Help me anthias owners. I need an advice for 130 Gal tank

Stuginski

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Hi reefers, how are u?

I need some advices and opinions of the anthias keepers. Well, iam with a 130gal tank cycling at the moment. It will be a SPS tank. I would like to have an anthias group (as big as i could). I read many threads and articles about how to keep them and I know that some species can be very agressive. I also know that they need many feeds per day. In fact, in the past I kept a lyretail for some time but It was Just one female. Now that I want a group I guess i will have a much bigger challenge. I was thinking primarly on lyretails again (as far as I know the easiest to keep). I really love lyretails but I know they can be problematic in terms of agression. The other possibility would be a dispar group, iam not fan of dispar as much as lyretails but they look nice and seems to be much more mild agressive. So my questiona are: 1) A group of lyretail would work in long term in a 130 Gal? 2) How many fishes in this group would work best to decrease over agression? 3) How this could work with dispar? 4) What species are my best bet? 5) Any other anthias species would work better?

As a background info, besides the Anthias i want to put one or two Tangs and two yellow coris also. Maybe few other small fish. I have a huge skimmer.

Thank you very much guys!

Best regards

D.
 

Sierra_Bravo

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Hi reefers, how are u?

I need some advices and opinions of the anthias keepers. Well, iam with a 130gal tank cycling at the moment. It will be a SPS tank. I would like to have an anthias group (as big as i could). I read many threads and articles about how to keep them and I know that some species can be very agressive. I also know that they need many feeds per day. In fact, in the past I kept a lyretail for some time but It was Just one female. Now that I want a group I guess i will have a much bigger challenge. I was thinking primarly on lyretails again (as far as I know the easiest to keep). I really love lyretails but I know they can be problematic in terms of agression. The other possibility would be a dispar group, iam not fan of dispar as much as lyretails but they look nice and seems to be much more mild agressive. So my questiona are: 1) A group of lyretail would work in long term in a 130 Gal? 2) How many fishes in this group would work best to decrease over agression? 3) How this could work with dispar? 4) What species are my best bet? 5) Any other anthias species would work better?

As a background info, besides the Anthias i want to put one or two Tangs and two yellow coris also. Maybe few other small fish. I have a huge skimmer.

Thank you very much guys!

Best regards

D.

I've never had lyretails, but I've had five bimac anthias in a 120 for the past 2.5 years, along with a purple tang, whitetail bristle tooth tang, a spot breast angel, wrasse, clowns, a couple of chromis, a couple of gobies, blenny, dragonette, and four zebra-barred dartfish. The tank is loaded with acros and other SPS, and I have no nutrient issues due to lots of live rock, a large skimmer, and my refugium.

I started with six bimacs; the male started hiding about six months in and I lost him. The remaining five females have flourished, and only recently have I seen one starting to switch genders. Great fish, they eat frozen in the morning and pellets on a feeder in the afternoon and evening. Always out and about swimming and adding great color to the tank..
 
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Stuginski

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I've never had lyretails, but I've had five bimac anthias in a 120 for the past 2.5 years, along with a purple tang, whitetail bristle tooth tang, a spot breast angel, wrasse, clowns, a couple of chromis, a couple of gobies, blenny, dragonette, and four zebra-barred dartfish. The tank is loaded with acros and other SPS, and I have no nutrient issues due to lots of live rock, a large skimmer, and my refugium.

I started with six bimacs; the male started hiding about six months in and I lost him. The remaining five females have flourished, and only recently have I seen one starting to switch genders. Great fish, they eat frozen in the morning and pellets on a feeder in the afternoon and evening. Always out and about swimming and adding great color to the tank..

Thks Sierra. Bimacs are amazing. Sadly not really common here in Brazil. What about agressions? Do u think u could have a larger group without issues...like ten bimacs?

Best regards
 

TangGang

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Hi reefers, how are u?

I need some advices and opinions of the anthias keepers. Well, iam with a 130gal tank cycling at the moment. It will be a SPS tank. I would like to have an anthias group (as big as i could). I read many threads and articles about how to keep them and I know that some species can be very agressive. I also know that they need many feeds per day. In fact, in the past I kept a lyretail for some time but It was Just one female. Now that I want a group I guess i will have a much bigger challenge. I was thinking primarly on lyretails again (as far as I know the easiest to keep). I really love lyretails but I know they can be problematic in terms of agression. The other possibility would be a dispar group, iam not fan of dispar as much as lyretails but they look nice and seems to be much more mild agressive. So my questiona are: 1) A group of lyretail would work in long term in a 130 Gal? 2) How many fishes in this group would work best to decrease over agression? 3) How this could work with dispar? 4) What species are my best bet? 5) Any other anthias species would work better?

As a background info, besides the Anthias i want to put one or two Tangs and two yellow coris also. Maybe few other small fish. I have a huge skimmer.

