Lyretail Anthias

atomic · 09-06-2004, 01:08 PM

Yesterday I decided I would buy some fish. My 80 gal is all ready to go, Ive got live rock, I've got smails, I've got hermit crabs, things are looking good. I pack up the family and head to my favorite LFS and start looking at my top five or so picks for easy to care for beginner sort of fish. We're looking at clowns of various species, cardinals, chromis etc... Each of these I have done some amount of reading about and feel confident I can care for them properly. As it turns out there is not a great selection of any of these critters right now (I guess their supplier is in Florida, hurricanes and whatnot preventing shipments). So the storekeeper suggests I look at some Anthias, he says their nice, non-agressive, reefsafe fish that I can put in my first marine tank. "Great" I say wrap me of a couple, he says three would be better. Ok so make it three. They look kinda plain to me but the kids like them well enough so what the heck.

I've never heard of these critters so once I get them home and acclimate them to my QT tank and toss them in, I pick up Bob Fenners book and look them up. Definately not a beginers fish, according to Bob. Best kept singly, according to Bob. So I'm a little bummed that I got maybe a little misled but that's my fault and I decide to make the best of it and raise these critters. A few hours later I notice that two of the fish have the enlogated dorsal spine, which indicates that they are male or at least semi male (hermaphrodites you know). That seems like it would be a problem to me as the guy that sold me the fish said "These are all female but I'll get you the big one cause she's about to switch". I called the store and explained the situation and was told something on the order of "They'll be fine". No explaination no questions just "They're fine". So enough of the long winded introduction.

How much trouble are these fish in? Can I take care of them, these are the first marine fish I or anybody I know (know well at least) have ever owned. Are two semi-male Anthias in the same tank really going to be "Just fine"?

Thanks

Tom

By the way, after getting them home it became obvious that these guys are not "plain", absolutely beautiful fish. Must have been the lighting at the store.

Jeremiah · 09-06-2004, 01:41 PM

Here is a link with some info on these fish.

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...54&TopCatId=20

I think they will be fine, might be a little playfull fighting now and again if you have 2 males in there but 80 gallons should be big enough for them to each go to thier own corner if it gets to rough.

Jeremiah

AnemicOak · 09-06-2004, 02:09 PM

From the Live Aquaria entry on these guys.

"The Lyretail Anthais does best when kept in a species-specific tank of at least 125 gallons for a group. Males are best kept alone with several females, or singly."

Don't know how good their info is though.

AnemicOak · 09-06-2004, 02:16 PM

Ok, I went and grabbed my Marine Fishes book, by Scott Michael. Here's what he has to say...

Max Length = 4.7"

Min. Aquarium = 55 gal.

Foods/Feeding = Meaty foods for zooplankton feeders, including mysid shrimp, vitamin-enriched brine shrimp, and frozen preparations. Feed at least 4 times a day.

Care/Survivability = durable & hardy

Reef Compatability = Excellent

Captive Care = Solitary individuals do best. To keep a group, choose one male & 8 or more females and house them in an extra large tank (180 gal. or more). A varied diet is necessary for good health & color.

HTH

JnS · 09-06-2004, 02:26 PM

I would say your tank is too small for 3. the store misled you into buying them...like most do.
good luck with them, hope they do well.

David Grigor · 09-06-2004, 03:31 PM

They do tend to loose color the older they get.......

MERCEDES · 09-06-2004, 04:07 PM

If you can I would return them all or return 2. We have a 220g tank and we bought 3 square spot anthias thinking we had 2 females and 1 male. We were so wrong, learned my lesson shopping for fish without the Marine Fishes book. One male has died, they wouldn't let him eat and the other 2 do squabble so one may end up in my 75g with the small group of fish I have in there. I am sure you paid a lot for the fish and I would hate to see you lose them. No one likes to lose fish, since it hasn't been too long try to get the LFS to take them back and get the clowns or the chromis(blue-green)do not get damsels they are devils with fins and are total terrors to other fish. Your kids will love the clownfish and they are fun to watch. Good luck, you have just started down the path of no return hehehehehe

