Tell me which Anthia to buy (1 Viewer)

[.Marshall]

Hi all, I'm planning on adding an anthia trio in my new 110g build (Here) sometime in the next few months. I've never kept an anthia of any kind, but I'm drawn to the bright orange/pinks.

Can someone point me in the right direction (just tell me what I should get) on an Anthia trio?

In no particular order, these appeal to me:

Dispar Anthias (Pseudanthias dispar)
Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)
Ignitus Anthias (Pseudanthias ignitus)
Randall's Anthias (Pseudanthias randalli)
Princess Anthias (Pseudanthias smithvanizi)
Sunset Anthias (Pseudanthias parvirostris)

Help?

 

[zoolan70]

I have kept Lyretail Anthias for a long time with great success. I've had groups as large as 12 and as few as a single fish in different tanks. They are great eaters and not nearly as sensitive to starvation as others I have tried. It is really neat to watch that one dominate fish change if you get a set of all females.

 

[Crum]

Lyretails in my experience are significantly easier than the other types. Dispars probably come in second. Other types can also be a lot more expensive and hard to find, if that makes a difference

I've had 8 lyretails for 2 years now, fed once a day. They are fat and happy and I have not lost a single one!

If i can give one piece of advice for any anthias - quarantine/treat them for uronema. They are extremely prone to uronema and it can wipe them all out in a short time. I have had good luck with formalin dips when putting them into 'unclean' systems. But it is definitely something to watch for.

 

[jlanger]

Lyretails! For the reasons given, plus the bright yellow/orange bodies really stand out much better against the reef than those with a color gradient.

 

[Juskr]

Lyretails are a great option. Another to consider is dispar Anthias. I had 5 with 3 Lyertails and I was surprised at the color.

 

[.Marshall]

Went with Lyretails, thanks all!

 

[H2OHOH]

Did you go male and 4 female? Or all female

On my list to try as well

 

[MistakesWereMade]

Lyretails are born female and will remain that way as juveniles. The dominant will transition to a male. I have had 5 for coming up on two years now. One started transitioning to male about 6 months after I added them. It is clearly larger now and has a different color than the rest but not nearly as prominent as the pictures you see online. They might still get a little bigger so the color may change a lot with age.

 

[Crum]

Lyretails are born female and will remain that way as juveniles. The dominant will transition to a male. I have had 5 for coming up on two years now. One started transitioning to male about 6 months after I added them. It is clearly larger now and has a different color than the rest but not nearly as prominent as the pictures you see online. They might still get a little bigger so the color may change a lot with age.

The color definitely continues to develop as they age. Mine has been male for about 1.5 years now.
The color also depends (I believe anyway) on what region the came from and possibly environment. I've had wild males come through sometimes with suuuper nice colors. But also many pics online are just photoshopped, lol

 

[Humblefish]

Just keep in mind down the road that sometimes it can be difficult to add other anthias with established lyretails. I would try something like bartletts, fasciatus, or squarebacks with them to match their aggression level.

 

[.Marshall]

Did you go male and 4 female? Or all female

On my list to try as well

I just ordered 3, looks like they came as 2 females and 1 male.

1 died, and the male became very aggressive so I put the male in my IM40 and the female in the 110g. The male goes to town with my two clowns who are already pretty territorial so they keep themselves busy.

I just placed another order from NY Aquatic for 3 more females for the 110g, we'll see how it goes.

Lyretails are born female and will remain that way as juveniles. The dominant will transition to a male. I have had 5 for coming up on two years now. One started transitioning to male about 6 months after I added them. It is clearly larger now and has a different color than the rest but not nearly as prominent as the pictures you see online. They might still get a little bigger so the color may change a lot with age.

I didn't know this, wish I knew this, but didn't! Thanks!

 

[clownnut]

sunset if you can find them. they are pretty just as easy as lyretails.
for anthias, larger the group easier for them to not die of stress.
anthias & chromis are "wife" beaters, having enough to spread out the beating is the key.

 

[nox.rupaw]

sunset if you can find them. they are pretty just as easy as lyretails.
for anthias, larger the group easier for them to not die of stress.
anthias & chromis are "wife" beaters, having enough to spread out the beating is the key.

Sunsets are highly under rates. A mature male sunset anthias is prettiest of them all

Like Li mentioned, start with 1 mature male and 5-6 females more if you can swing it.

at one point of time, i had a dozen lyretail, 8 purples, around 6 sunset, a few ignitus, and a trio of sunset anthias. Just make sure you have enough rock work for them to sleep in.