How long do single Anthias live?

[Zionas]

Once I set up my tank I might consider adding only a single Lyretail Anthias (female, my LFS doesn’t get males). I know Anthias tend to kill each other off if kept in a group and the pressure exerted on each individual takes a toll on their lifespan. How long can I expect a single, female Lyretail to live? Do they really need to be fed a couple times a day? What about their disease resistance and overall hardiness?

Would also love to hear your experiences with keeping Anthias singly. If kept singly and purchased as females can they live easily to 10 or more years?

1. Which species?

2. Size at time of purchase?

3. Current size?

4. How long have you had it?

5. Any struggles with feeding or disease?

6. Tankmates and tank size?


Thanks!

 

[wonroc]

This is my guy. Need to feed alot. He has a hiding spot as well. Doesnt bother the other fish at all. Dont know about longevity.

 

[Zionas]

How long have you had him for and how big was he when you got him?

 

[wonroc]

2 months. Not much growth. Will only eat mysis. Wont even look at pellets or flake

 

[TangGang]

I’ve had my single female for 6 years, the majority of which she only got 1 big feeding a day. She is big now about 5 inches and extremely hardy, she was probably 2 inches at best when I got her. I have 5 other species anthias in the tank that she loves to dominate. Also lyretails in my experience are one of the meaner anthias, even to other fish.

 

[SDguy]

Over the years I've kept lyretails, bartletts, dispar, ignitus... maybe some random others, none of the big guys like bimacs, red belts, etc. which I may guess would be longer lived. Lyretails were the longest lived for me at around 6 years. I always kept groups, so of course as the dominant male would get old, the next in line would get aggressive. So I am unsure if a single specimen would live longer or not. Does the social aspect counteract the lack of pecking order? Who knows....

 

[Reefvision]

I have a single orange lyretail that I’ve had about 1.5years now in my 55G. I initially had 3 females and 1 male, but now just the one due to jumping out . I saved a few times when I was in the area. Usually they would jump at feeding time although there was one that was chased a lot till it became a carpet casualty. The one left now seems fine and eats everything and is housed with coral beauty, file fish,small dark tang and a fang tooth blenny

 

[Haydn]

I know Anthias tend to kill each other off if kept in a group

I sorry I have to question this statement. How do you 'know' anthias tend to kill each other in a group.

I have kept Lyretailed, Bartletts, Dispar, Ignitus, Bimacs, Resplendant, Evansii, Sunset and Red saddled anthias. The only species I have found that may kill each other are Bartletts because they seem to want to change to males irrespective, and fight. At the moment in my system I have well over 50 anthias of various species. I currently have 8 Lyretailed anthias with two males. In the past I had over 20 lyretails, which included 3 full breeding males, 4-5 sub (non-breeding) males the rest females of various ages. Since the lockdown in the UK in March 2020 no new anthias have been added and I seem to have a stable population. Yes I have lost a couple of fish but not because of aggression.

Yes of course there is dominance behavior by the males which included chasing and mild aggression but I have never lost a fish to over aggression.

I am afraid just because you have read it on the internet doesn't make it true and to be honest how misinformation starts.

 

[ThePurple12]

I‘ve never heard of anthias killing each other in a group, that’s what people say about chromis. Anthias are more like guppies: the males are aggressive to the females, but nowhere near killing them.

I currently have a male anthias and a female anthias, and am planning on getting more females for a proper shoal. There’s hardly any aggression from the male.

I wouldn’t do it. I think the stress of a shoaling fish being kept by itself greatly outweighs the stress from aggression, and that would take much more of a toll on the lifespan. I say this because every time I’ve seen an anthias by itself in a store, it’s hiding and only comes out to eat.

BTW- if you buy a female, it will change to a male if kept singly.

 

[Lindaanne60]

2 months. Not much growth. Will only eat mysis. Wont even look at pellets or flake

Did you ever give brine shrimp? Thats what mine eats. No pellets though.

 

[jaxteller007]

We started with 6 lyretails a few months ago. Quickly whittled down to 3 in a matter of days. The 3 left, no idea if male or female as they are roughly same size and look. They are occasionally aggressive to each other but nothing super violent that I've seen.
They are definitely not finicky eaters in our tank. They go after flakes, pellets, frozen, and definitely the pods.

 

[jaxteller007]

I also have no idea if they 3 that died were killed by aggression or just didn't survive. By the time I saw their bodies they had been picked over by the CuC.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a red lyretail alone for almost 2 years and then added the girls.
How long any fish is dependent upon overall tank health, diet, tank size and what fish are in the tank with it.

 

[Zionas]

Ahh how long have you had the Lyretail male (I presume?) and the girls as of this year?

 

[Demogorgon]

I am just getting started with my reef tank and currently have a dispar, a resplendent and a lyretail. For the first few months the dispar was mostly hiding except for feeding time. The lyretail would push around the smaller resplendent just before bed time. Five months in the resplendent had a sudden growth spurt and has come out of her shell. Six months in they are frequently swimming as a trio. Other inhabitants are an emperor angel, a sailfin blenny and a pair of clownfish. I currently have a royal gramma and a sunburst anthia in quarantine. Pretty peaceful so far.

 

[BContos]

I am just getting started with my reef tank and currently have a dispar, a resplendent and a lyretail. For the first few months the dispar was mostly hiding except for feeding time. The lyretail would push around the smaller resplendent just before bed time. Five months in the resplendent had a sudden growth spurt and has come out of her shell. Six months in they are frequently swimming as a trio. Other inhabitants are an emperor angel, a sailfin blenny and a pair of clownfish. I currently have a royal gramma and a sunburst anthia in quarantine. Pretty peaceful so far.

Did you buy all females?