Stocking WB 100.3, fish questions

Erik the Red

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Hello,

I’m setting up a new WB100.3 (90x60x55 cm)
It will be the biggest tank I’ve ever owned, so I have some doubts about the stocking…

my list is:
  • 2x Ocellaris Clownfish from my previous system
  • 1x Ecsenius midas - Persian Blenny
  • 1x Labroides dimidiatus - Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasser
  • 1x Gobiodon histrio - Broad-barred Goby
  • 1x between these three species of wrasse:
    1. Halichoeres leucoxanthus - Canary wrasse
    2. Paracheilinus carpenteri - Carpenter’s flashwrasse
    3. Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis - Longfin fairy wrasse
  • 1x Ctenochaetus tominiensis - Tomini tang (eventually)

does it seems doable? It doesn’t look like there are intolerances between these fishes. They should all be pacific with each other, from what i have read.

How important is to have sand for these wrasses? I would like to do a bare bottom tank

Thank you for any comment or further input :)
 

Fish Think Pink

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Hello,

I’m setting up a new WB100.3 (90x60x55 cm)
It will be the biggest tank I’ve ever owned, so I have some doubts about the stocking…

my list is:
  • 2x Ocellaris Clownfish from my previous system
  • 1x Ecsenius midas - Persian Blenny
  • 1x Labroides dimidiatus - Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasser
  • 1x Gobiodon histrio - Broad-barred Goby
  • 1x between these three species of wrasse:
    1. Halichoeres leucoxanthus - Canary wrasse
    2. Paracheilinus carpenteri - Carpenter’s flashwrasse
    3. Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis - Longfin fairy wrasse
  • 1x Ctenochaetus tominiensis - Tomini tang (eventually)

does it seems doable? It doesn’t look like there are intolerances between these fishes. They should all be pacific with each other, from what i have read.

How important is to have sand for these wrasses? I would like to do a bare bottom tank

Thank you for any comment or further input :)

You asked:
How important is to have sand for these wrasses? I would like to do a bare bottom tank

All I can think:
How important is it for you to sleep in a bed? Or can you sleep on hardwood floor?

While I can't speak for the wrasses, I try to have compatible requirements for any livestock's needs in advance of introduction.

Some wrasses will blow their own bubble nest to sleep. I'm sure you can find just the right thing for you and your fish (these or others) to all be happy! Good luck to you!
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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You asked:
How important is to have sand for these wrasses? I would like to do a bare bottom tank

All I can think:
How important is it for you to sleep in a bed? Or can you sleep on hardwood floor?

While I can't speak for the wrasses, I try to have compatible requirements for any livestock's needs in advance of introduction.

Some wrasses will blow their own bubble nest to sleep. I'm sure you can find just the right thing for you and your fish (these or others) to all be happy! Good luck to you!
Thank you for your reply.
I don’t have much experience with wrasses and on the forum I’ve been reading different opinions on wrasses and bare bottoms. To some it is necessary, to others not…
It should be OK to have bare bottom for these two species (Paracheilinus carpenteri - Carpenter’s flashwrasse, Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis - Longfin fairy wrasse). Isn’t it?
 

Fish Think Pink

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Thank you for your reply.
I don’t have much experience with wrasses and on the forum I’ve been reading different opinions on wrasses and bare bottoms. To some it is necessary, to others not…
It should be OK to have bare bottom for these two species (Paracheilinus carpenteri - Carpenter’s flashwrasse, Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis - Longfin fairy wrasse). Isn’t it?

Defer to others and its really experience with those particular wrasses... some use tupperware container holding sand

 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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I need to figure out which are the species of wrasses that can thrive with bare bottoms. I think having sand will increase the workload too much to keep the values stable.

thank you :)
 

nereefpat

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The Halichoeres needs sand for hiding and sleeping. The other 2 don't care.

I wouldn't do the tang in a 3 foot tank.
 

i cant think

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Here’s some information on wrasses for you (I’m by no means an expert, I do however have an addiction to them).

Some genera do need the sand bed. These genera that do use the sandbed are actually the majority of your useful wrasses. The most commonly wanted genera that use the sand bed are;
- Macropharyngodon
- Pseudojuloides
- Anampses
- Xenojulis
- Halichoeres
- Coris
- Hemigymnus
- Novaculichthys

Now, the most commonly owned (And recognised) species of these genera are;
- Macropharyngodon bipartitus
- Macropharyngodon meleagris
- Anampses meleagrides
- Anampses melanurus
- Xenojulis margaritaceus
- Halichoeres chrysus
- Halichoeres melanurus
- Halichoeres iridis
- Halichoeres cosmetus
- Halichoeres leucoxanthus

- Coris gaimard
- Coris formosa
- Hemigymnus melapterus
- Novaculichthys taeniourus


All of these wrasses need a sand bed as protection. They use it when sleeping as well as when scared or nearly introduced. Having these guys in a bare bottom tank is just calling for issues, a large tub of sand is needed if you did need a bare bottom tank (Atleast 2 inches deep if not 3 or more). Ideally you want a tub of sand that can cover the entire wrasse as well as not have it touching the bottom of the tub. In bare bottom tanks, if you have no sand at all then you risk a mouth injury for these wrasses.

