Cirrhilabrus Complexes: Inferiority Need Not Apply (1st Revision)

[evolved]

Hi everyone

My head spins every time I try to think about what wrasse to get. There are so many choices and my brain is too small to make a decision.

I think I am set on a cirrhilabrus. I’ve seen exquisite named several times as a good choice so I am leaning this way. I am looking for color and activity to balance against my other inhabitants. Robustness and ability to take quarantine are important too and cost should be reasonable (no rare breed). This will be my only wrasse I expect. My LFS is not allowing browsing and internet has been hard for me to see size and color.


Tank is 120g. 48x24x24. Currently no corals. I may try easier soft corals in the future.
Friends,
Blue spot Toby
Snowflake eel
Blue throat trigger
Tomini tang
One spot foxface
Dogface puffer.

I think I will need a larger fairy wrasse and medium aggressiveness. I am missing red in the fish colors. Any suggestions?

That leaves it pretty open.
I would still avoid the red-most boxes on the chart, but anything else is pretty fair game here.

 

[Obsessed]

Evolved or anyone else, ever experienced with a pintail in it killing other fish in QT? I had the pintail, potters angel, watchman goby and a little clown goby going thru QT in a 10g container.

All fish were fine and eating yest, woke up to the potters and clown goby dead and the watchman had jumped out pushing my lid off.

Pintail just cruising around. Water quality all checked out fine. Can’t explain it!

 

[Obsessed]

Oh and it’s a male about 3”, there was plenty of pvc hiding spots in the container too.

 

[HairyGary]

Sure it wasn’t disease or ammonia? Have never seen a Pintail be aggressive toward other non wrasse let alone wrasse. Cirrhilabrus have a knack for hiding ich etc and with their mucus coat they are more “immune” if you will.

 

[Obsessed]

I haven’t either, just couldn’t figure out any other explanation as to why all the other fish died. Ammonia was good as well as temp and salinity, they all looked good yest and were dead overnight.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The pintail didnt kill those fish. Most likely a disease or some other cause but not the pintail.

 

[OrionN]

Do you have enough surface agitation to ensure adequate O2 at night for those fish in the QT?

 

[Obsessed]

Yup. Lots of experience in QT and TTM. I use an air pump.

Thanks all, I’ll look for something else as to what happened.

 

[homer1475]

Ok what exactly does fairy wrasses aggression look like?

I currently have an exquisite in an acclimation box, and a long finned fairy in the tank. I see the long finned go up to the box and nudge it, but no flaring of the gills, no flaring of the fins, but is certainly interested in whats in the box as it just hangs out at the box.

This wrasse has killed other wrasses from just chasing them to the death. So just curious what fairy wrasse aggression is supposed to look like?

 

[homer1475]

Well I guess I now know what fairy wrasse aggression looks like. Let the equisite out of the box after a week, and my long finned will not leave the exquisite alone. Soon as he pokes his head out, the long finned is on him chasing him around the tank.

No nipping, just chasing. I'm assuming the chasing will subside eventually? Worst case scenario, I'll try and trap the long finned to rehome him(he's such a d*ck!), he chases everything in the tank, even a leopard thats easily 3 times his size.

 

[mattzang]

Well I guess I now know what fairy wrasse aggression looks like. Let the equisite out of the box after a week, and my long finned will not leave the exquisite alone. Soon as he pokes his head out, the long finned is on him chasing him around the tank.

No nipping, just chasing. I'm assuming the chasing will subside eventually? Worst case scenario, I'll try and trap the long finned to rehome him(he's such a d*ck!), he chases everything in the tank, even a leopard thats easily 3 times his size.

it has killed other wrasses? i'd get rid of that thing for sure man. so many beautiful cirrhilabrus, can't let one goon limit you imo

 

[saltyhog]

Well I guess I now know what fairy wrasse aggression looks like. Let the equisite out of the box after a week, and my long finned will not leave the exquisite alone. Soon as he pokes his head out, the long finned is on him chasing him around the tank.

That's exactly what fairy wrasse aggression looks like. It's not that they take big bites out of the other wrasses. The constant chasing stresses the new fish and prevents them from eating most often. The long finned is well known to be aggressive. If you want other wrasses I would rehome him ASAP with his past track record.

 

[homer1475]

They seem to be getting along now. Least the chasing has subsided. The exquisite comes out and about now, although he does kind of hang in the corner, and the log finned only chases once in a great while now.

Funny story but I saw my much larger melagris leopard chase right after the long finned one time when the long finned was chasing the exquisite. The exquisite and the leopard seem to be buds now? This exquisite will take food right from my fingers, and is the first one to the dinner table every time. Voracious little sucker I'll give him that.

I have 5 other wrasses and the exquisite was the only one the long finned chased. He leaves every other wrasse(no other fairy) alone. He's actually the shy one of the group, unless it's another fairy.

I have one other on my list, a Mccoskers. Pretty sure he'll leave that one alone as it's not a fairy.

 

[mattzang]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-...cies in the,wrasses of the genus Cirrhilabrus.

Introduction The species in the genus Paracheilinus are appropriately called flasher wrasses (or simply flashers), and they are very closely related to fairy wrasses of the genus Cirrhilabrus.

 

[homer1475]

Yup read that one. Thank you though.

Like I said in my build thread, I know where the little **** sleeps. If it comes to it, I'll skewer it in it's sleep.

He/she did not harass my last Mccoskers though, they actually swam together. Which would still be alive if he didn't find the one hole in my screen top. DOH!

 

[Noam]

Thanks for the incredible information.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Thanks for the incredible information.
I couldn't locate mccosker on the chart. Where is he? Thanks

That charts for fairy wrasses (cirrhilabrus) while the mccoskers is a flasher wrasse (paracheilinus) so that species isnt on the chart.

 

[evolved]

Well I guess I now know what fairy wrasse aggression looks like. Let the equisite out of the box after a week, and my long finned will not leave the exquisite alone. Soon as he pokes his head out, the long finned is on him chasing him around the tank.

No nipping, just chasing. I'm assuming the chasing will subside eventually? Worst case scenario, I'll try and trap the long finned to rehome him(he's such a d*ck!), he chases everything in the tank, even a leopard thats easily 3 times his size.

Yeah, +1 to the comments of "that's exactly what aggression looks like".
If there's ever an established fish strangely interested in the fish inside the box, that's never a good starting sign.

it has killed other wrasses? i'd get rid of that thing for sure man. so many beautiful cirrhilabrus, can't let one goon limit you imo

Agree - once aggressive towards others, always aggressive towards others.

Feel free to reach me at: [email protected]
for future questions.