School of Anthias
 

I'm just wondering if you buy a school of anthias without a male, is it more stressful for the rest of the females to survive until one changes to a male or should they be fine? Thanks.

I have had 4 females in my tank for 6 months and i have no male yet:(
About a month into it the 2 larger females battled it out for about 4 days. Mouth locking every 2 secs i though t one was turning then. But after the 4 days all was good and i have yet to have a problem with them. They all stay together. So i would say it would be fine.

Lisa

What are the differences between the males and females? Whoa... maybe that's a question for my Mom and Dad.

reply
 

I think the general diference is that the males have either a distinguishing feature or more vibrant coloration, depending on the type of anthias. They are much like African cichlids in that regard. For example, in red cheek anthias only the male actually has the red cheek, the females remain 1 solid color.

Usually after a while, there should be a male starting to form in a female group, the difference between them is color and form which will change in a female to become a male. What kind of anthias are we talking here? Dispar? Bartlett?

Best to buy all females at first I personally think. That way they can sort things out and be done with it.

It is possible for a big female to bully a small male and actually turn into a male herself, then you have 2 males which causes problems most of the time.

They're dispars. I've got them acclimating right now. They look amazing.

Hey Jaws, I've had 3 dispars in the past. Did great until I moved them. I would really love to house a larger school of anthias, I'm just worried about students going from honor roll to drop outs! Let us know how your dispars do on their SAT's please?

Reference material I've read says that Anthias need to be fed often...more than once per day.

I feed at least twice a day now but I plan on upping it to three times a day. They do need to be fed often but in very small amounts apparently. It was pretty funny when I finally got around to adding them to the tank. I was able to scoop six of them all at once in the acclimating tank I set up because they school so well. I put them in the tank and they seemed to disappear before I even got a chance to look at them. I grabbed the other two and put them in the tank as well. As soon as I put the other two in the tank a few others came out to point out where they were and next thing in knew, six of them were all together hiding under one of my corals stacked on top of eachother like firewood. I've seen my chromis school when the lights go out or when they think they're threatened but I've never seen a picture of dispar anthias without them being in a close group. I'm really hoping everything works out and they all make it. I hope the other two find the group as well.