Calling all wrasse experts!

[QuarantinedCorals]

Hello everyone! I need help introducing fairy wrasses to my dt! I know every fish is different and may have different mannerisms but I want to add a lot of wrasses to my display tank and I want you all to offer me some guidance and the order of introduction as well as shut my ideas down if you may think I will run into issues. I have a 180g dt (6x2x2), I can provide pics if needed but I have a super male flame wrasse (from what I believe), hes super colorful and I would say about full grown, he is between 3 1/4 -4inches. He has been in my dt for a while now and he is the only fairy wrasse at the moment, however, I do have a 4 inch transitioning female blue star leopard wrasse turning male and a 2 and a half inch yellow choris wrasse. I have a 14x6x4 acclimation box which I will use upon introduction but I want to also add a few more fairy wrasses which are:
Lineatus male or female (im open to either one depending on which way you would steer me, also open to pairs)
Golden Rhomboid male or female
laboutes male or female
Splendid pintail fairy wrasse male or female
Based off of your knowledge, will any of these wrasses kill each other? Is there any of these wrasses I should avoid? What would be the best order of introduction? If you can provide me with general guidance I would really appreciate it!! thanks!

 

[SaltyT]

You've been bitten by the wrasse bug HAHA! Love it! All of the fairy wrasses you've mentioned should be fine in a 180g with your current wrasses. Don't get pairs - all female fairy wrasses eventually transition to male in our aquariums so you'd end up with two males that may try to kill each other.

Kudos on using an acclimation box, I would also recommend introducing more than one wrasse at time to help curb any aggression from your existing males. If you can introduce all 4 at the same time great, if not, then I would add the Rhomboid and Pintail before the Lineatus and Laboute's. Laboute's should be added last if you can't source one at the same time as the others.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

You've been bitten by the wrasse bug HAHA! Love it! All of the fairy wrasses you've mentioned should be fine in a 180g with your current wrasses. Don't get pairs - all female fairy wrasses eventually transition to male in our aquariums so you'd end up with two males that may try to kill each other.

Kudos on using an acclimation box, I would also recommend introducing more than one wrasse at time to help curb any aggression from your existing males. If you can introduce all 4 at the same time great, if not, then I would add the Rhomboid and Pintail before the Lineatus and Laboute's. Laboute's should be added last if you can't source one at the same time as the others.

Thanks for the tips! I've always loved wrasses, I also plan on adding one of each leopard wrasse as well (all female), my blue star is becoming a male and I have a small female blue star coming this week, so I hope to create a pair out of those but do you have any tips on introducing leopards? I will be buying them qtd so they should all be eating and healthy. I would definitely want to add those leopards before the fairy wrasses because I'm sure as you know, leopards are scared of their own shadow so I definitely don't want my leopards becoming targets after the addition of the fairy wrasses. I will also try to purchase all of them at the same time and introduce them at the same time, it's gonna cost a pretty penny for sure!

 

[SaltyT]

Thanks for the tips! I've always loved wrasses, I also plan on adding one of each leopard wrasse as well (all female), my blue star is becoming a male and I have a small female blue star coming this week, so I hope to create a pair out of those but do you have any tips on introducing leopards? I will be buying them qtd so they should all be eating and healthy. I would definitely want to add those leopards before the fairy wrasses because I'm sure as you know, leopards are scared of their own shadow so I definitely don't want my leopards becoming targets after the addition of the fairy wrasses. I will also try to purchase all of them at the same time and introduce them at the same time, it's gonna cost a pretty penny for sure!

Fairy wrasses typically ignore leopards so you're all good there. But it can be tricky introducing new leopards to existing ones. Your male blue star may not like the new female, especially if he's been the only leopard in the tank for a long time. When you introduce the female blue star, put a little sand in the bottom of the acclimation box just enough to keep her from seeing the bottom of the tank, but not enough that she can bury herself. Add a small piece of PVC for her to feel more secure. It's ok for her not to bury for a day, the goal is to make sure the male can see her. Feed the tank through the acclimation box to force as much interaction between the two blue stars as you can. If he doesn't show much aggression after a day let her loose, but keep a close eye on how things go and be ready to intervene if needed.

This doesn't necessarily work for a newly caught leopard, but since you're getting a QT'd one it should be conditioned enough to handle the acclimation box for a day.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Fairy wrasses typically ignore leopards so you're all good there. But it can be tricky introducing new leopards to existing ones. Your male blue star may not like the new female, especially if he's been the only leopard in the tank for a long time. When you introduce the female blue star, put a little sand in the bottom of the acclimation box just enough to keep her from seeing the bottom of the tank, but not enough that she can bury herself. Add a small piece of PVC for her to feel more secure. It's ok for her not to bury for a day, the goal is to make sure the male can see her. Feed the tank through the acclimation box to force as much interaction between the two blue stars as you can. If he doesn't show much aggression after a day let her loose, but keep a close eye on how things go and be ready to intervene if needed.

