All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria

[leahfiish]

Any advice on trying to keep C. solorensis and C. aurantidorsalis together in an 80g? Should I try to get them at the same size and introduce them at the same time? I understand that I may need to choose one to catch out if it doesn't work.

 

[HairyGary]

Any advice on trying to keep C. solorensis and C. aurantidorsalis together in an 80g? Should I try to get them at the same size and introduce them at the same time? I understand that I may need to choose one to catch out if it doesn't work.

I believe they are the same sub-family and with their temperment I would be hesitant to add both to a tank that size. I would choose one to avoid the headache.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree that it will be hard pressed to be successful longterm in an 80g tank.

 

[leahfiish]

They are my 2 favorites of all the wrasses. I see another tank in my future.

 

[saltyhog]

They are my 2 favorites of all the wrasses. I see another tank in my future.

Now that's the kind of solution I like!

 

[Ciwyn]

So I have unfortunately not had any luck with attempting to keep flasher wrasses. I have tried with probably about 10 fish (ordered both online and bought from LFS) and nearly all of them have died within a week in QT. They will normally start out fine for a few days swimming, eating and looking relatively healthy. Then when I check on them one morning they will be on their side with "gasping" breathing and die within a few hours. I have only had luck with one surviving past the QT phase (which I believe eventually caught an internal parasite and perished a few months later)

I have tried several different methods of QT with them. I use a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter, pvc for hiding, heater and a lid. I've used sponge filters seeded with bacteria from my sump and just done observation QT. I've tried putting a sand tray in the QT (which I don't believe flasher wrasses need).
My current preference for QT is using tank transfer with two 10 gallon tanks, separate heaters, airstones and pvc pieces. I will dose prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers.

My most recent unsuccessful attempt was last week. So it will be my most accurate recollection. I ordered 2 firefish and a mccosker wrasse. I match the tank salinity with the salinity in the bags and float the bags to acclimate temperature. I then place the fish directly in the tank, no drip acclimating. All fish were eating within a few hours. One of the firefish arrived very thin and died a day later. Later I noticed both the remaining fish appeared to be breathing a bit heavily an decided to transfer them early instead of at 72 hours, I also added a dose of prazipro into the new tank. After the transfer they both appeared to be doing better and would both eat when food was put in. The next day the wrasse was laying on its side in the corner of the tank breathing heavily by the next day he was dead. So he went downhill very quickly and in what appears to be a very similar fashion to other flasher wrasses I have attempted to keep.

I have always found these to be some of the most fascinating and beautiful fish and would love to have 2-3 thriving in my reef tank, however, my difficulty in keeping them alive in QT has made that very difficult.

Any suggestions on what may be happening would be appreciated.

 

[HairyGary]

So I have unfortunately not had any luck with attempting to keep flasher wrasses. I have tried with probably about 10 fish (ordered both online and bought from LFS) and nearly all of them have died within a week in QT. They will normally start out fine for a few days swimming, eating and looking relatively healthy. Then when I check on them one morning they will be on their side with "gasping" breathing and die within a few hours. I have only had luck with one surviving past the QT phase (which I believe eventually caught an internal parasite and perished a few months later)

I have tried several different methods of QT with them. I use a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter, pvc for hiding, heater and a lid. I've used sponge filters seeded with bacteria from my sump and just done observation QT. I've tried putting a sand tray in the QT (which I don't believe flasher wrasses need).
My current preference for QT is using tank transfer with two 10 gallon tanks, separate heaters, airstones and pvc pieces. I will dose prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers.

My most recent unsuccessful attempt was last week. So it will be my most accurate recollection. I ordered 2 firefish and a mccosker wrasse. I match the tank salinity with the salinity in the bags and float the bags to acclimate temperature. I then place the fish directly in the tank, no drip acclimating. All fish were eating within a few hours. One of the firefish arrived very thin and died a day later. Later I noticed both the remaining fish appeared to be breathing a bit heavily an decided to transfer them early instead of at 72 hours, I also added a dose of prazipro into the new tank. After the transfer they both appeared to be doing better and would both eat when food was put in. The next day the wrasse was laying on its side in the corner of the tank breathing heavily by the next day he was dead. So he went downhill very quickly and in what appears to be a very similar fashion to other flasher wrasses I have attempted to keep.

