Adding another wrasse

mr11 · Feb 17, 2016

I have a 50 gallon, 36" tank.

I currently have 2 clowns, a melanurus wrasse, and a McCosker's wrasse. Is it possible to add another flasher or small fairy wrasse? Longfin fairy perhaps?

Will this help the fish keep their colors?

Breakthecycle2 · Feb 17, 2016

You can, but that Melanarus will start to go after any new wrasses.

4FordFamily · Feb 17, 2016

My melanarus were always very docile and never caused any issues. It's true that adding more than one wrasse at a time increases your odds but with a 36" tank I'm not sure if I would go that route. Depending on who you talk to, a small wrasse should work fine assuming your melanarus plays nice. Mine always have.

I don't have experience with longfin specifically.

mr11 · Feb 17, 2016

I used an isolation box when adding my McCoskers and the Melanurus hasn't bothered him much. I noticed he'll sometimes dart toward the McCoskers if going for the same piece of food but that's it really. Is their a rule of thumb for "wrasses per gallon" or something like that? I really enjoy the two I have now

eatbreakfast · Feb 18, 2016

You should be fine adding another wrasse. A social acclimation box will help.

tj w · Feb 18, 2016

Ive never had any issues with my melanurus, he's always been fine after adding wrasses after him.

mr11 · Feb 22, 2016

Thanks everyone. I've landed on the Linespot Flasher. Just want to double check that this will be compatible with a McCoskers in a 36" tank. Does anyone see any problems with this pairing?

eatbreakfast · Feb 23, 2016

mr11 said:
Thanks everyone. I've landed on the Linespot Flasher. Just want to double check that this will be compatible with a McCoskers in a 36" tank. Does anyone see any problems with this pairing?

They are both flashers so the lineopunctatus is definitely going to get a lot of attention from the mckosker. Definitely use a social acclimation box for a couple of days to let things get settled.