The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[cancun]

Yeah, I'm planning on having corals so I'll probably stick to fairy and flasher wrasses.

I totally get it....my Wrasses don't bother corals....I have plenty of corals....when they say not reef safe Wrasses they mean they will decimate your clean up crew....LOL! That article is a great one to read for sure!

 

[jaegers_reef]

Are leopard wrasse as difficult to keep like people keep telling me?

 

[saltyhog]

I have had an H. chrysus that was over 5 inches in a mixed reef and he never touched a single snail or shrimp. I currently have H. biocellatus and H. melasmopomas in the same tank with no snail or shrimp predation at all. As @cancun said corals are safe, just inverts on the menu. I think if you keep the smaller Halichoeres species your snails will be pretty safe. The big ones that get up to 7" are the ones that will be the most problem.

That said, some of mine have eaten feather dusters but the two I have now don't.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

It really boils down to which ones you like the most. Just take a look at this excellent article by @evolved to avoid incompatible species and post stocking plans here for our resident wrasse experts to review. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...feriority-need-not-apply-1st-revision.322326/

To me the smaller fairies would probably be better. C. lubbocki, C. isoscoles are a couple I would look at in that size tank.

Thanks!!!

 

[cancun]

I have had an H. chrysus that was over 5 inches in a mixed reef and he never touched a single snail or shrimp. I currently have H. biocellatus and H. melasmopomas in the same tank with no snail or shrimp predation at all. As @cancun said corals are safe, just inverts on the menu. I think if you keep the smaller Halichoeres species your snails will be pretty safe. The big ones that get up to 7" are the ones that will be the most problem.

That said, some of mine have eaten feather dusters but the two I have now don't.

LOL! Agree.....I actually blame my Red Coris for the invert decimation! [emoji16]

 

[norfolkgarden]

Are leopard wrasse as difficult to keep like people keep telling me?

*Yes*

If you have a perfect parameters tank with lots of pods and no aggressive competitors they can be absolutely pretty. Interesting looking, very active and just overall cool.

But they are similar to copperbands in the sense that a lot are imported but very few thrive.

We waited 5 years before I thought I was ready to tackle a copperband.
Going on 1 year next month.

Went bare bottom a few years ago and had to give up the melanurus and yellow "coris".

That was a bad day. They were both beautiful and healthy and had survived a bad tank crash. Still miss them.

 

[cancun]

Are leopard wrasse as difficult to keep like people keep telling me?

Yea I agree with others....the can be difficult for sure. I had my tank for 3 years before I tried them. What I did and what worked for me is I didn't buy any of them online. I have two great LFS that gets them in regularly. I would make sure they had them a minimum of a week and they were eatting frozen. Both LFS keep them in their coral tanks. Making sure you have a healthy specimen that is already eatting frozen is a huge help. Also in my humble opinion a sand substrate if 2-3 inches is a must. I have 6 leopards.....2 blue stars, 2 Melegris, Moyers, and a Ornate. I didn't add them all at once. I added one here and there over a couple of years. Also, and this is just my personal preference, I never QT any of my Leopards. I just did a 60 min drip and into my display tank.

 

[saltyhog]

Are leopard wrasse as difficult to keep like people keep telling me?

They don't ship well and they are sometimes difficult to get to eat. That said, if you get a healthy one and can get over the hump of getting it to eat they are very hardy. My Potters has been in my system for 4 years.

 

[Viner87]

They don't ship well and they are sometimes difficult to get to eat. That said, if you get a healthy one and can get over the hump of getting it to eat they are very hardy. My Potters has been in my system for 4 years.

That flame [emoji7]

 

[saltyhog]

He's a show off.

 

[Viner87]

He's a show off.

I can’t wait to get one [emoji1303]

 

[HairyGary]

He's a show off.

Looks young still.

Mine is transitioning and just starting to get red on his fins.

 

[HairyGary]

ok who snagged the Rubricaudalis from underneath me yesterday on DD?!?!

 

[saltyhog]

ok who snagged the Rubricaudalis from underneath me yesterday on DD?!?!

P. rubrucaudalis? I wish! I can't believe I wasn't watching my DD preview! That is my very favorite flasher wrasse. How much were they asking for it?

 

[HairyGary]

P. rubrucaudalis? I wish! I can't believe I wasn't watching my DD preview! That is my very favorite flasher wrasse. How much were they asking for it?

Yep! $169.00

 

[saltyhog]

Yep! $169.00

Dang, I would have bought it in a heartbeat. Maybe that means some others will be coming in!

 

[wesman42]

This popped up in my Google News feed today! I thought it was quite interesting.

https://reefs.com/2016/02/16/red-green-halichoeres-wrasses-photographic-guide/

 

[cancun]

This popped up in my Google News feed today! I thought it was quite interesting.

https://reefs.com/2016/02/16/red-green-halichoeres-wrasses-photographic-guide/

Great article! Very interesting! Thanks for sharing! [emoji16]

 

[The Escaped Ape]

I’m back in the hobby after a long break and finally have my tank (40”x 28”x 20”) set up. It has a 3-4” sand bed and a moderate amount of cycled dry rock. A few tiny frags only, as coral very hard to come by where I am.

So far, in terms of fish, there’s not much in the tank - a pair of Perc clowns and, from today, a Citron Clown Goby and Eight Line Flasher Wrasse. I want to add a Purple Firefish as well.

I had wanted to add a H. melanarus at some point. My LFS (the only one in the country where I live that deals with marine fish) has said they might get some Flame Fairy Wrasse in from Hawaii. Any thoughts from wrasse experts on compatibility?

 

[reefer wanna be]

I have a 6 in long checkerboard an he is a jerk he likes to munch on my clean up crew i would almost pay someone to take him