Care level: “easy”

[Steve and his Animals]

Wish you the best of luck with the marine beta¡ That situation makes me wonder if nocturnal fish can be turned diurnal (to an extent).
I have an untouched 10 gallon, so I’ll have to get that up and running for when I feel comfortable with the water parameters. Very interesting introduction and explanation on the term dithering, I don’t think I would ever of thought of that so thanks. Is it limited to only fish that help with the timidity of both wrasse (I read the pink-streak wrasse is shy at first) or do you think having a group of 3-5 sexy shrimp and a peaceful medium sized shrimp (Pederson’s OR white spot anemone) could be of help¿

Can’t thank you enough for these very informative responses¡

Actually scratch that. The medium sized shrimp would have to be a Pederson’s cleaner (Ancylomenes pedersoni) since it can still thrive without an anemone present and I’d like to not experience any anemone dilemmas.

Oh, nocturnal fish don't usually "sleep" during the day, it's just getting them to adjust their activity schedule to yours is the hard part. Like I said, my marine betta is very active during the day, especially if I'm near the tank. He still spends a good amount of time in his cave, but he does so without disappearing; he usually watches everything around him from the entrance of the cave until I come around.

I don't think shrimp have the same dithering effect as other fish, since many cleaning species of shrimp aren't outright afraid of predatory fish as most predators recognize them as a cleaner, and therefore leave them alone. This isn't always the case in captivity, but it could be a factor. That being said, both those species of shrimp may be too small to keep with possums and pink-streaks, I've had possums eat sexy shrimp and Pederson's' may be small when you purchase them. Adult Pederson's' should be fine, I'd guess. They are also cleaners, unlike sexy shrimp, so the wrasses may recognize them as such, but like I said that doesn't always work in captivity.

Where did you hear sexy shrimp can't live without an anemone? I've worked with various nano tanks where they do just fine long term without one. Pederson's' actually live in anemones in the wild too, specifically corkscrews. Many of the small, transparent cleaners are commensal with something, whether it be anemones, corals, or sea urchins. I've found non-cleaning anemone shrimp to be more reliant on their hosts, like white-spots, but for some reason sexy shrimp don't seem to have that issue.

 

[Camaronero]

Oh, nocturnal fish don't usually "sleep" during the day, it's just getting them to adjust their activity schedule to yours is the hard part. Like I said, my marine betta is very active during the day, especially if I'm near the tank. He still spends a good amount of time in his cave, but he does so without disappearing; he usually watches everything around him from the entrance of the cave until I come around.

I don't think shrimp have the same dithering effect as other fish, since many cleaning species of shrimp aren't outright afraid of predatory fish as most predators recognize them as a cleaner, and therefore leave them alone. This isn't always the case in captivity, but it could be a factor. That being said, both those species of shrimp may be too small to keep with possums and pink-streaks, I've had possums eat sexy shrimp and Pederson's' may be small when you purchase them. Adult Pederson's' should be fine, I'd guess. They are also cleaners, unlike sexy shrimp, so the wrasses may recognize them as such, but like I said that doesn't always work in captivity.

Where did you hear sexy shrimp can't live without an anemone? I've worked with various nano tanks where they do just fine long term without one. Pederson's' actually live in anemones in the wild too, specifically corkscrews. Many of the small, transparent cleaners are commensal with something, whether it be anemones, corals, or sea urchins. I've found non-cleaning anemone shrimp to be more reliant on their hosts, like white-spots, but for some reason sexy shrimp don't seem to have that issue.

Understood. I guess in addition to it being super rewarding, it definitely helps with the long term well-being once they acclimate to one’s schedule... So thanks for that advice.
Forgive me for my way of wording things; I’ll have to do a lot more research on my shrimp choices. I didn’t mean to include the sexy shrimp in the anemone relationship debate as the other two shrimp, so that’s my bad. I’m surprised that having sexy shrimp would end up being a gamble, since most vendors label them as 100% reef safe, compared to a somewhat similar rock dwelling fish like the Geometric Hawkfish (Plectranthias inermis) that would certainly have a fine dining experience with most shrimp. Makes a lot of sense though, since most rock dwelling fish behavior consists of investigating the rock work for any meals.
I’m being ultra picky when it comes to my long-term livestock choices so I’m wondering: Could I get away with temporarily adding a pair of cardinal fish to help aid with the pink-streak wrasse initial behavior, then replace the pair with the yellow banded possum wrasse? Would the removal of the cardinal fish would reverse the confidence of an already established fish¿

 

[Steve and his Animals]

Understood. I guess in addition to it being super rewarding, it definitely helps with the long term well-being once they acclimate to one’s schedule... So thanks for that advice.
Forgive me for my way of wording things; I’ll have to do a lot more research on my shrimp choices. I didn’t mean to include the sexy shrimp in the anemone relationship debate as the other two shrimp, so that’s my bad. I’m surprised that having sexy shrimp would end up being a gamble, since most vendors label them as 100% reef safe, compared to a somewhat similar rock dwelling fish like the Geometric Hawkfish (Plectranthias inermis) that would certainly have a fine dining experience with most shrimp. Makes a lot of sense though, since most rock dwelling fish behavior consists of investigating the rock work for any meals.
I’m being ultra picky when it comes to my long-term livestock choices so I’m wondering: Could I get away with temporarily adding a pair of cardinal fish to help aid with the pink-streak wrasse initial behavior, then replace the pair with the yellow banded possum wrasse? Would the removal of the cardinal fish would reverse the confidence of an already established fish¿

I mean you were right, sexy shrimp are anemone shrimp naturally, but I don't find they need one for long term health in captivity, that was my point.

That being said, possum wrasses have surprisingly large mouths and teeth, and most wrasses don't eat shrimp whole, they bite them into pieces. My Coris pictoides, which was only about 4-4.5 inches when I lost him randomly, would catch large peppermint shrimp (which I tried to introduce to fight aiptasia) as they swam down, bite them in half, and eat the pieces.

If you were going to keep your dither fish only temporarily, get the possum in there first. Pink-streaks have a reputation for being more outgoing, like six-lines without the attitude. Who knows, you might enjoy having the cardinals in there long term, as they will actually stay out in the open unlike the wrasses for at least the beginnings of keeping them. Generally, once a wrasse trusts you, it's possible to break that trust, but from what I've experienced only when you try to catch them.