Thank you very much guys!

Best regards

D.
You might have made your decision by now, but I would definitely choose resplendent or Randall’s anthias if you want a lot. They are one of the least aggressive anthias, they are not hard to get feeding, and they are cheap. Also the males of both Randall’s and resplendents are amazing. My male resplendent is a very beautiful fish that holds his color really well, I cannot get a close up of him but here is a link about Randall’s anthias, and the first picture is of a male. https://reefs.com/magazine/the-randalls-anthias-part-ii-of-shoaling-fishes/
 
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Stuginski

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You might have made your decision by now, but I would definitely choose resplendent or Randall’s anthias if you want a lot. They are one of the least aggressive anthias, they are not hard to get feeding, and they are cheap. Also the males of both Randall’s and resplendents are amazing. My male resplendent is a very beautiful fish that holds his color really well, I cannot get a close up of him but here is a link about Randall’s anthias, and the first picture is of a male. https://reefs.com/magazine/the-randalls-anthias-part-ii-of-shoaling-fishes/
Thank you!

In fact I was almost decided to put Just one male lyretail or bimac or a bartlett. I would love a shoal but iam really afraid about agressions. Randalls are cool also. I never saw any for sale in Brazil but I will search a little bit more!

Best regards

D.
 

Gablami

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I have a school of 10 dispars in my tank. And when I say, school, they really do school. If you only get a few, they will hide most of the time. They are not very aggressive at all. I’ve had lyretails, Bartlett’s (imo Bartlett’s are more aggressive), sailfin anthias, and bimacs.

Even though the dispars are less colorful, they are peaceful and beautiful.

DAD4A091-BD3F-4730-BE13-D643E6728045.jpeg
 

Gablami

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Twice. Been doing so for years with previous anthias. Not sure where it came about that anthias need multiple feedings a day to do well. Maybe it’s something one person wrote and just got perpetuated.
 
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Stuginski

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I have a school of 10 dispars in my tank. And when I say, school, they really do school. If you only get a few, they will hide most of the time. They are not very aggressive at all. I’ve had lyretails, Bartlett’s (imo Bartlett’s are more aggressive), sailfin anthias, and bimacs.

Even though the dispars are less colorful, they are peaceful and beautiful.

DAD4A091-BD3F-4730-BE13-D643E6728045.jpeg
Gorgeous group! How big os your tank? By the way, do you think males of different species could live in a relative peace without females? I mean a male lyretail and a male bimac for example? Or maybe a bartlett?
I know they will kill any male of the same species but I don't know how this agression would be among different species. I know that some guys keep multi species tank with males of different species but i never saw a "multi male only tank".

Best regards

D
 

Gablami

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Gorgeous group! How big os your tank? By the way, do you think males of different species could live in a relative peace without females? I mean a male lyretail and a male bimac for example? Or maybe a bartlett?
I know they will kill any male of the same species but I don't know how this agression would be among different species. I know that some guys keep multi species tank with males of different species but i never saw a "multi male only tank".

Best regards

D
I’m no expert, but it’s definitely riskier. One comfort is that if you have multiple species, that I don’t think one will turn male from each species. If one male lyretail is dominant, it should bully the other sub males (even of other species) and keep them from turning male. I haven’t tried it though. My current bimacs don’t seem to care about the dispars.
 

TangGang

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Gorgeous group! How big os your tank? By the way, do you think males of different species could live in a relative peace without females? I mean a male lyretail and a male bimac for example? Or maybe a bartlett?
I know they will kill any male of the same species but I don't know how this agression would be among different species. I know that some guys keep multi species tank with males of different species but i never saw a "multi male only tank".

Best regards

D
Yes you can mix males of different species, but if your tank is not that under 200g (roughly) I would mix males of the more aggressive species, such as squarebacks or lyretails. I’ve found what works best for different species is one aggressive male, so a lyretail for example, with males of the peaceful species, such as sunset or Randall’s. In my tank I have only 1 female lyretail who is the dominant anthias, with a male resplendent, male Bartlett, male princess, and male Evansi with at least 1 female for each male. Having a female for each male reduces the chances that the males will look to other males to fight. The only aggressive anthias is the lyretail, which are usually very aggressive I wouldn’t even want to have a male of the lyretail, so if I were you I would skip that.
 

Radman73

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I had a group of 6 lyretails in my 220. 1 male and 5 females turned into 2 males and 4 females. Sadly I lost 2 of the females in a tank leak and new tank setup in 18 hours(that was a fun day) so one of the males went into the fuge(75gal) and I now have a male and two females in the ~100gal DT. I haven't found my lyretails to be aggressive, but that my just be the tank mates. Even with the 2 males in the 220, everyone got along as long as they stayed on their side.

Best of luck! I had plans of adding an additional 6 Dispar's to the 220 before the leak. They're all beautiful fish.
 
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