The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[i cant think]

I know you guys will probably want some closure on this guy, but as expected he has unfortunately passed. I did look at his gills and such and found nothing but like last time, I just wanted to make sure you guys can’t spot anything worrying (flukes/disease).

And just for personal curiosity… Look at them teeth!!

 

[i cant think]

I know you guys will probably want some closure on this guy, but as expected he has unfortunately passed. I did look at his gills and such and found nothing but like last time, I just wanted to make sure you guys can’t spot anything worrying (flukes/disease).

And just for personal curiosity… Look at them teeth!!

Anyone wondering, I did measure him and he was just over 4.5 inches in length. By far the proudest fish I have as I raised him from the size my currently female is.

 

[Crabby48]

Anyone wondering, I did measure him and he was just over 4.5 inches in length. By far the proudest fish I have as I raised him from the size my currently female is.

Everyone keeps saying aggression and many of your fish belly’s in pictures are thin. You still keep saying you can mix these wrasse but yet your losses seem to show otherwise. I see a fish I bad shape from those two things and others been saying it but you don’t want to hear it. Poor fish!

To know if you have a parasite hill clippings and scale scraping are best way but some parasites leave a dead fish. Also could send a sample of your tank to be dna tested for parasites

Good luck

 

[i cant think]

Everyone keeps saying aggression and many of your fish belly’s in pictures are thin. You still keep saying you can mix these wrasse but yet your losses seem to show otherwise. I see a fish I bad shape from those two things and others been saying it but you don’t want to hear it. Poor fish!

Honestly, I’m ready to just throw the Jade into the LFS. I have thoughts on possibly being the Hawkfish as I’ve noticed ‘feared’ reactions when he’s near the other wrasses.

As for my fish being thin, no matter how often or how much I feed them they just don’t stay fat. However straight after feeding you see a completely different body - often the fish look bloated. Also, many of my fish may not be as fat as @OrionN can get his to be however mine also aren’t dangerously skinny, they are fat in my eyes - I have seen fish in much worse condition. Considering there is no pinching on any fish I wouldn’t say they’re even close to skinny personally.

In terms of my losses of wrasses;
I lost my Cebu and Indo lubbocki a week apart after 4 years (Considering I got both as transitioned males, this is likely old age). My only other wrasse loss was a Naoko who again was likely old age. Currently my most recent wrasse loss was I believe to aggression (I have also agreed to this, however there are some chances a weakened fish may carry certain parasites).

I say I can mix these wrasses because I’ve had them for longer periods than most would likely be able to cohabitate them for. And I have also been getting some nice lifespans out of them considering I can’t get many juveniles - most species of wrasse come in max size and as very established males over here.

 

[Crabby48]

Honestly, I’m ready to just throw the Jade into the LFS. I have thoughts on possibly being the Hawkfish as I’ve noticed ‘feared’ reactions when he’s near the other wrasses.

As for my fish being thin, no matter how often or how much I feed them they just don’t stay fat. However straight after feeding you see a completely different body - often the fish look bloated. Also, many of my fish may not be as fat as @OrionN can get his to be however mine also aren’t dangerously skinny, they are fat in my eyes - I have seen fish in much worse condition. Considering there is no pinching on any fish I wouldn’t say they’re even close to skinny personally.

In terms of my losses of wrasses;
I lost my Cebu and Indo lubbocki a week apart after 4 years (Considering I got both as transitioned males, this is likely old age). My only other wrasse loss was a Naoko who again was likely old age. Currently my most recent wrasse loss was I believe to aggression (I have also agreed to this, however there are some chances a weakened fish may carry certain parasites).

I say I can mix these wrasses because I’ve had them for longer periods than most would likely be able to cohabitate them for. And I have also been getting some nice lifespans out of them considering I can’t get many juveniles - most species of wrasse come in max size and as very established males over here.

Hawks can be jerks but for me they never are a problem to wrasse once the wrasse settles in the tank.
Ok I’m just seeing small belly’s. Of a wrasse eats a lot and can’t keep weight then I would be definitely on look out for parasites.

It’s when they mature things get risky with aggression. It saying don’t mix them to you as if we don’t try we don’t learn. Also there is always that one or two that will work just don’t loose track of what you know just to keep them if they are not getting along.

Also don’t forget a stressed fish gives a chance for the parasite to take over the fish even thought other tank mates are ok.

 

[Slocke]

Hawks are *****s. Mine goes after every fish in the tank. I blame it on losing my Māori. Luckily it’s such a bad swimmer its impact is minimal.

