The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[radav88]

They should do fine. I have the following in my 75 gallon without any issues:

C. bathyphilus
C. isosceles
C. rhomboidalis
H. iridis
H. timorensis

They share the tank with a variety of other fish. Also had a C. finifenmaa (found a since sealed hole and jumped out unfortunately) and a C. lineatus (slowly wasted away, refusing all foods even though it wasn't bullied, and was always out and about). Both C. isosceles and C. bathyphilus are pretty mellow fairies and get along pretty well with most others.

I'd avoid the following if looking to mix in anything smaller than a massive tank from my own experiences with fairies:
C. rubripinnis (chased all the other fairies, even in a 380 gallon tank)
C. katherinae (my current specimen even chases the damsels...)
C. briangreenei (unless you've got a tank 180 gallons or larger, don't mix it with other fairies)
C. scottorum (unless you've got a huge tank, it'll fight all other fairies)
C. rubrimarginatus (my old one was almost as bad as my rubripinnis)
C. cyanogularis

My most mellow fairies have included:
C. isosceles
C. brunneus
C. bathyphilus
C. lubbocki (both Indo and Cebu variants)
C. finifenmaa
C. rhomboidalis
C. cf cyanopleura
C. solorensis
C. lineatus
C. lunatus
C. rubriventralis

C. solorensis, cyanopleura, temmincki, and ryukyuensis fall somewhere in between, and unfortunately I haven't had the pleasure of keeping any other species yet.

These are both mellow fairies and should get along. They are also on opposite ends of the chart (When the chart was made, C. isosceles was known as C. cf lanceolatus). Isosceles is in the Johnsoni complex and Bathyphilus is in the Bathyphilus complex. I personally don’t go off the chart 100% as some of it may be a bit out dated however the it’s a good idea to use as guidelines.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the information this is perfect.

 

[SaltyT]

These are both mellow fairies and should get along. They are also on opposite ends of the chart (When the chart was made, C. isosceles was known as C. cf lanceolatus). Isosceles is in the Johnsoni complex and Bathyphilus is in the Bathyphilus complex. I personally don’t go off the chart 100% as some of it may be a bit out dated however the it’s a good idea to use as guidelines.

Hunter updated his chart, the one on R2R is outdated bc he's no longer on here.

The Wrasse Guy - Mixing Cirrhilabrus

Cirrhilabrus, the “Fairy Wrasses”, are one of the most elegant, active, and colorful reef fish. Their appeal in a reef tank is common to many, but not all have a well-rounded understanding of the compatibility amongst them. Enter the notion of “complexes”: groupings of very closely related species

www.thewrasseguy.com

 

[i cant think]

Hunter updated his chart, the one on R2R is outdated bc he's no longer on here.

The Wrasse Guy - Mixing Cirrhilabrus

Cirrhilabrus, the “Fairy Wrasses”, are one of the most elegant, active, and colorful reef fish. Their appeal in a reef tank is common to many, but not all have a well-rounded understanding of the compatibility amongst them. Enter the notion of “complexes”: groupings of very closely related species

www.thewrasseguy.com

I never noticed that isosceles actually went to the Lunatus complex. Although it makes sense as we do have the hybrids that come in every so often.
It’s nice to see he’s kept it up to date though as some of the new wrasse lovers (or even older guys) now have a better idea of what will and won’t go well. Its funny seeing the complexes again and how many more specimens have gone onto the list.

 

[i cant think]

The radiant being the big boss in the centre of the wrasses, the photo makes it look like 3 of them were circling him haha.

 

[OrionN]

The radiant being the big boss in the centre of the wrasses, the photo makes it look like 3 of them were circling him haha.

He looks like the God Father of the tank

 

[Slocke]

 

[i cant think]

He looks like the God Father of the tank

He really is! He’s a stunner, although people first look at the clown (For obvious reasons), they usually instantly see the iridis and fall in love.

 

[i cant think]

She’s beautiful, I miss the female colours of the iridis, if I had an 8’ tank I’d be trying out a pair of them. I do enjoy the male colours but I prefer seeing the whiter dorsal - my male’s dorsal looks white in photos but in person it seems to have a yellow tint.

 

[Slocke]

She’s beautiful, I miss the female colours of the iridis, if I had an 8’ tank I’d be trying out a pair of them. I do enjoy the male colours but I prefer seeing the whiter dorsal - my male’s dorsal looks white in photos but in person it seems to have a yellow tint.

Hadn't considered sexual dimorphism so hadn't known it was a she. thanks.



So in that 5' I've got 5 wrasse:
H Iridis
M Bipartus
D Labroides
P Attenia
P Mccoskeri

Can/should I add more? Any suggestions?

 

[i cant think]

Hadn't considered sexual dimorphism so hadn't known it was a she. thanks.

