did i just make a big mistake?

first before i start i have read into the upkeep of anthias and how to feed them and also made sure that the one i picked out will eat frozen foods. with that said i picked up a female maldives lyretail at the lfs (yea i know never listen to the lfs, i even say it all the time) in the first place the had the name marked wrong and was selling it as a hi fin anthias which i was pretty sure was wrong but anyway i was assured that she should do fine in my 55 however when i went home a searched online i saw that the minimum size was more like a 70 gallon tank for a single fish. i would like to test it out for a week and see how the fish does before making any decision (considering the lfs had her in a 10 gallon i figure it would be fine for atleast a week in a slightly smaller than minimum size tank for the fish) i was wondering if anyone else out there has any personal experience and what they think about the situation....has anyone had success in a 55? If she show signs of distress i will find her a new home but it would kill me because it is such a beautiful fish. i would like to hear some input to as to what i should do. i personally saw the fish eating frozen mysis at the lfs and made the guy show me before making my decision

 

I have several anthias (although not a maldives) in my 75. They are very active swimmers. One thing to take into account is that a 75 & a 55 are nearly the same size, just the 55 is a little bit deeper. I would say it's a personal choice and will depend on the other amount of other active swimming fish you have, as well as the amount of LR you have to ensure ample swimming room. They are out in the water column fish, and not the in and out of rockwork fish like say a wrasse. A single anthias yes, several of them to get a shoaling effect I would shy away from. Me personally I wish I had a bigger tank, not purely because of the anthias (although extra swimming room would be nice), but just because dont we all want a bigger tank?

As far as the tank in the LFS tanks you cant use that as a deciding factor. Remember those are holding tanks and not permanent homes.

 

thanks for the help and a bigger tank would be nice too though lol

 

bump, looking for a few more people with personal experience, the fish however does seem to be fairly happy in the tank and has even shown a slight interest in flakes as well....for now ill do frozen foods daily but maybe the flakes will catch on and i could move frozen to every other day to keep the nitrates and phosphates down