How many lyretail anthias should I get as a group in a 180?

[mrpontiac80]

I have a 180 gallon mixed reef with the following
Foxface lo
Purple tang
Two spot tang
Midas blenny
2 pj cardinal
2 bangi cardinals
2 clowns

How many lyretail anthias would be ideal? I want to add one or two more other fish at some point also like a royal gramma, and another tang but not sure which one yet

 

[stovenut]

I would suggest 6 females.

I have a 6' 135g peninsula reef with lots of open swimming room and 4 tangs. I ordered 6 females and 2 hardly ever came out of the rock work. So I ended up with 1 male and 3 females in a harem for 2 years. Over time my largest female gets the urge to take on the male. So after 2 years I ended up with 1 male and 1 female. I ordered 4 more females last year, to get back to 6. I lost one and have 5, so it's been hard for me to keep 6. So 4 or 5 is my magic number in a 135g. I think a 180 with fewer large fish can definitely handle a harem of 6. You might even want to order 7 as I find that one always gets picked off early on.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I would suggest 6 females.

I have a 6' 135g peninsula reef with lots of open swimming room and 4 tangs. I ordered 6 females and 2 hardly ever came out of the rock work. So I ended up with 1 male and 3 females in a harem for 2 years. Over time my largest female gets the urge to take on the male. So after 2 years I ended up with 1 male and 1 female. I ordered 4 more females last year, to get back to 6. I lost one and have 5, so it's been hard for me to keep 6. So 4 or 5 is my magic number in a 135g. I think a 180 with fewer large fish can definitely handle a harem of 6. You might even want to order 7 as I find that one always gets picked off early on.

I think I’m going to try for 7 and hopefully they will work out. I think they would add a nice touch to the tank

 

[littlefoxx]

I have a 180 gallon mixed reef with the following
Foxface lo
Purple tang
Two spot tang
Midas blenny
2 pj cardinal
2 bangi cardinals
2 clowns

How many lyretail anthias would be ideal? I want to add one or two more other fish at some point also like a royal gramma, and another tang but not sure which one yet

I have one male and 4 females in mine

 

[blaxsun]

Odd numbers seem to work out best for some reason.

 

[littlefoxx]

Odd numbers seem to work out best for some reason.

Odd numbers as the whole group or odd numbers with just the females?

 

[blaxsun]

Odd numbers as the whole group or odd numbers with just the females?

Both.