The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[JTreef]

Nice, that lunate fairy is exactly like my male. Had him for 2 years. He was just about 3.25". Found a way to jump out:( Tank was covered. It's covered even better now

 

[twon8]

 

[robby2782]

Just got this stunner from Jordan!

 

[JTreef]

Very bright colors there! Jordan from Among the reef?

 

[robby2782]

Yes!

 

[Esage]

Looking for info on comet wrasses. Care and are they reef safe? I have not been able to find much info on these

 

[eatbreakfast]

Obligate coralivores. The whole genus eats coral polyps as their primary diet.

 

[vedros74]

I currently have a potters wrasse, jeweled wrasse, black leapord wrasse in my 150. I definitely want to add a choats down the road but saw a ornate leopard at my lfs yesterday. Would adding the ornate cause any issues now or down the road with the choats? Ideally I would like to quarantine the choats and ornate together and add to the display at the same time but the choats is proving hard to find

 

[Esage]

Obligate coralivores. The whole genus eats coral polyps as their primary diet.

Thanks for the info looks like I'll need to pass. Beautiful fish

 

[eatbreakfast]

I currently have a potters wrasse, jeweled wrasse, black leapord wrasse in my 150. I definitely want to add a choats down the road but saw a ornate leopard at my lfs yesterday. Would adding the ornate cause any issues now or down the road with the choats? Ideally I would like to quarantine the choats and ornate together and add to the display at the same time but the choats is proving hard to find

I ave recently had a problem with ornates behaving aggressively toward other leopards. You have some of the nicer/more desirable leopards, and the choati would definitely fit that bill too. I would hate to jeopardize these for an ornate, one of the more common leopards.

 

[vedros74]

I ave recently had a problem with ornates behaving aggressively toward other leopards. You have some of the nicer/more desirable leopards, and the choati would definitely fit that bill too. I would hate to jeopardize these for an ornate, one of the more common leopards.

Thanks for the insight. I've definitely grown attached to the wrasse I currently have and have had them for awhile especially the potters and not willing to cause any aggression or deaths with the ornate. Thanks again

 

[townjas]

What is the temperament of H. maculipinna? Do well with H. Melanurus, H. Timorensis and H. Biocellatus?

 

[eatbreakfast]

What is the temperament of H. maculipinna? Do well with H. Melanurus, H. Timorensis and H. Biocellatus?

H. maculipinna gets larger and more aggressive than the Halichoeres wrasses you mentioned.

 

[Mini Coop]

Ok ok ok - I am fairly new to all of this. 120 gallon DT with 38 g. sump. Just got done running fallow for 76 days from ich, in which I lost 10 fish. Saved Sailfin and Foxface, added 2 clowns. QT set up now, and ready for new fish! Planning stock now.
I have said from the beginning that I didn't like the look of wrasses . . . but in my research over the past couple of days, I have had my eyes opened to the carpenter and a couple of others that I think are pretty beautiful. AND I know I can host quite a few in my tank, and am loving the variety in color, etc. and I could have a few in my size tank.

SOOOO - you wrasse lovers - good ones to start with? Flasher? Any issues you see with the stock I already have and mixing wrasses?
I would really like to add a flame hawk, green mandarin, and a couple of sand sifting goby's and possibly . . . not sure on the bangai cardinals . . . sooooo. . . any suggestions from wrasse world would be welcome as I am slowly being converted :p

 

[Maritimer]

Hi, Jena!

Flashers are a great wrasse to start with. They'll spend most of their time fairly high in the water column, waiting for plankton to drift by, so they're not really using the same space as your existing fish, and your planned stock. Two or three males, of different species, will flash and display to one another, providing swift and elegant bursts of energy. Flashers are generally rather peaceful (excepting the Red Sea 8-line, from what I understand), so they're easy to add other fish to. There are a lot of fairy wrasses which would fit into the same temperament and ecological niche categories, and come in a dazzling array of colors. (Most flashers are very similarly attired in orange-red with stripes.) Be careful though ... once you fall for wrasses, you can get in pretty deep before you know it!

~Bruce

 

[saltyhog]

One affordable exception to the orange color in flashers is P. lineopunctatus which is a purple/red color. It's one of my favorite flashers.

 

[jp_75]

Which wrasse would you guys add to 60 gal?Already have 2 clowns,some fairy and longnose hawkish.
Earmuff Wrasse,Exquisite Fairy Wrasse,Melanurus Wrasse? I think i like Exqusite the most...Maybe some Flasher like Carpenters?
Quarantine first of course! THX

 

[Maritimer]

One affordable exception to the orange color in flashers is P. lineopunctatus which is a purple/red color. It's one of my favorite flashers.

True dat! (I actually have one, but s/he's quite young) And then there are those rare moments when that cockscomb of a dorsal fin comes up, the colors come out of nowhere, and we're off to the races!

~Bruce

 

[saltyhog]

Quick question. I've noticed my C. laboutei has been eating algae off of the rocks much like a tang does. Now my Flame wrasse is pecking at the rock although I think he's just seeing the Labout's and trying to get the food he thinks it's eating.

I've had my fairy wrasses and even Halichoeres wrasses eat nori but I've never had them pick at rock like this. Anyone else had this happen? Any cause for concern? Both of the fairy wrasse in question are very fat, colorful and appear healthy in every way.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Which wrasse would you guys add to 60 gal?Already have 2 clowns,some fairy and longnose hawkish.
Earmuff Wrasse,Exquisite Fairy Wrasse,Melanurus Wrasse? I think i like Exqusite the most...Maybe some Flasher like Carpenters?
Quarantine first of course! THX

An exquisite would be borderline in that size tank, an earmuff is too big. Melanurus would work.

Other species I would consider would be Cirrhilabrus isoscoles, C. lunatus, C. rubeus, C. lubbocki, any of the flashers except octotaenia, Wetmorella species, or Pseudocheilinops ataenia.