Wrasses

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I've never owned a wrasse before, mostly due to lack of availability at the LFS. I have had a cleaner wrasse, but none of the fancy ones often depicted on the forum. I would like to get a wrasse at some point for my 125 gallon tank. Any suggestions as to which particular species would be most suitable for a wrasse newbie?

 

[jetmaker]

Fairy's and flashers

 

[rlman41299]

i love wrasse's. I have a good list in my tank and IMO they are one of the easiest fish to care for except for theMacropharyngodon species for they come in most of the time with intestinal parasite so needed to be dewormed in qt. All fish needed to be qt anyway.
Also make sure you have a good lid to cover your tank. BRS sells a good kit for tank cover. Wrasses love carpet surfing :-)

 

[steve&mari]

Depends on budget also but totally agree with fairy and flashers. Both have a variety of options available it's awesome watching the flashers flash.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

As I'm not familiar with them, what do they do when they flash?

 

[Baldguy]

They extend their fins and actually will change color while flashing often with electric blues lighting up their bodies. They'll dart around showing off most evenings. I'd for sure get at least two flashers of different species so they can interact and show off to each other. Maybe a McCoskers and a Blue.

 

[Triggreef]

They don't change color but the colors intensify and they flare their fins and dart around to show off. I second a fairy or flasher which will still pretty much allow you to add anything else once the wrasse but hits.

Scott's, Lubbock's, and the velvet wrasse are a bit more aggressive and should be last addition as far as fairy wrasse are concerned.