I have always found these to be some of the most fascinating and beautiful fish and would love to have 2-3 thriving in my reef tank, however, my difficulty in keeping them alive in QT has made that very difficult.

Any suggestions on what may be happening would be appreciated.

Do you use ammonia badges to check ammonia? Does the heavy breathing start when you add prazi? If so you need to aerate the water well with airstone or pointing powerhead to water surface. Prazi saps the water of O2.

 

[eatbreakfast]

So I have unfortunately not had any luck with attempting to keep flasher wrasses. I have tried with probably about 10 fish (ordered both online and bought from LFS) and nearly all of them have died within a week in QT. They will normally start out fine for a few days swimming, eating and looking relatively healthy. Then when I check on them one morning they will be on their side with "gasping" breathing and die within a few hours. I have only had luck with one surviving past the QT phase (which I believe eventually caught an internal parasite and perished a few months later)

I have tried several different methods of QT with them. I use a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter, pvc for hiding, heater and a lid. I've used sponge filters seeded with bacteria from my sump and just done observation QT. I've tried putting a sand tray in the QT (which I don't believe flasher wrasses need).
My current preference for QT is using tank transfer with two 10 gallon tanks, separate heaters, airstones and pvc pieces. I will dose prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers.

My most recent unsuccessful attempt was last week. So it will be my most accurate recollection. I ordered 2 firefish and a mccosker wrasse. I match the tank salinity with the salinity in the bags and float the bags to acclimate temperature. I then place the fish directly in the tank, no drip acclimating. All fish were eating within a few hours. One of the firefish arrived very thin and died a day later. Later I noticed both the remaining fish appeared to be breathing a bit heavily an decided to transfer them early instead of at 72 hours, I also added a dose of prazipro into the new tank. After the transfer they both appeared to be doing better and would both eat when food was put in. The next day the wrasse was laying on its side in the corner of the tank breathing heavily by the next day he was dead. So he went downhill very quickly and in what appears to be a very similar fashion to other flasher wrasses I have attempted to keep.

I have always found these to be some of the most fascinating and beautiful fish and would love to have 2-3 thriving in my reef tank, however, my difficulty in keeping them alive in QT has made that very difficult.

Any suggestions on what may be happening would be appreciated.

Do you open the bags when matching salinity or do you use a syringe?

Sometimes letting fish "settle" before beginning treatment helps.

 

[Ciwyn]

Do you use ammonia badges to check ammonia? Does the heavy breathing start when you add prazi? If so you need to aerate the water well with airstone or pointing powerhead to water surface. Prazi saps the water of O2.

I haven't been using ammonia badges I do run an airstone constantly in the tanks though to aerate the water. The heavy breathing I noticed initially was in the tank with no prazi. The heavy breathing before the fish died was a day or so after the prazi was added. Still with the airstone running. Also the firefish is still alive and doing just fine in QT (I know it could just be a hardier fish and low O2 could potentially still be a contributing factor). I do attempt to keep the water well aerated though.

Do you open the bags when matching salinity or do you use a syringe?

Sometimes letting fish "settle" before beginning treatment helps.

I open one bag (I believe it was the firefish) and quickly test salinity, expecting it to be about 1.020 and adjust the tank salinity with RO water. It's less than 2 minutes between opening the bag and placing the fish in the tank. I also did not begin prazi treatment immediately. Only after the first tank transfer.

 

[leahfiish]

I had issued qting in 10g tanks because my temperature would fluctuate (bad heater maybe), when I moved up to a 29 I had less issues.

