Beauty or utility: Why do you keep wrasses?

[Peace River]

Wrasses are beautiful...and they're useful! Tell us about why you keep wrasses (or would keep a wrasse). Do you enjoy the colors and patterns? What utility functions have you found that your wrasses perform in your aquarium? Is there a specific species of wrasse that you would like to have but haven't added to your aquarium yet? Let's talk more about wrasses in the discussion below!

Paracheilinus piscilineatus. Photo by Kevin Kohen.


Learn more about a few types of wrasses in these recent R2R articles:

• The Genus Halichoeres: The “Wrasses”
• Pseudocheilinops ataenia: The wrasse with bug eyes
• The Fairies of the Genus Cirrhilabrus
• Genus Paracheilinus: The Flasher Wrasses

 

[Doglips56]

I cannot wait to add a fairy wrasse to my tank. We recently upgraded and new sand bed doesn’t have nearly as many creatures for a wrasse to snack on, so waiting. Old tank was loaded with bristle worms and spaghetti worms. I’m certain some moved into the new system on my rocks but haven’t actually seen any.
The hardest part will be choosing one!

 

[SaltyT]

I cannot wait to add a fairy wrasse to my tank. We recently upgraded and new sand bed doesn’t have nearly as many creatures for a wrasse to snack on, so waiting. Old tank was loaded with bristle worms and spaghetti worms. I’m certain some moved into the new system on my rocks but haven’t actually seen any.
The hardest part will be choosing one!

Fairy wrasses don't snack on sand bed critters so no need to wait for those critters to show

I agree, there are so many beautiful fairy wrasses that it's hard to choose just one.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I'm certainly glad wrasses have utility, but if I'm honest, that's not primarily why I keep them. I think they're some of the most beautiful fish in the sea!

 

[BraindeadBiologist]

I have been contemplating one as i have a lot of hammers and torches but want ro get the right kind that balances utility and beauty. Suggestions would be great!
(45 gal red sea with two clowns and a fire fish)

 

[Screwby]

Currently have a six line in my 24g cube. I wanted one to help with pests and add color to my white aquascape while waiting for the coralline to grow. I recently bought a Red Sea max e-170 that will be set up in the next few months, so it has a bigger home waiting. I'm currently battling the white slime bacterial bloom that seems to have hit other reefers, lol

 

[jkcoral]

Beauty, absolutely. Wrasses are beautiful and active, just like tangs but without any of the “demands” that come along with tangs. Utility is just a plus, I’d keep them if they didn’t do any chores at all.


I’m looking forward to adding a Rose Banded fairy wrasses in the somewhat near future. They have been a dream fish of mine for a long time, and I just can’t wait any longer haha

 

[dstockwell]

Love the colors on my Melanurus Wrasse

 

[Piscans]

i got a melanurus cause it was kinda cool looking and it was useful

 

[ninjamyst]

My wrasses flip frags and even rocks all the time and drive me nuts. They killed more corals on the sandbed then I killed acros and that's saying a lot. But I love them. And hate them.

 

[doubleshot00]

I have a mccoskers and red-lined. Both are beautiful but only one actually does a job.

 

[xCry0x]

Had a six-line in my original 25g nano for years. Fortunate that I never had issues with it.

I eventually rehomed it because I was looking to change around my livestock.

Big mistake. My tank basically crashed afterwards -- Monti eating nudis, zoa eating nudis -- all the pests "appeared" after the wrasse was gone.

Pretty, active, and huge utility.

Would love to get another 6 line for my current tank at some point -- just waiting until my mandarin grows a bit and I can more actively try to encourage eating pellets before I bring in another fish that will decimate the pod population.

 

[CdubsMixReef]

I love my leopard wrasses not only cause they look cool but they eat pesky hitchhiking flatworms. I personally think it’s funny when they wake up in the morning from there sand bed cocoon and swim for a few minutes how I walk after a late Friday or Saturday night out

 

[bar|none]

The whole reason I don't go bare bottom

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Why not both?

I have fairies, flashers, a torpedo wrasse, and a broomtail wrasse just because they're pretty and interesting, and have Halichoeres as pretty fish that also control pests.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Forgot the option of my compulsive need to have all Labrids.

Currently I have wrasses for purely aesthetician purposes, but have had yellow coris and cleaners for utility in the past.

 

[Slocke]

Though I'm sure they're utility is great I'm definitely in to them due to the beauty. The variety is absolutely unmatched by other fish in the hobby.

 

[Screwby]

I have been contemplating one as i have a lot of hammers and torches but want ro get the right kind that balances utility and beauty. Suggestions would be great!
(45 gal red sea with two clowns and a fire fish)

My six line is doing well in my 24g cube. It shares the tank with 1 pink skunk clown, 1 purple firefish, 9 trochus snails, 8 blue leg hermits, 2 nassarius snails. He's always swimming around looking for things to pick at... especially around the bases of my 3 coral frags. He's great. Sometimes he will chase my firefish at feeding time though.

