In hobby literature, the long-touted lore of Anthias needing to be kept in groups is a bit in error. It's true that many live in very large shoals or schools in the wild, sometimes numbering in the thousands. But in specific groups and harems, there is a decided pecking order and often considerable intraspecific aggression. With their natural territories consisting of many square meters in the wild, the compression of a harem into a home aquarium results in quite an abnormal situation, regardless of the size of the display (short of public-aquarium sized displays). Weaker or more passive individuals get singled out and harassed quickly, but they cannot escape far enough away to quell the aggressor, as they can in the wild. Thus, such practical realities make us reconsider what it will take to keep (or not keep) Anthiines captively......Give Anthias very large aquariums (at least a couple hundred gallons) to allow them a better chance of surviving a full lifespan. It is difficult to give a rule of thumb on stocking densities for the dozens of species encountered in the aquarium trade, but I'll suggest a rough guideline of one "Anthias" per 75 gallons (285 liters) of water. I strongly encourage aquarists unable or unwilling to dedicate such space to consider keeping a single specimen of one of the hardier varieties. The Sunburst Anthias, Serranocirrhitus latus, are among the smallest, best and hardiest Anthiinae for aquarium use - provided they are given cover for protection from aggressive tankmates or excessive light.