 

[ascheff]

So I have unfortunately not had any luck with attempting to keep flasher wrasses. I have tried with probably about 10 fish (ordered both online and bought from LFS) and nearly all of them have died within a week in QT. They will normally start out fine for a few days swimming, eating and looking relatively healthy. Then when I check on them one morning they will be on their side with "gasping" breathing and die within a few hours. I have only had luck with one surviving past the QT phase (which I believe eventually caught an internal parasite and perished a few months later)

I have tried several different methods of QT with them. I use a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter, pvc for hiding, heater and a lid. I've used sponge filters seeded with bacteria from my sump and just done observation QT. I've tried putting a sand tray in the QT (which I don't believe flasher wrasses need).
My current preference for QT is using tank transfer with two 10 gallon tanks, separate heaters, airstones and pvc pieces. I will dose prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers.

My most recent unsuccessful attempt was last week. So it will be my most accurate recollection. I ordered 2 firefish and a mccosker wrasse. I match the tank salinity with the salinity in the bags and float the bags to acclimate temperature. I then place the fish directly in the tank, no drip acclimating. All fish were eating within a few hours. One of the firefish arrived very thin and died a day later. Later I noticed both the remaining fish appeared to be breathing a bit heavily an decided to transfer them early instead of at 72 hours, I also added a dose of prazipro into the new tank. After the transfer they both appeared to be doing better and would both eat when food was put in. The next day the wrasse was laying on its side in the corner of the tank breathing heavily by the next day he was dead. So he went downhill very quickly and in what appears to be a very similar fashion to other flasher wrasses I have attempted to keep.

I have always found these to be some of the most fascinating and beautiful fish and would love to have 2-3 thriving in my reef tank, however, my difficulty in keeping them alive in QT has made that very difficult.

Any suggestions on what may be happening would be appreciated.

I do TTM and since adopting the following method have had great success, flashers included.

I use 3x clear plastic containers that take 5 liters (roughly 1.3 gallon) with some space to spare, 3 sets of PVC fittings and enough airstones and airline for every transfer. This is big enough for one small wrasse, or two nano fish. Bigger fish need bigger containers. Each container has a lid, with two small holes, one for airline to go in, one for air to escape. The lid prevents jumping and evaporation, keeping the salinity stable. I also have one bigger container, big enough for two of the transfer containers to stand in. I fill it with tap water enough to reach about where the water level in the transfer container is. This bigger container houses my heater, temperature controller and a small pump to keep the water flowing around the transfer containers. This keeps the temperature of the two container the same and adds volume for temperature stability.

Before going out to get the fish I start two containers, one with salt and one with RO water, both heated and aerated, so I can quickly mix to match the correct salinity after measuring the bag water while floating for temp adjustment. I buy locally, so have a slightly bigger time window here. New fish usually go into the first transfer container direct from the bag.

I do daily transfers for 12 days, as this allows me a fairly big feeding, with the transfer happening within 30mins after, so I don't have to worry about ammonia in the water too much. Since the transfer window isn't as small as with an every 72 hour transfer, I can safely skip a transfer if life gets in the way. Every day after feeding I scoop the fish into the container standing right next to it, which was prepared the previous day. I remove the container the fish was in, rinse it and the PVC fittings under a tap and place outside to dry for 24 hours. I take the 3rd container that has now been drying for 24 hours, add water from my display to the container and add the same amount of freshly mixed salt water to my display. I then place it in the bigger container with airstone to aerate and temperature match for the next day's transfer.

Water for each daily transfer is raised up 0.001SG until it matches my display.

I also dose my prophylactic meds (Prazi 3days, Metro 3days, ParaGuard 2days, Prazi 3days) into the TTM water, one at a time, over the course of TTM.

 

[Ciwyn]

I do TTM and since adopting the following method have had great success, flashers included.

