McCosker's Wrasses are very straightforward to keep. As long as you have a stable aquarium with parameters that you are very used to hearing about, they'll be fine. The big three values should be close to these: SG - 1.024 (+/-.002), pH – 8.0 (=/-.2) and temperature should be in the mid 70s Fahrenheit, don't let this get lower than 72 or higher than 80. As with most of the things you're likely to keep in an aquarium, nutrients should be kept in check with filtration and regular water changes with a quality salt like Tropic Marin. These water changes will also ensure that the buffers and mineral content of the water will not be depleted over time, resulting in a more stable tank, and happier / healthier fish (and inverts). Paracheilinus mccoskeri is a very active fish and will need at least two meals per day. They are also very shy fish and will initially be hesitant to come out of hiding with you near the aquarium. They will soon associate you with food and their reticence will pass. Feeding shy, hungry fish is probably the biggest challenge facing aquarists in keeping Flasher Wrasses of any sort. Here we feed twice a day and they get a mix of Gamma finely chopped meaty foods and are introducing them to Nutramar pellets at the same time. They learn to associate the pellets with the things more easily recognized as food pretty quickly. This is something we suggest you continue, until you are able to utilize only pellets for one of their meals, which might also allow you to use an auto feeder for the dry portions of their diet. This would allow you to feed them smaller amounts more times a day without any extra effort; though we find twice a day to be enough for their needs, some aquarists like to spread these meals out, and this is one of the best ways to accomplish that. Click to learn more
