The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

ryecoon · Mar 18, 2014

where is s good place to order fish from? or do you just go through you LFS?

DSP · Mar 18, 2014

I'm having problems with my Leopard wrasse now, When I first got her she would eat frozen foods like a champ but the last week it will not eat anything besides pods on the rocks, soon as I dump food in the tank she goes after it real fast but doesn't eat it? I don't know what made her stop eating the frozen all of a sudden? I feed a mixture of many different frozen foods all mixed in a container with Kent garlic and vita Chem, Frozen mysis, Cyclop-ez, marine quazine and saltwater multi pack.

Greenstreet.1 · Mar 18, 2014

How much garlic do you put ? Sometimes if the garlic is to strong they will not eat the food.

reefobsessed · Mar 19, 2014

I love this wrasse. Its an African Blue Star Lepard..First one I've seen.

MIKE NY · Mar 22, 2014

they are nice..it's in juvi/female coloration..I have one also

SantaMonica · Apr 2, 2014

Here is a vote for the fairy wrasses; I believe are the ones that pulse one and off when mating?

Eienna · Apr 2, 2014

SantaMonica said:
Here is a vote for the fairy wrasses; I believe are the ones that pulse one and off when mating?

Some do, but I believe that attribute is usually associated with the Flasher wrasses.

eatbreakfast · Apr 2, 2014

Actually, nearly all species of fairy wrasses flash their colors off and on when going into a nuptual display. Exquisite, pylei, marjorie, and cf. lanceolatus come readily to mind in their eagerness to go into such a display nearly everytime food is added or the lighting begins to dim in a tank.

Flashers and fairy wrasses being so closely related, both Genera readily display this trait.

luxauterna · Apr 2, 2014

Say hello to my sixline :) I'd like to get another wrasse in there, but it is only a 75 gal, and I know sixlines can get aggressive towards other wrasses.

peek-a-boo

evolved · Apr 2, 2014

eatbreakfast said:
Actually, nearly all species of fairy wrasses flash their colors off and on when going into a nuptual display. Exquisite, pylei, marjorie, and cf. lanceolatus come readily to mind in their eagerness to go into such a display nearly everytime food is added or the lighting begins to dim in a tank.

Flashers and fairy wrasses being so closely related, both Genera readily display this trait.

As do Halichoeres, Coris, Anampses....

It's not limited to Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus for that matter.

DSP · Apr 2, 2014

Greenstreet.1 said:
How much garlic do you put ? Sometimes if the garlic is to strong they will not eat the food.

I put about 4 drops of Kent garlic and that's using about 10 cubes of different frozen foods, I have tried without garlic as well but still no change, I just can't figure out why she all of a sudden stopped eating it, I have thousands of tiny copepods on my glass but she is still losing weight at a fast pace because she's only picking at the rocks, do they not eat the tiny white copepods? I just can't figure it out, Iv tried catching her because I wanted to put her in a 400 gal at my new job but it's not happening I don't even come close to catching her.

eatbreakfast · Apr 2, 2014

evolved said:
As do Halichoeres, Coris, Anampses....

It's not limited to Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus for that matter.

Flashing of colors, Halichoeres, anampses and coris, do not, they flash their fins. The color flash where there is a change in color and different patterns are seen is in Paracheilinius, cirrhilabrus, and thalasomma and a few other Genera that are not frequently seen in the trade, but the previously mentioned Genera DO NOT color flash, but fin flash instead.

impur · Apr 3, 2014

My pair of ornates and bipartitus

evolved · Apr 3, 2014

eatbreakfast said:
Flashing of colors, Halichoeres, anampses and coris, do not, they flash their fins. The color flash where there is a change in color and different patterns are seen is in Paracheilinius, cirrhilabrus, and thalasomma and a few other Genera that are not frequently seen in the trade, but the previously mentioned Genera DO NOT color flash, but fin flash instead.

You are mistaken; the males of Halichoeres, Anampses and Coris also flash color when courting. While it's not as dramatic (and sometimes with colors which are not seen in normal coloration) as the Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus genera, it's certainly much more than just a fin flash.
I've witnessed my male Halichoeres timorensis flash color, Brad Syphus has some great photos of a Coris venusta male flashing, and Kevin Kohen has some GREAT shots of an Anampses femininus male flashing.
Not all the Halichoeres species flash color, however.

FLipp · Apr 3, 2014

first good picture i got of the whip fin flasher doing his thing! Lol

Breakthecycle2 · Apr 3, 2014

Here are some of mine

ALso have a supermale Labouti
Female Rhomboid
Royal Flasher
Eightline Flasher

eatbreakfast · Apr 4, 2014

evolved said:
You are mistaken; the males of Halichoeres, Anampses and Coris also flash color when courting. While it's not as dramatic (and sometimes with colors which are not seen in normal coloration) as the Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus genera, it's certainly much more than just a fin flash.
I've witnessed my male Halichoeres timorensis flash color, Brad Syphus has some great photos of a Coris venusta male flashing, and Kevin Kohen has some GREAT shots of an Anampses femininus male flashing.
Not all the Halichoeres species flash color, however.

eatbreakfast said:
Flashing of colors, Halichoeres, anampses and coris, do not, they flash their fins. The color flash where there is a change in color and different patterns are seen is in Paracheilinius, cirrhilabrus, and thalasomma and a few other Genera that are not frequently seen in the trade, but the previously mentioned Genera DO NOT color flash, but fin flash instead.

Perhaps I should have italicized and marked in bold the "change in color and different patterns" comment so that it was more noticeable.

The "color flashing" that you are describing with Kevin Kohen's pic of A. femininus is not what I am referring to by color flashing. In his pic the colors are more intense, for sure, but they remain the same color. The yellow is a brighter yellow, but still yellow nonetheless. The same can be said of the C. venusta. The orange and green are more intense, but still the same colors(orange and green) that the fish normally exhibits. I cannot speak as to your Timorensis pr, but any other timorensis, or Halichoeres for that matter, that I have seen shows greater intensity of color, but they still remain the same color.

In fact, showing increased intensity of color is something ALL fish are capable of to some degree, not just wrasses. This is readily seen when a fish is scared or stressed, they markedly tone up or down the intensity of there color, but it remains the same color.

The color flashing I was referring to is what is seen very notably in flasher wrasses, where their regular color is red, orange or purple, but when color flashing we see bright blue which wasn't present before. Or in exquisite wrasses that have grey or red markings and when color flashing can have new markings and patterns displayed.

Anampses, Coris, and Halichoeres wrasses maintain their color and patterning, it just gets more intense

evolved · Apr 4, 2014

Ah, now I understand the intent of your prior comment; thanks.

And yes, we are now on the same page and in agreeance. The only thing I'd add, is that while ALL fish are capable of changing the intensity of their coloration, it can be VERY dramatic and change VERY quickly with these wrasses (in contrast to all fish).