Multiple male wrasses

[Ridgeback1]

(Ignore title--I say wrasses but I meant anthias--can't figure out how to edit the title). I ordered multiple female Lyretail anthias from an online vendor and they sent me all males. Due to some being DOA, I have now four male of these anthias. They are in my QT right now. My question is: Assuming all make it through quarantine, can I put four male Lyretail anthias into my display tank or is it going to end up in a battle to the death among them? My tank is 7 feet long and 327 gallons with two large islands of live rock with lots of negative free open water space between and above those islands. There are plenty of other active fish including a Sargassum trigger, Asfur angel, yellow tang, three blue tangs, Saddleback butterfly, two coral beauty angels (Biota--introduced at same time and get along great), and miscellaneous clowns, damsels, gobies, blennies, cardinals, dottybacks.

 

[Subsea]

Not being an expert on Anthias, I googled your fish and after reading AI, I ask you How did you determine the sex of the fish?

“The Sea goldie (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) is a small, colorful marine fish that lives in large schools around coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. [1, 2, 3]”

“Appearance and Colors”
Sea goldies look very different depending on their sex, a trait called sexual dimorphism. [1]

• • “Females: They are smaller, growing up to about 3 inches (7 cm). They have a bright orange or golden color with a thin blue or purple stripe near the eye. [1, 2]”
  • “Males: They are larger, growing up to 6 inches (15 cm). They have a magenta-pink or reddish body with longer fins and a long front spine on their top (dorsal) fin. [1, 2, 3]”

Habitat and Diet

• • Where they live: They prefer clear water near coral reefs, lagoons, and drop-offs. They swim at depths from the surface down to 180 feet (55 meters). [1, 2, 3]
  • What they eat: They are carnivores that feed mainly on tiny floating animals called zooplankton. They hunt together in large groups in the current above the reef. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Social Life and Sex Changes

• • “Harems: They live in groups called harems. A single dominant male leads a group of several females.”
  • “Changing Sex: All sea goldies are born as females. If the main male of the group dies, the largest and strongest female changes her body and becomes a male to take his place. This process is known as being a protogynous hermaphrodite. [1, 2,”

Sea goldies
“They are often seen in large shoals. Sea goldies have the following characteristics: * **Females** Orange-gold with a blue strip.”

 

[Ridgeback1]

The coloration and dorsal spine are quite prominently different in the males. And the vendor labeled the bags as males .

 

[Ridgeback1]

ChatGPT reports that some hobbyists with large tanks similar to mine have succeeded in keeping multiple males, with and without females. If there are only males you don't get the shoaling behavior and you have to hope that they decide not to beat the tar out of each other and just kind of stick to their own territories with only occasional passing squabbles (the tank is big enough that I have three distinct clownfish territories and the three clown pairs completely ignore each other).

 

[littlefoxx]

(Ignore title--I say wrasses but I meant anthias--can't figure out how to edit the title). I ordered multiple female Lyretail anthias from an online vendor and they sent me all males. Due to some being DOA, I have now four male of these anthias. They are in my QT right now. My question is: Assuming all make it through quarantine, can I put four male Lyretail anthias into my display tank or is it going to end up in a battle to the death among them? My tank is 7 feet long and 327 gallons with two large islands of live rock with lots of negative free open water space between and above those islands. There are plenty of other active fish including a Sargassum trigger, Asfur angel, yellow tang, three blue tangs, Saddleback butterfly, two coral beauty angels (Biota--introduced at same time and get along great), and miscellaneous clowns, damsels, gobies, blennies, cardinals, dottybacks.

What kind of anthias??

 

[Ridgeback1]

What kind of anthias??

Lyretail

 

[rowenaad]

did you order from saltwaterfish.com? cuz the exact same thing (ordered 5 and received 5 male and 1 DOA) happened to another reefer yesterday https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/need-fast-help.1170052/ the seller sorted out for him

 

[littlefoxx]

Lyretail

Are all of them orange or a purple/pink color?

 

[Ridgeback1]

did you order from saltwaterfish.com? cuz the exact same thing (ordered 5 and received 5 male and 1 DOA) happened to another reefer yesterday https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/need-fast-help.1170052/ the seller sorted out for him

Yes, and the vendor is so far being very responsive and engaged.

 

[Ridgeback1]

Vendor is sending me 8 female anthias free of charge. So, now I have to find homes for three of the males (and don't have a LFS within 100 miles).

 

[synapticfire]

I had something similar happen just a few days ago, I ordered 3 Resplendent Anthias from my local Petco ( I know, Petco) and they ordered 3 males. I shouldn't have taken them home, but here I am, stuck with 3 males in QT and a bunch of regrets.

 

[Ridgeback1]

I had something similar happen just a few days ago, I ordered 3 Resplendent Anthias from my local Petco ( I know, Petco) and they ordered 3 males. I shouldn't have taken them home, but here I am, stuck with 3 males in QT and a bunch of regrets.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that. (Petco sources usually from quality, ethical wholesalers...it's what happens in a particular store after that which is variable...and they bring in fish like three spot damsels sometimes, unfortunately).