Wrasse Advice sought. Stock/Order of intro.

[MeanGreenStompa]

Hello, I have an 8 month old 180 mixed reef tank.

It currently houses 6 chromis, 4 Banggai Cardinals, a healthy and voracious Copperband, 4 engineer gobies, 2 clowns, a fox face, a kole tang, a watchman and the most recent addition, an orange back fairy wrasse.

I had intended to add some more fairy wrasse prior to adding the Halichoeres I wanted to get (3 of the 4-5 inch varieties), but wanted to know, if I added the Halichoeres first (as I'm being offered a Radiant Wrasse asap), would that be an issue for the Chirrhilabrus when the Halichoeres are established? I know that my dwarf angel and couple of tangs are a ways off as they'll be last, but am unsure as to wrasse territoriality.

Thanks for the stocking advice!

 

[SaltyT]

The smaller 4-5 inch halichoeres wrasses that you're interested in don't pay much attention to cirrhilabrus wrasses. Radiants are probably the most peaceful of the halichoeres wrasses, and one of my personal favorites! Your radiant won't bother future halichoeres or cirrhilabrus additions.

On the other hand, your orange back may give new fairy wrasses a hard time I recommend using an acclimation box when you start adding more fairies.

 

[Tamberav]

Hello, I have an 8 month old 180 mixed reef tank.

It currently houses 6 chromis, 4 Banggai Cardinals, a healthy and voracious Copperband, 4 engineer gobies, 2 clowns, a fox face, a kole tang, a watchman and the most recent addition, an orange back fairy wrasse.

I had intended to add some more fairy wrasse prior to adding the Halichoeres I wanted to get (3 of the 4-5 inch varieties), but wanted to know, if I added the Halichoeres first (as I'm being offered a Radiant Wrasse asap), would that be an issue for the Chirrhilabrus when the Halichoeres are established? I know that my dwarf angel and couple of tangs are a ways off as they'll be last, but am unsure as to wrasse territoriality.

Thanks for the stocking advice!

Radiants should be fine... they are coming in small right now and honestly a lot more peaceful then say a.. melanurus.

Your orange back is probably more of a problem..

My problem child is actually a Kole Tang, my Yellow Tang is peaceful. Go figure.

 

[MeanGreenStompa]

Both of you mention the Orange Back presenting more of a problem, I had selected it over both the Blue Throat and the Scotts that were available at the time due to the placement on the fairy wrasse compatibility chart by H Hammond as a mid range aggro fish. I'm hopeful that if I were to add more fairy wrasse, it would likely be 3 or 4 at once to disrupt and disperse the aggression (I was a cichlid keeper for 35 years and this method always worked well for me).

A Melanurus had been on my possible adds from the Halichoeres family, should I not consider it? They were portrayed as model citizens, if not, what other Halichoeres might make good companion fishes here?

 

[SaltyT]

Both of you mention the Orange Back presenting more of a problem, I had selected it over both the Blue Throat and the Scotts that were available at the time due to the placement on the fairy wrasse compatibility chart by H Hammond as a mid range aggro fish. I'm hopeful that if I were to add more fairy wrasse, it would likely be 3 or 4 at once to disrupt and disperse the aggression (I was a cichlid keeper for 35 years and this method always worked well for me).

A Melanurus had been on my possible adds from the Halichoeres family, should I not consider it? They were portrayed as model citizens, if not, what other Halichoeres might make good companion fishes here?

Adding more than one wrasse at a time is preferred as it does help with dispersing aggression.
IME, established melanurus wrasses can give new additions a hard time. This is not always the case, but the potential is there. They can also do a number on your CUC as they mature, but the trade off for eating some inverts is they're great for coral pest control.