I use 3x clear plastic containers that take 5 liters (roughly 1.3 gallon) with some space to spare, 3 sets of PVC fittings and enough airstones and airline for every transfer. This is big enough for one small wrasse, or two nano fish. Bigger fish need bigger containers. Each container has a lid, with two small holes, one for airline to go in, one for air to escape. The lid prevents jumping and evaporation, keeping the salinity stable. I also have one bigger container, big enough for two of the transfer containers to stand in. I fill it with tap water enough to reach about where the water level in the transfer container is. This bigger container houses my heater, temperature controller and a small pump to keep the water flowing around the transfer containers. This keeps the temperature of the two container the same and adds volume for temperature stability.

Before going out to get the fish I start two containers, one with salt and one with RO water, both heated and aerated, so I can quickly mix to match the correct salinity after measuring the bag water while floating for temp adjustment. I buy locally, so have a slightly bigger time window here. New fish usually go into the first transfer container direct from the bag.

I do daily transfers for 12 days, as this allows me a fairly big feeding, with the transfer happening within 30mins after, so I don't have to worry about ammonia in the water too much. Since the transfer window isn't as small as with an every 72 hour transfer, I can safely skip a transfer if life gets in the way. Every day after feeding I scoop the fish into the container standing right next to it, which was prepared the previous day. I remove the container the fish was in, rinse it and the PVC fittings under a tap and place outside to dry for 24 hours. I take the 3rd container that has now been drying for 24 hours, add water from my display to the container and add the same amount of freshly mixed salt water to my display. I then place it in the bigger container with airstone to aerate and temperature match for the next day's transfer.

Water for each daily transfer is raised up 0.001SG until it matches my display.

I also dose my prophylactic meds (Prazi 3days, Metro 3days, ParaGuard 2days, Prazi 3days) into the TTM water, one at a time, over the course of TTM.

That's a pretty good TTM system. I have also successfully added many fish to my systems after TTM QT. The fish I just seem to have very little success with are the flasher wrasses. Now I recall reading that flasher wrasses tend to ship poorly, so I don't know if that may be one of the large contributing factors? I also add a dose of prime to each tank before I do the transfer to make sure there are no ammonia issues. Heat stays pretty consistent, I actually use a controller for the heater to keep the temp stable.

One thing I did notice about the flasher before it was laying on the bottom of the tank. The last time it was eating it would point its mouth straight up to the top of the tank to grab a piece of food, instead of just angling up. Almost like it may have had a bit of an orientation problem (swim bladder possibly?) It wasn't anything extreme but it did appear a bit different.

I would like to find a factor here that is causing this because I am hesitant to try keeping these fish right now.

 

[eatbreakfast]

That's a pretty good TTM system. I have also successfully added many fish to my systems after TTM QT. The fish I just seem to have very little success with are the flasher wrasses. Now I recall reading that flasher wrasses tend to ship poorly, so I don't know if that may be one of the large contributing factors? I also add a dose of prime to each tank before I do the transfer to make sure there are no ammonia issues. Heat stays pretty consistent, I actually use a controller for the heater to keep the temp stable.

One thing I did notice about the flasher before it was laying on the bottom of the tank. The last time it was eating it would point its mouth straight up to the top of the tank to grab a piece of food, instead of just angling up. Almost like it may have had a bit of an orientation problem (swim bladder possibly?) It wasn't anything extreme but it did appear a bit different.

I would like to find a factor here that is causing this because I am hesitant to try keeping these fish right now.

If the tail droopsit is a spinal injury. If the tail floats it is swim bladder.

 

[Ciwyn]

If the tail droopsit is a spinal injury. If the tail floats it is swim bladder.

I'll put that in the back of my mind.

 

[redpine42]

So I unintentionally broke the rules regarding Wrasses. I added the following to my tank.

Ruby head fairy wrasse
Pink Margin fairy wrasse
Exquisite fairy wrasse
Solon fairy wrasse

I did not know about the adding wrasses from the same subgroup. The Ruby started attacking the Solon right away. I put the Solon in an introductory tank for the first week. I'd see the Ruby attack the separate tank. When I saw the attacks go away, I introduced the Solon back into the tank. There were a few initial chases, but now all four wrasses are getting along. Been about a month. No harm, all peaceful.