Now, there are wrasses that need sandbeds no matter what but you do have wrasses that don’t need a sandbed. The downside to these are the ones that do hunt pests are nasty and tend to kill off tank mates. The ones that are peaceful do nothing in terms of pest hunting. Wrasses that don’t need a sand bed coke from these genera;
- Wetmorella
- Pseudocheilinops
- Pseudocheilinus
- Cheilinus
- Gomphosus
- Thalassoma
- Labroides
- Larabicus
- Choerodon
- Cirrhilabrus
- Paracheilinus
- Bodianus

The downside to many of these as I mentioned above, as they age they become aggressive. Some hunt CUC, small elongated fish and even coral polyps whilst others become too aggressive for most reef fish to handle. The most commonly owned species from each of these genera are;
- Wetmorella nigropinnata•
- Pseudocheilinops ataenia•
- Pseudocheilinus hexataenia*^
- Pseudocheilinus octotaenia*^
- Cheilinus fasciatus*
- Cheilinus oxycephalus*
- Gomphosus caeruleus*^
- Gomphosus varius*^
- Thalassoma lutescens*
- Thalassoma lunare*
- Thalassoma hardwicke*
- Thalassoma pavo*
- Labroides dimidiatus
- Larabicus quadrilineatus^
- Choerodon fasciatus*
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
- Cirrhilabrus cyanogularis*
- Cirrhilabrus isosceles
- Paracheilinus carpenteri
- Paracheilinus cyaneus
- Paracheilinus mccoskeri
- Paracheilinus octotaenia
- Bodianus pulchellus*
- Bodianus bimaculatus*
- Bodianus rufus*


In the list above, you’ll see that some of them have different symbols to others. Here’s what those symbols mean.
* = Aggressive
^ = Dietary issues (Corallivorous, Eats small elongated fish, CUC predator ect…)
• = Too small/secretive for this tank size & plan

I hope this gives you some form of idea on wrasses. If you have any more questions you can send me a dm or hope over to the wrasse lovers thread and we can sort you out :)

Also, in terms of sand bed being a huge chore. It really isn’t, I personally leave my sandbeds alone and they don’t cause any issues for anything. My Sand Sleeping wrasses actually deal with the sand bed and keep it turned. At first you will have some cloudiness because of them using the sandbed however after a while, the cloudiness dies down. Over both of my tanks I have 2 sand sleeping genera, Macropharyngodon and Halichoeres. I really only see a puff of sand when they go hunting, my corals don’t get affected by it and neither do my clams in my 3’x16” tank.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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Thank you for finding the time to write this long and comprehensive reply to this topic, @i can’t think.

I think I’m dropping by the wrasse lovers topic later for some further information!

I did not expect sand to be a requirement for the tank when I built the aquascaping, so that’s why it has kind of surprised me. Originally, I was not planning to have one or two wrasses, but they are such beautiful fishes and are so active that I thought I could have them in the tank.
If you think, in the end, there are not that many active fishes that could fit a 3 foot tank! No surgeonfishes (even the smallest), not many wrasses…

I have a huge list of fishes I wish I could have in the tank, but, for due to their requirement for space (e.g. zebrasoma :star-struck:) or being aggressive/predators (e.g. longnose hawkfish) I can’t have in the aquarium.

Any input is more than welcome!
 

i cant think

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By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier in my reply however unfortunately Paracheilinus aren’t recommended for this tank size. The reason for this is they are highly active and in 3’ tanks or smaller, they tend to dive into things due to their high speed swimming when they dart and flash.
 
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Erik the Red

Erik the Red

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By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier in my reply however unfortunately Paracheilinus aren’t recommended for this tank size. The reason for this is they are highly active and in 3’ tanks or smaller, they tend to dive into things due to their high speed swimming when they dart and flash.

Oh dang, so basically the only two left are the Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis and Labroides dimidiatus.

Would a Halichoeres leucoxanthus suit the tank if there would be a sand bed?

is there any specific wrasse you would recommend for a 3x2 feet tank like mine? Either BB or with sand
 

i cant think

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Oh dang, so basically the only two left are the Cirrihilabrus rubriventralis and Labroides dimidiatus.

Would a Halichoeres leucoxanthus suit the tank if there would be a sand bed?

is there any specific wrasse you would recommend for a 3x2 feet tank like mine? Either BB or with sand
Most of the smaller Halichoeres will fit that tank if you had a sandbed. A few I can name are;
- Halichoeres timorensis
- Halichoeres iridis
- Halichoeres leucoxanthus
- Halichoeres chrysus
- Halichoeres cosmetus
- Halichoeres biocellatus
 

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