Lyretail Anthias, transitioning, what to do?

[WhyMe?]

History is, 540g up and running 15 months now. Initially had 1 male anthia and 5 females and into tank same time and week later introduced 2 more females from established tank that was being broken down. No issues, but was concerned 1 male to 7 females. 20+ years ago had same type anthias but never more than 5 females. IN last two weeks, male has been "bullying" what appears to be the strongest female. Now that same female is definitely changing to male based on coloration and dorsal fin. I do not know which is the "strongest" as both are trying to establish dominance. There is no way I am going to be able to catch one, way too fast, even at feeding I tried. Too many places to hide. Based on how live rock is, not a way to put divider in tank either. Any other options on attempting to catch one? Unfortunately, don't think this will end well.

 

[Miami Reef]

The female has over-dominated and will eventually kill the other male once it fully transitions.

Females can overtake a male at any time. A fish trap is the best bet. I highly recommend one.

 

[areefer01]

Lyretail, Sea Goldies, are a pain for this reason. You have a large enough system that it may play out but I've not read many posts with having multiples long term. Seems most do this dance with the end result of the last one standing sort of thing. In fact the vendor I use to quarantine often times sees multiple transitioning during his process. It is a bit crazy.

I was jokingly suggesting adding another 7 to 12, which might help distribute the transition aggression more evenly. However, this is, of course, not feasible as it takes time to properly source QT animals or handle it independently.

Side note - I myself have given up on these fish after trying 7 on my own. I know keep Pink Squares. Of course that doesn't help you today but maybe look at them in the future should you try anthias again.

Edit: Oh - fish traps are great but I've not had much luck with Anthias. If you do try one get one that allows entering from the side. My bubble trap didn't seem to work. Too short on entry maybe, not sure. Side entry I had better luck.

 

[Miami Reef]

The bubble magus trap is what I’m referring to. It’s the best!

 

[WhyMe?]

20+ years ago had a 230g and did "well" with the anthias, at least 4 years and no transitions.
Figured in 540g would be ok. I'll take a look a the bubble magus fish trap.
Could I add shoal of pink squares to tank with lyretails in there or too much aggression with cross species? Haven't research that enough.

 

[Miami Reef]

Could I add shoal of pink squares to tank with lyretails in there or too much aggression with cross species? Haven't research that enough.

Yes. You can. Lyretails and Pink Squares can cohabitate. There can be 2 males of different species in this case.

 

[areefer01]

Could I add shoal of pink squares to tank with lyretails in there or too much aggression with cross species? Haven't research that enough.

I have not kept the two different types together so have no experience. I've seen both while scuba diving and a more recent dive with each reef crest having many, many, Lyretail groups with multiple males.

I can say though that my Pink Squares are captive bred and purchase directly from Biota. They arrived small and somewhat translucent in color. They are large fish and grow at a decent rate. I am guessing they will reach anywhere from 6 to 8 inches in size once done. They are very fast swimmers and voracious eaters. I feed my display hourly between the hours of 0830 and 1830 dry food, small portions. I feed one or two frozen feedings per day again small portions.

The dominate Pink Square does not have its fully color yet but is noticeably different than the rest. It does the chasing, head buts, and nudges keeping the others in check. They do not have fight clubs, no torn fins. Just chilling then a sudden burst of speed from the dominate one to the others to say hey, I'm here sort of thing.

This also happens to the other fish in the display. Not all of them but the smaller butterflies I have (Milletseed and Copperband) along with the damsels. I have 11 Lyretail Damsels and again the dominate anthias will dive bomb them randomly with a small chase until they retreat around a coral colony to break the chase. All is calm until this gets repeated. This behavior is similar to what I see scuba diving on a heavily populated reef crest. A lot of hustle, bustle, and activity. Nothing deadly but you see it.

While you sort out the trap or removal, one thing maybe you can try if it doesn't mess up your display, is to increase the flow and feed a couple more times per day if you are not already. Maybe both changes will slow the transition down.

Honestly not sure. Sorry.

 

[WhyMe?]

I am feeding Avast reef jerky in auto feeder 4 times from 830am to 745pm then additional 2 times frozen brine shrimp. Tank is 8' long and 3' high, wide. Regarding flow, running x5 MP60s at about 70% power, x 5 Neptune WAVs at about 50% power then returns another 2000GPH+, but not really depending on returns for "flow" per se. In last 3 months, been adding corals and playing with flow more but trying to control the sand blowing everywhere. I like FLOW!!!! Think will add more feedings and even increase flow more.