The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[eatbreakfast]

What do y’all think about the bluehead wrasse?

A good choice for a fowlr, not a great choice for a reef. Can be aggressive towards peaceful fish, fits well with aggressive and semi-aggressive fish.

 

[Swampfoxforeman]

The bluehead is about the only one I was interested that LA has in stock.

 

[saltyhog]

See them all the time while diving the Caribbean. Constantly in motion and usually chasing something. The juvies are completely different (bright yellow) and seem to sometimes hang out around anemones.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Question for the experienced Wrasse owners out there, I just purchased a beautiful Dusky Wrasse (about a week ago, will post pics on this thread once I get a good shot) and he has his own sleep schedule, like my Melanurus. The only issue is he goes to bed 2 hours before the lights turn off (9), and 7-9 are the hours I'm most free to look at the tank (school during day + work at home once I get back). Once a sand sleeping wrasse develops its sleep routine, does it ever change/adjust? or is this a fixed thing?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Question for the experienced Wrasse owners out there, I just purchased a beautiful Dusky Wrasse (about a week ago, will post pics on this thread once I get a good shot) and he has his own sleep schedule, like my Melanurus. The only issue is he goes to bed 2 hours before the lights turn off (9), and 7-9 are the hours I'm most free to look at the tank (school during day + work at home once I get back). Once a sand sleeping wrasse develops its sleep routine, does it ever change/adjust? or is this a fixed thing?

It will adjust it's sleep schedule. Feeding a few minutes before it buries can help keep it out longer.

 

[Bug235]

Thanks. Is it likely to change to a male in time? There are also numerous other wrasse, Macropharyngodon Cyanoguttatus Wrasse Female, Halichoeres iridis juvenile female, Anampses Lineatus Female, Paracheilinus mccoskeri, Hawaiian black spot cleaner in the tank. Thanks.

Just added a male and female rubrimarginatus wrasses to my Wrasse collection in my 150

Reef. Here is the lineup: Scotts, lineatus, labouti , Katherine, mccoskers and the two new guys. They all hang out together except the mccosker wrasse.

 

[ascheff]

A quick update on this girl. She's been in my display just over two weeks now, after spending a few days in an acclimation box. She's doing great and gets along with all the others. None of the existing wrasses gave her any issues at all and she often hangs out with the C. katherinae and C. isosceles. She's also colored up a lot compared to the pale pink she was when I got her. Thanks again @eatbreakfast and @Abhishek for the advice, I'm glad I took her straight to my display. Not sure I would have kept up with feeding her in my frag tank as much as she evidently likes to eat, as you can see by her full figure.

I'm looking for some advice please. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a little Paracheilinus piscilineatus female. She'll be finishing 12 days of TTM tomorrow, is very active and eats very well. She is however very tiny. To illustrate just how tiny, I've included a photo of her in front of a 50mm / almost 2 inch PVC fitting for scale.

Therein lies my uncertainty. I'm somewhat hesitant to add her to my display tank, concerned that she might not be able to compete with the other fishes for food. The bigger and most dominant are H. marginatus, H. leucoxanthus, a pair of lapillus and a C. lineatus. There are a bunch a smaller ones too, all the way down to the smallest, a P. ataenia and Elacatinus oceanops, that are both fat and have no problem fending for themselves. Both are smaller than the new girl.

The alternative would be to add her to my frag tank in my sump for a few months, which is about 20" x 20" x 15" with rock and plenty of live food. I'm however not convinced this is the best plan either, as these are social creatures by nature, and spending months in solitary at such a young age might cause issues later.

Anyone have any personal experience adding such a young wrasse with a bunch of adult wrasses?

 

[TreyC2010]

Wow she did color up nicely. Awesome!

 

[Abhishek]

Question for the experienced Wrasse owners out there, I just purchased a beautiful Dusky Wrasse (about a week ago, will post pics on this thread once I get a good shot) and he has his own sleep schedule, like my Melanurus. The only issue is he goes to bed 2 hours before the lights turn off (9), and 7-9 are the hours I'm most free to look at the tank (school during day + work at home once I get back). Once a sand sleeping wrasse develops its sleep routine, does it ever change/adjust? or is this a fixed thing?

It will adjust it's sleep schedule. Feeding a few minutes before it buries can help keep it out longer.

I generally tend to change the light schedules along with feeding half an hour before the light switches off to help them switch the sleep cycles .

Still have my oldest blue star wake up lazily at 10 am in the morning and go to bed by 7 pm.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Abhishek]

A quick update on this girl. She's been in my display just over two weeks now, after spending a few days in an acclimation box. She's doing great and gets along with all the others. None of the existing wrasses gave her any issues at all and she often hangs out with the C. katherinae and C. isosceles. She's also colored up a lot compared to the pale pink she was when I got her. Thanks again @eatbreakfast and @Abhishek for the advice, I'm glad I took her straight to my display. Not sure I would have kept up with feeding her in my frag tank as much as she evidently likes to eat, as you can see by her full figure.

Looking great and glad to help .
Since you took her directly to the DT , be on the lookout for anything suspicious . If so , hope you have a 10-20 gallon tank that you can use for hospital purpose .

Hope she continues to be healthy and eating voraciously.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[ascheff]

Since you took her directly to the DT , be on the lookout for anything suspicious . If so , hope you have a 10-20 gallon tank that you can use for hospital purpose .

Sorry, I meant straight to my display after 12 days of daily tank transfers, instead of first into my frag tank until she is more the size of my other wrasses.