 

[Tcook]

Hawks can be jerks but for me they never are a problem to wrasse once the wrasse settles in the tank.
Ok I’m just seeing small belly’s. Of a wrasse eats a lot and can’t keep weight then I would be definitely on look out for parasites.

It’s when they mature things get risky with aggression. It saying don’t mix them to you as if we don’t try we don’t learn. Also there is always that one or two that will work just don’t loose track of what you know just to keep them if they are not getting along.

Also don’t forget a stressed fish gives a chance for the parasite to take over the fish even thought other tank mates are ok.

Yes. And I believe a stressed fish from parasites also invites aggression from challengers. Often hard to figure what is the chicken and what is the egg.

 

[Crabby48]

Yes. And I believe a stressed fish from parasites also invites aggression from challengers. Often hard to figure what is the chicken and what is the egg.

That can be true. And many fish are opportunists to feed on the weak.

@i cant think also remember if you pull the one that you think is causing the problem it can open the door for next fish or another to start being the jerk.
Only other thing I noticed is the hills looked real red. I wrote it off as the picture being the fish is that deep red and how pictures color can be miss leading

 

[OrchidMiss]

Hawks are *****s. Mine goes after every fish in the tank. I blame it on losing my Māori. Luckily it’s such a bad swimmer its impact is minimal.

My hawk was certainly a jerk before I move him I to the bigger tank.

 

[Crabby48]

Also @i cant think. You say you feed a lot and you probably do but watch as the stress fish isn’t always eating enough. Stress is the number one killer with wrasse. Hemi are very sensitive to stress and don’t live long at all with it. Radiants can be better than chill fairy’s and flashers but weak to it compared to many from H. Group.

Stop breath and trust yourself. You know wrasse but need to step back and start with basic most obvious. Get a plan. You got this

 

[Slocke]

The wrasse and their closest relatives in my LFSs big tank!

 

[Crabby48]

The wrasse and their closest relatives in my LFSs big tank!

All NFS?

 

[Slocke]

All NFS?

Nope
All for sale. Though I think they are all far more expensive than his usuals. I believe the red breasted Māori is several hundred. The Niger parrotfish is stunning. Sure it’s out of my care range though.

 

[Crabby48]

Nope
All for sale. Though I think they are all far more expensive than his usuals. I believe the red breasted Māori is several hundred. The Niger parrotfish is stunning. Sure it’s out of my care range though.

They would look great in a huge display! I need a huge predator tank one day

 

[JoJosReef]

She thick

I just like her blues on these two:

Sorry for the dirty glass (waiting till wrasses sleep to scrape) and blurry photos (hard to capture her, she's always on the move).

 

[Crabby48]

She thick

I just like her blues on these two:

Sorry for the dirty glass (waiting till wrasses sleep to scrape) and blurry photos (hard to capture her, she's always on the move).

Nice fish dad waiting for bed time. If they only knew they could follow you looking for tasty treats
She looks real good. She getting thick!

 

[Slocke]

You want to see thick?

 

[Tcook]

Also @i cant think. You say you feed a lot and you probably do but watch as the stress fish isn’t always eating enough. Stress is the number one killer with wrasse. Hemi are very sensitive to stress and don’t live long at all with it. Radiants can be better than chill fairy’s and flashers but weak to it compared to many from H. Group.

Stop breath and trust yourself. You know wrasse but need to step back and start with basic most obvious. Get a plan. You got this

Who you callin a chill fairy?

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

The wrasse and their closest relatives in my LFSs big tank!

man my lfs has a quoyi that's eating and healthy and everything... can't care for it though
chad lookin fish

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Generally, this is a sign that this wrasse isn’t suitable for most aquariums. I will say there’s exceptions in certain fish (For example, Tilefish) however generally if you find wrasses that aren’t kept there’s usually a reason behind it.

As much as I do look at fishbase for their information, IMO the books will be better. Fishbase is a site that generally takes information from other places whereas books are more than likely written by people who have ‘experienced’ this species and studied them. You should still take into account that 24cm length (9in). If you want a wrasse similar to the Epibulus species then go for the Pteragosus genus. These are generally all smaller species with a max size of around 4-5in however they share a similar body shape to Epibulus but without the larger sizes. Look at Pteragosus aurigarius and Pteragosus cryptus.

The particular jaw morphology of slingjaws is why I'm after them specifically. I doubt their rarity is due to fragility though, as insidiator isn't known to be any different from other predatory wrasses and both are not easy to track down(May be misidentification related, animals resembling brevis(no eye stripe + dorsal fin spot) are sometimes labelled as insidiator).