Trenton Henderson
Active Member
Hey everyone!
I have had a carpenter’s flasher wrasse in the tank for a few months now (2-3 if I can recall), and he has been a model citizen to all the other fish until a couple of weeks ago. I started noticing that my Royal gramma’s rear fins were getting quite nipped up and he has been hiding quite a lot. I thought the issue was from one of my four green Chromis, but as it turns out, it’s the flasher wrasse. He’s also chased a couple of my bigger Chromis, but never nipped them. I have observed the Royal gramma and the wrasse interact, where the wrasse flashes and swims around him and the Royal gramma opens up his mouth at him, but I’ve never seen him actively chase and nip at him.
All this said, the wrasse doesn’t go after my clowns, which is likely because they don’t claim rock as their territory. Any suggestions as to what I should do? I thought about getting an acclimation box and putting the wrasse in it for a while, but he’s not actively causing damage (aside from the fins he already nipped on the Royal gramma). Any ideas as to why this could have happened so suddenly? I am wondering if he might be in a juvenile to terminal stage male transition and is aggressive for territory, but flasher wrasses usually aren’t with other types of fish. All these fish are in a 65 gallon tank. The Royal gramma still cautiously comes out and eats a bit when I feed, which is good.
Thanks!
I have had a carpenter’s flasher wrasse in the tank for a few months now (2-3 if I can recall), and he has been a model citizen to all the other fish until a couple of weeks ago. I started noticing that my Royal gramma’s rear fins were getting quite nipped up and he has been hiding quite a lot. I thought the issue was from one of my four green Chromis, but as it turns out, it’s the flasher wrasse. He’s also chased a couple of my bigger Chromis, but never nipped them. I have observed the Royal gramma and the wrasse interact, where the wrasse flashes and swims around him and the Royal gramma opens up his mouth at him, but I’ve never seen him actively chase and nip at him.
All this said, the wrasse doesn’t go after my clowns, which is likely because they don’t claim rock as their territory. Any suggestions as to what I should do? I thought about getting an acclimation box and putting the wrasse in it for a while, but he’s not actively causing damage (aside from the fins he already nipped on the Royal gramma). Any ideas as to why this could have happened so suddenly? I am wondering if he might be in a juvenile to terminal stage male transition and is aggressive for territory, but flasher wrasses usually aren’t with other types of fish. All these fish are in a 65 gallon tank. The Royal gramma still cautiously comes out and eats a bit when I feed, which is good.
Thanks!
