Squareback anthias ratio

[AydenLincoln]

I was thinking about 2-3 females to one male. Or just keep 3-4 females and one would turn into a male. They are about 3-4 inches now I have two. But I probably couldn’t go with more than 3-4 longterm at least as the tank is 75-gallons for now. Would a female pair be okay or the 2-3 females to one male?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Okay going to go with one male and two females.:)

 

[nereefpat]

Well that was quick. :p

I'm not really an anthias guy. It's seems like best practice is to get all females and let the m/f thing work out on its own.

Square backs are among the biggest anthias, I think. A smaller species is probably a better choice for a group in a 75 gallon.

 

[jda]

I would ask this in the fish forum to make sure that the right folks see this. IMO, these are not easy fish and I have them savage each other before and just ended up with one which always was a male. I don't even try them anymore in groups.

Maybe there is some secret, but I fed them a lot, had plenty of room, etc.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Multiple Anthias seem like they'd be very difficult to keep happy and we'll fed in a group since they constantly eat zooplankton in the wild. I know it's not uncommon to see small groups kept but perhaps there's a certain method that should be followed to keep them all well fed.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Well that was quick. :p

I'm not really an anthias guy. It's seems like best practice is to get all females and let the m/f thing work out on its own.

Square backs are among the biggest anthias, I think. A smaller species is probably a better choice for a group in a 75 gallon.

Yeah I did some more research. I have two females right now. I wanted to get the one a friend. So far so good no aggression and swimming together. They are around 3-4 inches now so not full grown. I may add a medium male but for now the girls are happily swimming together so I may keep it like that.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I learned the common and widely accepted ratio is either all females and the most dominant one turns into a male or one male to every two females! I know people who have kept a single male or female successfully as well.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

giving this a bump

 

[Tripod1404]

I learned the common and widely accepted ratio is either all females and the most dominant one turns into a male or one male to every two females! I know people who have kept a single male or female successfully as well.

In my experience, only the most dominant female turning into a male doesn’t really work in aquarium setting.

What have always occurred to me with multiple anthias species is that the most dominant one becomes a male. When this happens an intense hierarchal unrest starts where the male constantly harasses the females and females harass each other based on a hierarchical ladder. This eventually leads to the weakest female to start hiding most of the time and she cannot get enough food. After this point females keep dying one by one until you have a single male and the most dominant female.

Depending on the species, I have seen this one male one female arrangement to work , especially if there is a notable size difference between the male and the female. But in certain species the most dominant female will eventually transition to a male regardless, and they will fight until only one remains. Barletts are notorious for females transitioning even with a male being around

 

[Griev]

I really think the key is keeping as big group as you can. In the wild the M/F ratio is like 1/35-60. I've got a group of 12 in my 200, including two males living peacefully together. I think you run into problems when there's not enough fish to spread the male charging behavior out.