How agressive are anthias?

[Dargason]

Hello all!

I'd like to add a small school of anthias, but I'm nervous that they may be too agressive for my tank. I'm thinking about 1 male and ~4 females.

The tank is 200g, 4" DSB, etc. It currently contains:
1 bicolor blenny
1 hippo tang
1 false percula
1 coral beauty
1 firefish

Any thoughts? Is one kind of anthias a better choice for me than another?

Thanks!
Mike

[Wolverine]

It depends on the breed of anthias. Most of them will get pretty aggressive with each other. If you're looking to get a group, you should get more than just 4 females. For most species you need at least 6-8 females, or in the end you'll only have one male and one female. P. squamipinnis is usually more hardy than some of the others, but it is pretty aggressive.

Any of the anthias could very well drive the firefish into the rockwork forever, since they can be fairly aggressive with other fish out in the water column like that.

If you're really set on getting anthias, I'd recommend picking up Scott Michael's Reef Fishes vol1. If you don't want to spend that much, at least get his pocket guide Marine Fishes.

Dave

[Oze Reefer]

I have one on its own and is quite timid but is very aggressive towards food