The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[Petcrazyson]

Yes, all halichoeres will eat pests like flatworms.

You beat me to it :squinting-face-with-tongue:

 

[Petcrazyson]

We had previously kept Golden Rhomboid, Lineatus and Labouti so we are very open to suggestions.

I would suggest going for a Paracheilinus of some sorts like the attenuatus. Or a Cirrhilabrus like the nahackyi, lineopunctatus, or lubbocki. Or if you like really expensive stuff like me lol, look for a johnsoni.

 

[Joekovar]

I like to stir up my sandbed with a turkey baster and watch my hovans wrasse follow me around eating stuff I stir up.

 

[Zero_Cool]

This is all excellent information. Thank you.

Regarding introduction to the tank, are wrasses early or later in the plan?

How many could/should be introduced at one time?

I will have a bunch more questions tomorrow but need to call it a night. Thanks again for your expertise.

 

[Petcrazyson]

This is all excellent information. Thank you.

Regarding introduction to the tank, are wrasses early or later in the plan?

How many could/should be introduced at one time?

I will have a bunch more questions tomorrow but need to call it a night. Thanks again for your expertise.

Wrasses are a fish that’s great added early and later on. It would be easier for a smaller species of wrasse like an Earl’s or a Pintail to be added first so they are in calmer waters before all the commotion of a tank full of fish. But as long as there is enough hiding places, swimming space, and appropriate tank mates wrasse can be added at whatever time interval your reef is at. How many wrasses or better yet how many fish can be added at one time will depend on your bio load and filtration, so if I were to give you a certain number it would probably not help you at all. Obviously you shouldn’t add 10 fish to a newly seeded system, that’s just common sense. However adding several species that have generally the same food source, territory and swimming space at the same time would be beneficial so as there is no great aggression or fighting for territory between them straight at the beginning.

 

[i cant think]

Fantastic!

Here goes - kept reef tanks and FOWLR tanks in the early 2000s-2010. Moved 3 times since then and finally decided to get back in. Plan to start the reef up first. 72x30x25 225g 70/15/10/5 SPS/Acans/Ricordia/Zoas with a sandbed.

Was sharing some options from Dr. Reef and my wife said she really likes some of the wrasses. I had really only planned a Yellow Coris and a Mystery in my planned stock list but I really like that she wants to be involved.

She picked out (sorry for the generic names):

Carpenter
Ear Muff Wrasse (Halichoeres melasmapomus)
Blue Star Leopard
McCoskers
Linespot Flasher
Radiant (Iridis?)
Scott's
Red lined (Xmas?)
Splendid Pintail

Bunch of questions -
How many can be housed together in a tank our size?

Can wrasses be kept with Anthias?

Other planned fish "wants":
Chocolate Tang
Twin Spot Tang
Purple Tang
Powder Blue Tang (her choice)
Yellow or Scopas or Gem tang
Pair of clowns
Tail spot Blenny
School of 4/5 Lyretail Anthias
Candy Cane Hog (Bodianus masudai)

I assume this is a 5’x3’x2’ tank (I’m aware it’s not the full 3’ however I rounded it up for the full foot). If I am correct then here’s my recommendations.

Carpenter’s and Mccosker’s Flashers (Paracheilinus carpenteri & mccoskeri) may be too similar to keep together however the tank should be large enough to give them the room to get away from eachother. I recommend being incredibly cautious with these two however I know they can be together.

The Linespot Flasher (Paracheilinus lineopunctatus) should work just fine as this isn’t too similar to the others however you will likely still get a good display from a mature male.

The three Halichoeres will work just fine as they aren’t aggressive. The Earmuff is a larger Halichoeres however they aren’t aggressive unlike some other large Halichoeres are known for being. The other two should work just fine as well. The Iridis and Biocellatus are both small halichoeres and both are beautiful. Neither of them are known for aggression and whilst my Iridis will show small bursts of aggression generally it’s just to keep the hierarchy in place.

The Blue Star Leopard should also work - there are two that are under this name, one is Macropharyngodon marisrubri and the other is Macropharyngodon bipartitus. The Marisrubri is the nicer male however generally Macropharyngodon don’t transition often in captivity. So you should be alright with whichever you get assuming you like the female colouring.

Now, the two Fairies unfortunately only one will work. The Scott’s can be rather nasty as they age and especially towards other Fairies and Flasher wrasses. I would personally add a few more Fairies to the mix and replacing the Scottorum. The Pintail however should work just fine, these are peaceful and I recommend adding this as one of the first wrasses.

And although you didn’t add this as a wrasse, Hogfish are in the Labridae family. I wouldn’t do a Hogfish with other wrasses in the tank. These can be rather nasty as well and often don’t allow any other fish that looks even remotely similar to them.
The rest of your stocking is good with wrasses though, and as for how many wrasses can be housed together, it really depends on your tank size. You can have 20+ if you have an incredibly large tank. We recommend avoiding pairs/trios (of the same species) of the Cirrhilabrus, Halichoeres and Paracheilinus genera though. This is because they transition all the time in captivity and very few remain female.

My last tip is;
Get all of your wrasses as females. They will last the longest and also they will still transition into mature adults and some won’t transition (The Macropharyngodon genus). All of the wrasses you have chosen make stunning males and females so you shouldn’t have an issue with which ones you’ll keep knowing they won’t all stay female.

