Female Lyretail Anthias - Medium

Female Lyretail Anthias

The Female Lyretail Anthias is orange in colour, whereas the males are usually a bright shade of red which helps to tell them apart.

Anthias will shoal together so keeping a large group of them in a species-specific tank is an impressive sight.

These fish do mix well with other species and so are also suited to reef aquarium setups.

You can keep female Lyretail Anthias either alone or with several other females. They live in harems of 5 to 10 females with a male. Anthias are hermaphroditic and so if there are no males in group females then usually the largest female of the group will become male.

In the wild, these five live around Fiji and Indonesia.

Tank Recommendations for Lyretail Anthias

These Anthias do best when kept in a group and housed in a species-specific aquarium of at least 473 litres (125 gallons) in size.

These fish generally occupy the middle of the aquarium and don’t need a specific aquarium setup. It appreciates the availability of several hiding places. Live rock is ideal for this as it allows you to arrange it so that there are caves and crevices for them to hide amongst.

Suitable Tank Buddies

The Lyretail Anthias is a great choice for a reef tank as it is a very sociable fish that will mix with most other fish that aren’t likely to eat it. Keeping them in a group of the same species works well with these fish too.

Usually Compatible

With other species of fish, the Anthias generally won’t have any problems. If you start off with a group of just females or your male Lyretail Anthias dies then one of the females will become male.

Sometime Compatible

Be cautious if keeping Lionfish, Scorpionfish, Eels, Groupers, and large Wrasses, and Triggerfish with Anthias in case they try to eat them, especially when smaller.

Rarely Compatible

Don't keep Seahorses and Pipefish shouldn’t with Anthias as they will get out-competed for food being slower swimmers. Then Sharks, Rays, and Groupers should also be avoided as they will happily eat the Anthias.

Feeding Your Lyretail Anthias

In the wild these fish feed primarily on zooplankton. In the aquarium, you should feed them a diet of frozen or live mysis and brine shrimps. You can also feed them live copepods and rotifers which you can introduce to the aquarium before adding the fish. Then you can regularly top up the supplies to ensure that they have plenty to eat.

You may also be able to get them to eat some flake food which will help to make their diet more varied, but a steady supply of live foods will keep their content.