Anthias Question

[this is me]

I put in 8 Indian Ocean Lyretails back in Jan of 2017 when I first started the tank. One male and 7 females. The male was small and one of the larger female shortly took over and the male perished away. I still have 7 Lyretails. The male that took over is still patrolling the pack but there IS a female that is ready to take over when he gets weak and old.
They do their ritual dance and spawning almost every night when the tank is under actinic.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I had a group of about 8 in my system at one point in time (of this species, supposedly one of the easiest to keep of the Anthias). Keep in mind that these fish do not live all that long compared to many other fish we might keep (angels, clowns, gobies, damsels, etc.). My experience was that the male rushed around very fast trying to keep all the females in line (tough job for any species I suppose!). This resulted in the male dying fairly early and then the next biggest female taking over the job (becoming male, as those that know about Anthias will understand). The process continued until there were no fish left. I don't remember exactly how long it was, but I'd say probably more than 1 year, but less than 3. I probably have the exact notes somewhere.

The same has happened in my tank with the last two disappearing just a few weeks ago. I love them though, all that darting around everywhere. My Evansi Anthias seem to last a little longer and school better than the Lyretail. Still I plan on replacing them because I like them so much.

 

[Bao]

I kept Lyretail Anthias for years and found that they are quite easy to keep alive. They can survive on 2 feedings a day. However, to keep the vibrant colors that they have in the ocean is quite difficult. You have to feed multiple times a day with good quality and variety frozen foods in order to help them keep the vibrant colors. I used to feed them 4-5 times a day. The first pair that I kept lived for a bit more than 6 years. The second pair lived for about 7 years.

 

[Greg Hiller]

6 years is great. I might have been underfeeding as they are such active fish they may burn through the calories. I'm just not home enough to feed 4-5 times a day, and an autofeeder just with flake food would probably not do the trick.

 

[TJ Reefer]

I am taking them off the list.