Picked up a couple of these today...Yellow Anthias?

[wienerdog]

They were sold as yellow anthias. I am not sure what kind they are, but they are beautiful. If anyone has some advice for me, please pass it on about these guys. Ive been considering picking up some for quite awhile and I was unsure as to what species. After my trigger took a plunge last night, I decided to do it. I forgot to put the cover back on the tank and in the morning found my trigger on the floor. Anyway, here are my new additions.

 

[wienerdog]

I think they are the Anthias Taira species. Can I add a male lyretail? Within the next day or so?

 

[dnov99]

Those are female Lyretail anthias, you can tell from the stripe behind the eye. I think you meant to say Tierra in the second post which those are not. Yes you can add a male to the group, feed them mysis and other meaty foods. Sorry about your trigger, good luck with the new fish, they are one of the more hardier Anthias.

 

[wienerdog]

There is one Male lyretail in the store. Do I need to add the male ASAP or can it wait a few weeks?

 

[dnov99]

There is one Male lyretail in the store. Do I need to add the male ASAP or can it wait a few weeks?

Probably best to do it sooner than later...

 

[TanksNStuff]

I would have suggested to wait at least a month to QT all those fish before adding to your main tank... but that's just me.

 

[wienerdog]

Could they be Squares? Their lines run all the way along the length of their bodies.

 

[falconut]

They look just like the female Lyretails I had. If you're gonna add a male I would do it now. The dominate female will morph and become the alpha. I had two females just like you and the larger one grew the long spike (like the males) and slightly changed color. She / he was the alpha, so if you wait you might have problems adding a male.

 

[Nickjr000]

Probably best to do it sooner than later...

Definitly

 

[wienerdog]

Will do. In fact, I may get the male tomorrow. If he's still available. However, when I look at side by side pics of the fish, I realy think theyb resemble pink square anthias most. the most distinguishing feature being the the two lateral lines that go the length of the body. Two lateral belly stripes are supposed to be pink square and the two lines directly behind the eyes are the lyretail. Mine seem to have the full body lines. Reason I am concerned is because my LFS has both the pink square male and the lyretail male. The square male is really large....atleast 5". I am worried about having three good size anthias in a 90g. Waddya guys think.

 

[Reef Fixations]

I don't know how many different lyretails there may be but all of the lyretails I had were an orange/peach coloration. Female squarebacks are yellow. It's hard to tell from your pics because of the lighting & picture quality.

Female lyretails have an orange stripe behind their eyes. I'm pretty sure that squareback females have stripes that go the length of their bodies just above their bellies.

I could be wrong, but judging by the pics, I'm going with squarebacks.

It is best to get the male as soon as possible because of the reasons that were already mentioned by the other members but also because sometimes anthias females will begin fighting with eachother to establish who is going to go thru with the sex change =). and because of that you (may) risk possibilities of injury which can sometimes result in either a fish getting wounded/dying and/or starting an ich outbreak from have a stressed out fish.

I've had females that don't do much to eachother and I've had Bimaculatus Anthias that have shreded eachother up.

Tierras are a more streamlined anthias whereas lyretails and squarebacks are stockier and have taller bodies.

I've attached pics of my own. First pic is of Lyretails and the orange female is up front with the Red/pink male behind her. 2nd is of Tierras and the male has the pink tail. The one with the white blotches is a stressed female. The third are Silverstreak (Goldie) Anthias. I didn't bother taking pics of the Bimacs because they were pretty torn up at the time

Best of luck

 

[Reef Fixations]

..........forgot to mention

I dunno if it was just my luck or if squarebacks are a little tougher than the others I've had but from my experience, they need to be fed more than my others. Anthias in general usually have to be fed many times a day and my squarebacks are the only ones that didn't last me more than a week even though I had fed them just as many times as my others that did just fine.

no pun intended but just food for thought.

I wonder if others have had experiences different from mine with them.

 

[wienerdog]

I don't know how many different lyretails there may be but all of the lyretails I had were an orange/peach coloration. Female squarebacks are yellow. It's hard to tell from your pics because of the lighting & picture quality.

Female lyretails have an orange stripe behind their eyes. I'm pretty sure that squareback females have stripes that go the length of their bodies just above their bellies.

I could be wrong, but judging by the pics, I'm going with squarebacks.

It is best to get the male as soon as possible because of the reasons that were already mentioned by the other members but also because sometimes anthias females will begin fighting with eachother to establish who is going to go thru with the sex change =). and because of that you (may) risk possibilities of injury which can sometimes result in either a fish getting wounded/dying and/or starting an ich outbreak from have a stressed out fish.

I've had females that don't do much to eachother and I've had Bimaculatus Anthias that have shreded eachother up.

Tierras are a more streamlined anthias whereas lyretails and squarebacks are stockier and have taller bodies.

I've attached pics of my own. First pic is of Lyretails and the orange female is up front with the Red/pink male behind her. 2nd is of Tierras and the male has the pink tail. The one with the white blotches is a stressed female. The third are Silverstreak (Goldie) Anthias. I didn't bother taking pics of the Bimacs because they were pretty torn up at the time

Best of luck

Thanks. They are definitely squarebacks. They have the definitive lines along their bellies. They are really beautiful. I decided against the male because my tank is a 90g. In my opinion, too small for three squarebacks. Real happy with the two.