 

[cody hendrix]

What are the chances of a pink margins, rhomboid and Lineatus all coexisting in a 130 gallon tank? The tank will also have a pintail,flame,labouts, exquisite, katherine and red velvet.

 

[dsinsocal]

I have a very peaceful lineup of small fish in my 75 gallon:

Ocellaris Clown
Royal Gramma
Neon Goby
Tailspot Blenny
Orange Spotted Goby
Firefish
Blue-Green Chromis (5)

I recently added:
P. ataenia “Pink-Streaked Wrasse”.

Planning to add:
W. tanakai "Tanaka's Possum Wrasse"
P. lineopunctatus “Line-Spot Flasher”
C. lubbocki “Lubbock’s Fairy”
Dispar Anthias

I don't believe there is going to be any compatibility issues with this grouping. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

I really wanted a C. cf cyanopleura "Ruby Head Fairy Wrasse" but just noticed that it requires a 90 gallon, not 75 gallon (the additional few inches of water depth makes a difference?). Also saw some anecdotal comments about people's Ruby Heads becoming bullies, so not sure if it would work with this grouping of much smaller tankmates anyway.

A question I had that I wasn't clear on... are different Paracheilinus males compatible? McCosker, Carpenters, Yellowfin, Line-Spot, Blue and Filamented are all *very* similar in appearance.

 

[eatbreakfast]

What are the chances of a pink margins, rhomboid and Lineatus all coexisting in a 130 gallon tank? The tank will also have a pintail,flame,labouts, exquisite, katherine and red velvet.

There may be some scuffling, but I would be more concerned about the labouti and red velvet, they are more assertive species.

I have a very peaceful lineup of small fish in my 75 gallon:

Ocellaris Clown
Royal Gramma
Neon Goby
Tailspot Blenny
Orange Spotted Goby
Firefish
Blue-Green Chromis (5)

I recently added:
P. ataenia “Pink-Streaked Wrasse”.

Planning to add:
W. tanakai "Tanaka's Possum Wrasse"
P. lineopunctatus “Line-Spot Flasher”
C. lubbocki “Lubbock’s Fairy”
Dispar Anthias

I don't believe there is going to be any compatibility issues with this grouping. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

I really wanted a C. cf cyanopleura "Ruby Head Fairy Wrasse" but just noticed that it requires a 90 gallon, not 75 gallon (the additional few inches of water depth makes a difference?). Also saw some anecdotal comments about people's Ruby Heads becoming bullies, so not sure if it would work with this grouping of much smaller tankmates anyway.

A question I had that I wasn't clear on... are different Paracheilinus males compatible? McCosker, Carpenters, Yellowfin, Line-Spot, Blue and Filamented are all *very* similar in appearance.

Your initial planning has no issues.

A C. cf. cyanopleura will be fine in a 75g. Tank footprint is the important measurement with wrasses, height, not so much. However ruby heads can be moderately assertive toward other fairy wrasses.

Male flasher wrasses can coexist just fine, although species with the same tail shape can be a little more beligerent with each other than towards those with different tail shapes.

 

[dsinsocal]

Your initial planning has no issues.

A C. cf. cyanopleura will be fine in a 75g. Tank footprint is the important measurement with wrasses, height, not so much. However ruby heads can be moderately assertive toward other fairy wrasses.

Male flasher wrasses can coexist just fine, although species with the same tail shape can be a little more beligerent with each other than towards those with different tail shapes.

Thanks TJ. Good info about the tail shapes being important among flashers. From my days of keeping pygmy angels, I think I'm subconsciously more concerned about color schemes than body shapes.

So, cyanopleura won't pay any attention to the flashers or pygmies then -- only other cirrhilabrus wrasses?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Thanks TJ. Good info about the tail shapes being important among flashers. From my days of keeping pygmy angels, I think I'm subconsciously more concerned about color schemes than body shapes.

So, cyanopleura won't pay any attention to the flashers or pygmies then -- only other cirrhilabrus wrasses?

It will make passes at the flashers too.