Generally, the easiest way to sex Iridis is if they have the three dorsal spots then they’re female however if they only have the one dorsal spot then they’re a male. Another not quite as obvious sign is generally the tail. If it’s clear all the way through then that’s a sign of a female or newly transitioning male. If it’s got the red stripe through it then it’s generally a male or an older transitioning male. There are also some with green and red in the tail which I believe is ‘Super Male’ or an older male.

 

[OrionN]

Hadn't considered sexual dimorphism so hadn't known it was a she. thanks.



So in that 5' I've got 5 wrasse:
H Iridis
M Bipartus
D Labroides
P Attenia
P Mccoskeri

Can/should I add more? Any suggestions?

Essentially all the wrasses are dimorphic. Some are much more significant than the Iridis.
Female. This one is tiny, only 1.5 inch

Male

 

[SaltyT]

Hadn't considered sexual dimorphism so hadn't known it was a she. thanks.

So in that 5' I've got 5 wrasse:
H Iridis
M Bipartus
D Labroides
P Attenia
P Mccoskeri

Can/should I add more? Any suggestions?

Don't know what other fish you have in there, but if you're not close to being stocked then sure you can add more wrasses to that bunch. How about 2 other flashers or some fairy wrasses to add some more movement and displays?

 

[Slocke]

Don't know what other fish you have in there, but if you're not close to being stocked then sure you can add more wrasses to that bunch. How about 2 other flashers or some fairy wrasses to add some more movement and displays?

Thanks! I guess my question was too vague. Sorry.
I have the fairy wrasse compatibility chart I assume the more aggressive would not work with the flasher?
Is there a similar for flashers or are they all fine?

 

[i cant think]

Thanks! I guess my question was too vague. Sorry.
I have the fairy wrasse compatibility chart I assume the more aggressive would not work with the flasher?
Is there a similar for flashers or are they all fine?

Generally flashers are all fine with eachother, I’d be cautious with the octotaenia as they can be slightly more boisterous as they age. As for fairies, the more aggressive fairies *shouldnt* get along with flashers however some can if chosen the right way (Which can be a slightly more difficult process to go through). I’d be adding a Halichoeres leucoxanthus to the mix, their colours complement the iridis a ton.
I’d also add a naoakoae as long as you know it’s not an aggressive specimen, again for the reason of complementing the iridis.
I think you may want a thread on its own and tag us (including the other stock outside of wrasses and the tank size). You may get opinions away from ours and ours may change.

 

[SaltyT]

Thanks! I guess my question was too vague. Sorry.
I have the fairy wrasse compatibility chart I assume the more aggressive would not work with the flasher?
Is there a similar for flashers or are they all fine?

If you have the fairy wrasse compatibility chart, the fairies that are in the green categories will stay the most harmonious with flashers. The yellow categories are usually fine too. Of course there's always exceptions bc fish don't read the literature on how they're "supposed to" behave lol

 

[i cant think]

I’ve seen more of the interesting behaviour tonight between my pink streaked trio. I believe it was in this thread I mentioned about them doing mini “staring contests” and one gained those same two pale vertical stripes I saw a while ago. I wonder if this is a way to differentiate the males from the females? It seems rather early for them to be transitioning though as the biggest is only about 0.8 inches (if that).

 

[i cant think]

I’ve been thinking of the idea of a Wetmorella pair in the new year the only thing is, how would a pink streak trio react? Would it be similar to adding wrasses to a larger gang?

 

[OrionN]

Scott Michael write up on Genus Wetmorella
In his write up on Wetmorella way back in 2004, Scott Michael stated that the White Bar Possum wrasse tolerate the Pink Streak just fine, but the larger White Bar harassed the smaller on to a corner of a tank. Larger tank would be more suitable if you want a pair or trio.

 

[i cant think]

Scott Michael write up on Genus Wetmorella
In his write up on Wetmorella way back in 2004, Scott Michael stated that the White Bar Possum wrasse tolerate the Pink Streak just fine, but the larger White Bar harassed the smaller on to a corner of a tank. Larger tank would be more suitable if you want a pair or trio.

I was more planning for a tanakai pair as this was my first ever pygmy wrasse species to own. And the tank size is a 3’x16”x1’ tank with a lot of rockwork and blind spots. Also once coral grows there will be more broken up viewing points.

 

[OrionN]

I’m not talking about the Naoko doing the bullying, I have an issue where neither of two Naokos could make it into the second day in my tank.

......

I actually find that Naoko are hardy. I don't have any problem with mine. One was at the local Petco for over 1 month. All emaciated when I got him. He fatten up quickly in my QT system and did really well in my DT. Once of the easiest fish to acclimated to captivity, eats everything for me.
8/2/2019 at Petco

8/30/2019

9/24/2019