally one with an elongated lower edge of the tail fin) and a couple of small ones. The fact that you can get tank-raised orchids fairly cheap these days makes this a pretty affordable choice for a harem fish.

Grammas may be a little trickier as I'm not sure that they can change sex. The behavior of my 3 makes me believe that I have 2 males and one female. The dominant male is significantly larger than the other two. He and the female (clearly distinguishable by he rounder belly) are constantly spawning. The suspected second male is usually keeping a distance from the male but is constantly courting the female. I got these as very little ones which I think is the key to success in forming a group. I would look for some in the 1" to 1.5" range. What makes grammas particularly interesting are their social interactions that look like they are talking to each other (well, in a way they are "talking). You don't get that with many other fish.

[billdogg]

Originally Posted by hkgar

I all likely-hood it really won't matter. In such a confined space as our aquariums there will eventually be the lone survivor. But we have all tried.

If there is someone out their that has a school of Anthias for at least a year shout it out

Perhaps mine are the exception, but I have a pair of lyretails that I got as small juveniles. One has transitioned to male. They have no issues with each other or any of their tankmates

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by billdogg

Perhaps mine are the exception, but I have a pair of lyretails that I got as small juveniles. One has transitioned to male. They have no issues with each other or any of their tankmates

Did you start with just the two or a larger group?

[billdogg]

Originally Posted by hkgar

Did you start with just the two or a larger group?

I started with 3. After the one turned male, one of the females just sort of withered away. No aggression that I could see. It was the smallest of the 3 when I got them.

[Apercula]

I bought a trio of lyretails for my 75g reef some years ago. After quarantine, I added them to my tank, and a couple weeks later the male developed a bacterial infection that ended up killing him. A few months later one of the females transitioned to male, and the remaining pair lived together for several years before I lost 90% of the tank to a heat spike.

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by hkgar

I all likely-hood it really won't matter. In such a confined space as our aquariums there will eventually be the lone survivor. But we have all tried.

If there is someone out their that has a school of Anthias for at least a year shout it out

So, so true!
I bought just one and it's coming up to three years, one working for me.

[hkgar]

I might add that when I tried 5 Anthias, I do not remember seeing aggression but they slowly "disappeared". Research seemed to indicate that they were passive aggression and usually take out the foes at night.