 

[i cant think]

Mystery would have been my choice :) but will make that sacrifice for her interest in the hobby.

Will gladly limit the Halichoeres. Do they all eat potential flatworms?

We had previously kept Golden Rhomboid, Lineatus and Labouti so we are very open to suggestions.

All Halichoeres eat pests, anything from flatworms to unwanted snails (or well… in their eyes, unwanted).
I didn’t realise a Yellow ‘Coris’ was on the list - this should also work just fine as again they aren’t known for being aggressive.

Fairy wrasses go on for ages! It would be much easier for you to go through this thread and see which ones you (and your wife) like and then we can sort through them into a list that will make your wrasses comfortable as well as have it so you and your wife love looking at the tank :)

 

[i cant think]

This is all excellent information. Thank you.

Regarding introduction to the tank, are wrasses early or later in the plan?

How many could/should be introduced at one time?

I will have a bunch more questions tomorrow but need to call it a night. Thanks again for your expertise.

You can add as many as on the list at once (although we don’t recommend it as it could crash your tank) however you can add multiples at once, usually we say add 2 at once.
They can be both later and earlier however it depends on which one it is. I go by this;
The more skittish the species then you add it earlier but if they’re more boisterous then add them later.

 

[i cant think]

Been watching 2 beauties at one of my LFS since May of this year and finally pulled the trigger. Picked up a 3.5" Bodianus rufus, and a 5" Halichoeres bivittatus. No pics of the Halichoeres since it's in the sand bed, but the hog is already out and about. And so far, 0 drama between him and the broomtail. I am going to remove the neon dottyback though, since he keeps going aftet the hogfish, but we were planning on removing him anyways, since the ribbon eel eventually going in here would eat the dottyback.

Of course a Bivittatus is in the mix, no aggressive wrasse gang is complete without one of them! Better get photos when it’s out.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Wrasses are a fish that’s great added early and later on. It would be easier for a smaller species of wrasse like an Earl’s or a Pintail to be added first so they are in calmer waters before all the commotion of a tank full of fish...

Sounds like the best thing to do would be to finalize a stock list and ask for advice on order.

However adding several species that have generally the same food source, territory and swimming space at the same time would be beneficial so as there is no great aggression or fighting for territory between them straight at the beginning.

I had never thought of it in this way. Had always thought it was solely on the general aggressiveness of the fish genus. Didn't think about the "why" there might be aggression.

 

[Zero_Cool]

@i cant think - thank you. This is a wealth of information.

Tank will be 6' long so plenty of swimming room. It will have nooks and caves, lower flow areas and open spaces. However, it will not be NSA.

I was unsure if wrasses in general transition to male if they were kept singularly. Halichoeres biocellatus is beautiful as both female and as a male so that would be very interesting to see happen in our tank.

We will drop the hog fish and the Scott's fairy from the list due to aggressive natures. For the same reason, should we limit the flashers to one?

We will definitely take your advice and search through this thread for images and information on specific genus. For me the research is half the fun.

 

[i cant think]

@i cant think - thank you. This is a wealth of information.

Tank will be 6' long so plenty of swimming room. It will have nooks and caves, lower flow areas and open spaces. However, it will not be NSA.

I was unsure if wrasses in general transition to male if they were kept singularly. Halichoeres biocellatus is beautiful as both female and as a male so that would be very interesting to see happen in our tank.

We will drop the hog fish and the Scott's fairy from the list due to aggressive natures. For the same reason, should we limit the flashers to one?

We will definitely take your advice and search through this thread for images and information on specific genus. For me the research is half the fun.

Actually, flashers are perfect when mixing them with eachother! They show very little aggression, and rarely ever get nippy - usually their aggression is in spurts of chasing.
You can also get several fairies as these are similar and some species are incredibly peaceful.

also, me and @SaltyT have slightly more in depth articles about certain genera in the Labridae family.

 

[Zero_Cool]

Right now the, Splendid Pintail, McCosker's and Linespot are 1,2 and 3 on the flasher list.

 

[Zero_Cool]

How do wrasses and anthias work out? They look very similar especially the males.

 

[OrionN]

Splendid Pintail is a fairy wrasse and will be bigger than the other two flashers

 

[OrionN]

What is an NSA? I am sure it is not the National Security Agency.
Most people recommend keeping wrasse as singleton. I, however, keep wrasse in breeding units sometime/a lot of times. I find their behavior very interesting. Courtship will bring out the best colors in wrasses.

 

[homer1475]

NSA = Negative space aquascape

 

[i cant think]

What is an NSA? I am sure it is not the National Security Agency.
Most people recommend keeping wrasse as singleton. I, however, keep wrasse in breeding units sometime/a lot of times. I find their behavior very interesting. Courtship will bring out the best colors in wrasses.

I wonder if your tank size is what allows trios/groups to work as every other tank (6’ or 4’ is most common over here for large tanks… our houses aren’t huge) I’ve seen with groups of Cirrhilabrus, Halichoeres and Paracheilinus always fail long term.

 

[Zero_Cool]

What is an NSA?

Example:

 

[Zero_Cool]

Splendid Pintail is a fairy wrasse and will be bigger than the other two flashers

I have a lot to learn.