Wrassemania

[ascheff]

(FTS December 2016)


This is my mixed reef. It is ruled by Wrasses. I call it Wrassemania.


Started April 2016
59” x 27.5” x 19.5”
Approximately 160 gallon total water volume


I upgraded in April 2016 from a previous 52 gallon tank, that ran from June 2014. Some of the animals and rock are from that tank.


The Fish
(in order of appearance)

Pterapogon kauderni

Nemateleotris magnifica

Gramma loreto

Wetmorella tanakai

Halichoeres lecoxanthus

Paracheilinus mccoskeri

Koumansetta hectori

Cirrhilabrus solorensis

Doryrhamphus excisus excisus

Cirrhilabrus lubbocki

Cirrhilabrus isosceles

Paracheilinus cyaneus

Halichoeres marginatus

Synchiropus sycorax

Corythoichthys polynotatus

 

[Chrisfish]

Beautiful

 

[Maacc]

Really great tank. I am a wrassoholic myself.

 

[jp_75]

very cool!!!

 

[nono_nono_D]

Wow nice

 

[Mike_J]

Right up my alley! Gorgeous fish, great setup and I'm jealous! I'm wondering how the pipefish do in your system since I'm assuming there's a good amount of flow with your mixed system. I've always wanted to keep them but am concerned over too much flow. Back to the wrasses, do you have plans to add more? If so, which? Thanks for sharing wrassemania!

 

[JTreef]

Wow, looks great

 

[ascheff]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I'm wondering how the pipefish do in your system since I'm assuming there's a good amount of flow with your mixed system.

The Bluestripe Pipefish are actually surprisingly strong swimmers, and I believe this is more or less the case with most of the flagtail pipefish. They have no problems with my flow. They do however hang around close to the rocks most of the time, but at feeding time, in the evenings and early morning they come out into the open. I don't think they are too fond of the bright light. I knew I wanted to add pipefish when I set up the tank, so I created lots of overhangs and caves visible from the front of the tank, so I actually see them a lot. My pumps also slow down for 4 hours in the evenings, which gives them an easier time to hunt, when the lights are dimmer.

The Corythoichthys pipefish on the other hand don't really swim in open water at all. They just slither around the bottom and over the rocks, much like a mandarin or dragonette would. When I turn the pumps off for 10 mins during feeding time they swim upright to get the food, which is quite funny to see. They are also out more during the brighter hours of the day.

Back to the wrasses, do you have plans to add more?

There are so many I would like, but with my current stock, and the one I have in QT, I would perhaps just add one more. The top contender currently is a C. lineatus. South Africa doesn't get regular shipments from Australia, so they are actually very scarce here. Another I'm considering is C. brunneus, but I'm not really sure how compatible it would be with my isosceles. I might also instead look at another flasher, perhaps attenuatus.

I have a Macropharyngodon bipartitus female in QT at the moment, but I'm having a hard time with her. I definitely want at least one leopard in my reef, but have not had a lot of luck with this genus so far.

 

[ascheff]

 

[Salty1962]

Very Nice! Love the Pipefish.

 

[Tahoe61]

Beautiful.

What lighting fixture are you using?

 

[ascheff]

Beautiful.

What lighting fixture are you using?

Thank you.

I use two Radion XR15W, supplemented with two 54w ATI Coral Plus T5 tubes.

 

[KJ]

Great looking tank

 

[revhtree]

Very nice!

 

[JTreef]

Looks great!

 

[Maritimer]

Absolutely gorgeous .... Tank, corals, fish and photography!

I've got to admit a partiality to wrasses myself, but I like the diversity you have represented, and especially the quiet small fishes. I'd been given to understand that Koumansetta gobies were particularly difficult, but yours looks quite content. What makes him so happy?!

~Bruce

 

[ascheff]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I'd been given to understand that Koumansetta gobies were particularly difficult, but yours looks quite content. What makes him so happy?!

I believe he is quite happy, and actually a real fatty.

I also think they are difficult, and from my readings rainfordi even more than hectori. I got mine from a local store, and another one from the same shipment went into the store's own display tank, and it was sad to see it slowly wither away over the coming weeks. I could see it was starving.

I think my own success is down to a combination of factors, of which one is definitely luck. I reluctantly didn't QT him, but instead conditioned him in my refugium for about two months. I've tried QTing a rainfordi before, and he never ate, and didn't last a week. They are omnivores, so eat algae and micro fauna. I also don't have any competing herbivores, except for an Emerald Crab, which also eats the same filamentous algae, and a few snails. I don't run a squeaky clean tank and let algae, including hair algae, grow in some places, especially the back pane. This provides him with algae, as well as provide a place for pods to live. He eats filamentous algae, but in very small quantities, so by no means is he a control for it, as well as sift sand, again very little. He also eats live baby brine shrimp, that I feed twice a day. He spends a big portion of the day at the feeder stuffing himself, and is probably why he is so fat. I've had him since March last year. After quite a few months he started eating frozen cyclops, and since December have taken a liking to frozen chopped clams.

 

[ascheff]

Here is my newest resident, Macropharyngodon bipartitus.

She spent two and a half months in QT, after unfortunately developing an eye ailment shortly after getting her. She has since lost the eye completely, but after almost four weeks in my display, I'm happy that she has adjusted well to live in the community, and the others have accepted her without any problems.

 

[ascheff]

 

[ascheff]

FTS February 2017