 

[Abhishek]

Sorry, I meant straight to my display after 12 days of daily tank transfers, instead of first into my frag tank until she is more the size of my other wrasses.

I misunderstood and my bad !!! Awesome job .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[ascheff]

I misunderstood and my bad !!! Awesome job .

Regards,
Abhishek

No problem, I thought you may have misunderstood. Luckily my days of adding newly bought fish, as well as coral and inverts, right to my display is long gone. I have way to much to lose, so everything goes into QT first. Usually I would combine tank transfer with Prazi and ParaGuard for fish, which I did however skip with her, just because she is so small and I was unsure if she would handle full dosage well. Instead I just did the transfers and watched her daily for anything unusual.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

Update: It seems he has adjusted his schedule, he is going to sleep on time now, still haven't gotten a good picture, he never stays put

 

[Bug235]

No problem, I thought you may have misunderstood. Luckily my days of adding newly bought fish, as well as coral and inverts, right to my display is long gone. I have way to much to lose, so everything goes into QT first. Usually I would combine tank transfer with Prazi and ParaGuard for fish, which I did however skip with her, just because she is so small and I was unsure if she would handle full dosage well. Instead I just did the transfers and watched her daily for anything unusual.

I have a 150 mix reef, for three years now and have never QT my fish, mostly fairy wrasses, trust me QT is the right thing to do for fish and coral before DT 100% but I just never have, I don’t add fish that often to have a second tank going but I guess I could always fire up when going to add a fish but I just never have. I dip my corals prior to DT. I guess I’m just lucky. I have a Rhomboid wrasse coming maybe I should this time

 

[Cameron Wise]

Sweet little yellow wrasse

 

[OrionN]

First venture into Fairy Wrasse after many years. Saw this at my LFS and just got to have him. This is a Sailfin Fairy Wrasse. A new species yet un-named but recently imported to the US. Back in 2016 these guys sold for 600-800 each but is much cheaper now.
BTW, please excuse my dirty tank.
From my research, this is a hardy and a little on the aggressive side for Fairy Wrasses. This beauty already eat his fill in my aquarium. The first picture is a little faded due to flash, even if the whole picture is accurate in color. The second picture is more accurate according to my eyeball test, but even this one is not doing this fish justice. Dark metallic iridescence throat, Brick red dorsal and upper body coloration, fuschia anal find and part of the dorsal fins, all highlight with various spots and line of blue, black and yellow. This fish is a looker if I ever see one. I will take my camera out and see if I can get a few better pictures of him.
It is too bad that he may loose some of the coloration if I don't keep him with females or rival males. Have him in my 65 gal tank right now. I am getting my 320 gal ready and will get him in there in the future with few more fairy and flasher wrasses.
Doing research on this guy, not an easy thing since initially I cannot ID him, lead me to really consider adding wrasses to my eventual DT in the future. Maybe not a tank full of wrasses but at least a harem or group of related species. It is likely that I will not be able to get females of this species. If this is the case I will have to settle for females of related species.

 

[eatbreakfast]

First venture into Fairy Wrasse after many years. Saw this at my LFS and just got to have him. This is a Sailfin Fairy Wrasse. A new species yet un-named but recently imported to the US. Back in 2016 these guys sold for 600-800 each but is much cheaper now.
BTW, please excuse my dirty tank.
From my research, this is a hardy and a little on the aggressive side for Fairy Wrasses. This beauty already eat his fill in my aquarium. The first picture is a little faded due to flash, even if the whole picture is accurate in color. The second picture is more accurate according to my eyeball test, but even this one is not doing this fish justice. Dark metallic iridescence throat, Brick red dorsal and upper body coloration, fuschia anal find and part of the dorsal fins, all highlight with various spots and line of blue, black and yellow. This fish is a looker if I ever see one. I will take my camera out and see if I can get a few better pictures of him.
It is too bad that he may loose some of the coloration if I don't keep him with females or rival males. Have him in my 65 gal tank right now. I am getting my 320 gal ready and will get him in there in the future with few more fairy and flasher wrasses.
Doing research on this guy, not an easy thing since initially I cannot ID him, lead me to really consider adding wrasses to my eventual DT in the future. Maybe not a tank full of wrasses but at least a harem or group of related species. It is likely that I will not be able to get females of this species. If this is the case I will have to settle for females of related species.

This species will be particularly aggressive toward other members of its complex. It would be best housed with more distantly related fairy or flasher wrasses. Males will still display to each other, but not be as aggressive as they would be to more closely related species.

 

[OrionN]

TJ,
Mine was display to my Flame Angel. That was why I was able to get a good pictures of him. In my 320, I am thinking of put him in with a few females of this species or closely related species. Plus a small group of more aggressive Flasher wrasse (a male and a few females flasher wrasses). What do you think of this arrangement. I am still very new to Flasher/Fairy wrasse. My first. I keep harem of Leopard wrasses without problem in the past.
Thanks for your help

 

[eatbreakfast]

TJ,
Mine was display to my Flame Angel. That was why I was able to get a good pictures of him. In my 320, I am thinking of put him in with a few females of this species or closely related species. Plus a small group of more aggressive Flasher wrasse (a male and a few females flasher wrasses). What do you think of this arrangement. I am still very new to Flasher/Fairy wrasse. My first. I keep harem of Leopard wrasses without problem in the past.
Thanks for your help

Harems of the same species usually don't work out longterm in aquaria. Female fairy and flasher wrasses usually transition into males, even if a male is present. And males of the same species are much more aggressive to each other than they are to males of different species.