 

[i cant think]

I own them for three reasons;
Beauty
Utility
But ontop of all… their curiosity.

I have a total of 10 wrasses and all 10 are different. Each one even the ones that are the same species are completely different in behaviour. While yes, the ones that will eat “pests” do scavenge the rocks a lot, they each do it differently.
For example;
My Pseudocheilinops ataenia trio scavenge in a group and rarely separate. My Halichoeres iridis scavenges and checks the hole for 2-5 seconds then passes onto the next one.

To start of, we have my Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus (Who are all now in the same tank). These guys are perfect, I especially love the naokoae for 2 reasons.
1) Cirrhilabrus naokoae was the first ever wrasse species I tried outside of the Pseudocheilinus genus.
2) My current Cirrhilabrus naokoae will literally play with me when my hands are in the tank.

Cirrhilabrus naokoae Male

Now, I have my two Cirrhilabrus lubbocki. These guys were the reason I got so interested in wrasses. First off I got my Cebu variant because of the unusual colours and pattern, you usually don’t find a fish with this pattern and even now I can’t name a wrasse that looks even remotely similar to this variant. Then the reason I got my Indonesian variant is because I loved the colours but also it really shows how much a fish can vary from region to region.

Cirrhilabrus lubbocki Indonesian Variant.

Cirrhilabrus lubbocki Cebu Variant.

The last wrasse for this section I have is my Paracheilinus hybrid. Originally I got this beauty for the flashing behaviour (He was sold under Paracheilinus cyaneus) and how they go from Orange to a striking Blue. This guy has only ever flashed once (He’s rather submissive to the Lubbocki’s) and when he did it wasn’t a disappointment. I’ve never been disappointed by this fish but more so shocked as when he went into my tank that’s when I got the full view of him and it turns out I have a hybrid. Of what is still unknown however there’s suspicion of a 3 way hybrid as he flashes differently to the other two in the mix.

Paracheilinus spp. Hybrid


Now let’s go for my two Halichoeres and why I love to own them. First off, the two species of Halichoeres I have are Halichoeres iridis and Halichoeres chloropterus.

I love to own my Halichoeres iridis because he’s a beauty and always has been even from when I got him as a 1” juvenile. He’s now a 3.5-4” beast and male. This guy I love because of the patterns he holds, they’re minimal but there’s still so much colour. I didn’t buy him for his ability as I believe fish shouldn’t be brought because they do something but instead because you like them. However I do love his diet as he helps with the Chloropterus as being a hunter of the animals I don’t see in the coral dip.

Halichoeres iridis male

Now for the Halichoeres chloropterus. I’m aware of the dangers this wrasse holds as he transitions. And actually that’s one reason I love this fish, is to watch how he transitions as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mature male in captivity over this side of the pond. I love how they go from this stunning grey to… well, that’s one of the great mysteries. Is what a mature male actually looks like because there are photos but I have yet to find one certain colour pattern of a mature male chloropterus. I also love this guy for his hunting ability because he will sit and stare into a hole for a good 10-15 seconds whilst the iridis does what looks like a driveby inspection.

Halichoeres chloropterus Transitional male

Now let’s do my Wrasses in the nano.

First off we have my Macropharyngodon bipartitus. This girl is a stunner and I got her because of that leopard pattern. She also helps with certain pests and helped with my Montipora Eating Nudibranch issue. She’s also a curious wrasse and she will inspect everything and anything (Even the glass) when it comes to pods.

Macropharyngodon bipartitus Juvenile

Finally, my Pseudocheilinops ataenia trio. I actually got asked why I went for a trio of these guys. The reason why I did is because of my love for them. These guys are adorable and when they have hierarchy’s distributes they go up in the water column and have mini standoffs. These guys are my most personable and funny wrasses to watch for sure. All of them are .5-1cm long at the minute which makes them even more adorable as the eyes look way too big for their head. This species was my first nano wrasse that hit 1 year old and I unfortunately lost my first specimen in March of this year. But I’m always up for a challenge and this species really hits that for me. I also love how when they swim it’s not like how a regular wrasse swims and instead it looks like they’re gliding and glitching half way through. In fact, as I’m writing this I’m actually watching these guys.

Pseudocheilinops ataenia Juvenile trio.

Hope this isn’t too long of an answer but in short, wrasses are a family that are very close to my heart because of the variety that is in the family.

 

[Slocke]

So the question is:
Form....

Or function?

Though I got the captive bred cleaner not for its utility but to see it do its job as it is such a cool fish!