That is a really nice size tank to start out with and hopefully we will see you at one of the reef club meetings. Welcome!
ps if you don't have the Marine Fishes book please get it. This book will make your life a lot easier

Imaexpat2 · 09-06-2004, 07:11 PM

Its all about making money more times that not and youve been had by them. Thats pretty sad that they would stoop so low. I often find that LFS are really arent that much better than online dealers. You just get to see before you buy is the biggest selling point realistically. The males will probably fight till one is no more. As mentioned earlier a large tank is desiable for them. The reason for 6-8 females is so that agrresion from the male can be spread around a little. They are a nice looking fish though for sure.

atomic · 09-06-2004, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JnS

good luck with them, hope they do well.

Thanks Jerry, by the way, they love the cyclops-eeze.

Well, I'm kinda bummed, I really like that store. I'll have to call them again tomorrow and see if they are willing to make things right in some way. It doesn't seem like this is one of those "difference of opinion" sort of things, I've been searching around and I can't really find success stories (with multiple anthias in an 80 gal). Though I guess people don't talk about things as much when all is stable.

Thanks for all the comments everybody, its helping me to realize that as much as I want to try, its probably a bit foolish to keep all these animals.

Tom

Jeremiah · 09-06-2004, 09:07 PM

BTW, what store was this?

Can just PM me if you don't want to say outloud...

atomic · 09-06-2004, 09:23 PM

I haven't mentioned because I like this store and I feel some responsibility for the mess (I should'nt have bought a fish I didn't know anything about, and next time the kids stay home).

Let me call them tomorrow and see what they say. They seem to have advised me in the past in ways that didn't cause me to buy stuff I don't need. (me:"so Phos Ban will get rid of the phosphates"?, clerk: "You don't need Phos Ban". me: "how many bags of sand do I need for a DSB"? clerk:"Maybe you want to read up on DSB's they're not all the rage they once were")

I'm a bit surprised I'd be intentionally misled by them. One way or the other, I'll post the name of the store. After I look up the definitions for libel and slander, just to be safe.

Jeremiah · 09-06-2004, 09:50 PM

That's cool, I allready think I know which one it is. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions.

atomic · 09-07-2004, 09:41 PM

I didn't start this thread with the intent of bashing the store where I bought the fish. It seems to have taken on a little of that feel. I went back there on my lunch break today and I explained the situation to the clerk and he agreed anthias were best kept in groups of 1 male to a least 8 females, he said it would be no problem to return the fish. I asked to talk to the manager just to be sure, the manager said sure bring'em in (seemed slightly annoyed but might just be his way). So I pack up two of the fish and trot them over to the store and guy who sold them to me is there. He took a good 15 minutes talking to me about his thoughts on on the anthias' in general and lyretails in specific. He said he had lots of experience (with anthias) and he stuck by his recommendation, said he thought they would do well together. This was after assuring me that he'd take the fish or replace the fish (the pseudo male, with a female) or whatever I decided. In the end I kept the fish, I like them. I hope for their sake it wasn't a mistake but if it was, it's my mistake. I still like Something Fishy I hope that isn't a mistake.

Jeremiah · 09-08-2004, 06:05 AM

I'm sorry, I didn't have the intention to bash any fish store. I was thinking of a different one then something fishy. They usually give pretty good advice there. I just think that reefers have a responsiblity to pass on information about fish stores, be it bad or good information, to other reefers to help them make better and more informed decisions about where they would like to shop and where it might be better to just pass. Something fishy has always been real nice, and have returned fish for me that didn't do good with other fish. Thats real cool that they were willing to take the fish back if you wanted.

Jeremiah

atomic · 09-08-2004, 08:45 AM

I wasn't suggesting that you turned the thread bad. Just that it had drifted that way.
I agree, keeping bad stores a secret doesn't help anyone.
Even if my fish start shredding each other, I'm not going to think I got horrible advice (but I may take advice with a bigger grain of salt next time).