Lyretails

[SynDen]

So thinking of adding a small group of lyretails (1 male, 2 females) to my 75g tank. I currently have 1 chromis, 2 occelaris clowns, two spot tang, eng. goby and jawfish. I have a lot of rock/hiding areas for them and a decent amount of open swimming area as well, plus I generally feed the tank 2x a day. I know these should really go in a longer tank then mine, but curious if anyone had any success keeping a group like these in a 4ft tank before, or should I just pass them up until I have a bigger tank?

 

[AGGJSW]

Love this fish! I had 4 in a 4'x2'x2' - no issue. I've got 13 in my 330g. They like to jump, be prepared for that.

 

[SynDen]

Love this fish! I had 4 in a 4'x2'x2' - no issue. I've got 13 in my 330g. They like to jump, be prepared for that.

Ya my top is sealed since I have a jawfish that loves to jump as well

 

[kmellon]

i have three in my 120 4x2x2 and the mail seems to be a bit of a butthead. Especially around dinner time. He might be less aggressive if they were fed several times a day but I don't have time to do so. I also have to wonder if one of the females is actually male. One seems to be displaying some of the same fin structure as the male so i'm not positive.

 

[djkms]

IME, IMO, you need more than 2 females to one male to spread out the aggression. I would do 3-5 females per male.

 

[Micheal]

I agree with the more than 2 females. I had 3 females at first, 1 being an alpha female. the minute I got 6 more the alpha female turned male in less than a week. It was pretty cool. so I have 1 male and and 8 females. they are pretty cool to watch

 

[SynDen]

Well the group in question is set at the 1 male 2 females, so I would have to add a few females later. Can you add more later with no issue? I know alot of what i have read say you should introduce the group all together. Plus with only a 75g tank and with my current bio load can I support more then that and have them healthy and happy? Might mention that I was also planning on adding a small harem of carpenter/mcosker wrasses eventually, although those haven't been confirmed yet