This doesn't necessarily work for a newly caught leopard, but since you're getting a QT'd one it should be conditioned enough to handle the acclimation box for a day.

I purchased an acclimation box that has a black bottom so the fish can only see through the sides and not the bottom in hopes they don't hurt their mouths trying to get out, I will add a small layer of sand on one side of the box and make sure there's good interaction between the 2, as for adding other leopards, if the 2 blue stars become a pair will I run into major issues adding other female leopards? I want a black leopard and an ornate as well as a traditional leopard that's in your profile picture. At a point I had an ornate leopard wrasse with my blue star and they did well together for quite some time but the ornate had internal parasites and eventually passed, my bleu star beat it up for a day but was fine the second day.

 

[SaltyT]

I purchased an acclimation box that has a black bottom so the fish can only see through the sides and not the bottom in hopes they don't hurt their mouths trying to get out, I will add a small layer of sand on one side of the box and make sure there's good interaction between the 2, as for adding other leopards, if the 2 blue stars become a pair will I run into major issues adding other female leopards? I want a black leopard and an ornate as well as a traditional leopard that's in your profile picture. At a point I had an ornate leopard wrasse with my blue star and they did well together for quite some time but the ornate had internal parasites and eventually passed, my bleu star beat it up for a day but was fine the second day.

If your box has a black bottom then don't bother with the sand. Male blue stars can be hard on any new leopard. Hopefully he accepts the female. If things go well, then in the future I would introduce more than a single leopard at a time. Ornates can be pushy which isn't a bad thing in your case, Meleagris (my avatar) are pretty hardy, but Black leopards IME are delicate when first introduced. But once they're established they can be rough on new leopards too. Every black leopard I've had has given new leopards a hard time. My current black leopard will not allow another leopard into my tank... but I'm ok with that because she's awesome

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

If your box has a black bottom then don't bother with the sand. Male blue stars can be hard on any new leopard. Hopefully he accepts the female. If things go well, then in the future I would introduce more than a single leopard at a time. Ornates can be pushy which isn't a bad thing in your case, Meleagris (my avatar) are pretty hardy, but Black leopards IME are delicate when first introduced. But once they're established they can be rough on new leopards too. Every black leopard I've had has given new leopards a hard time. My current black leopard will not allow another leopard into my tank... but I'm ok with that because she's awesome

If I can have one of every leopard that would make me a happy man but if not, even having a pair of blue stars is good enough for me! I am thinking of ordering the leopards from drreefs and having them come in together, ill put them in the acclimation box together for a few days and see how the aggression is. Then again its just an idea but I love leopards so depending on how the interaction between the male and female blue star goes I may try adding 3 more leopards. if I were to add more leopards, I'm only going to add the meleagris, black, and ornate. That being said, what would be the best way to go about adding them? I will definitely use the acclimation box but should I try 3 females??

 

[SaltyT]

If I can have one of every leopard that would make me a happy man but if not, even having a pair of blue stars is good enough for me! I am thinking of ordering the leopards from drreefs and having them come in together, ill put them in the acclimation box together for a few days and see how the aggression is. Then again its just an idea but I love leopards so depending on how the interaction between the male and female blue star goes I may try adding 3 more leopards. if I were to add more leopards, I'm only going to add the meleagris, black, and ornate. That being said, what would be the best way to go about adding them? I will definitely use the acclimation box but should I try 3 females??

If you can find all 3 at the same time, awesome! Then add them all at the same time. Chances are all 3 will be female as male leopards are hard to come by because they ship poorly. If you‘re able to add all 3 leopards at the same time I‘d skip the acclimation box. Releasing 3 leopards at once should be enough to disperse aggression and I don’t think all 3 leopards would do well in a box together for days, but that’s just my opinion. Keep us posted on how the introduction of your female goes!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

If you can find all 3 at the same time, awesome! Then add them all at the same time. Chances are all 3 will be female as male leopards are hard to come by because they ship poorly. If you‘re able to add all 3 leopards at the same time I‘d skip the acclimation box. Releasing 3 leopards at once should be enough to disperse aggression and I don’t think all 3 leopards would do well in a box together for days, but that’s just my opinion. Keep us posted on how the introduction of your female goes!

Drreefs quarantined fish should be able to source them and qt them for me so I should be able to get them together, I was thinking of adding the leopards together prior to purchasing the fairy wrasses. From what I've experienced, when fairy wrasses get comfy in their new tanks they go through this bullying phase, they kind of just flare up and chase docile wrasses, but maybe that's just my experience. I've added fish to my dt while my leopard was in the sand, when she came out of the sand she got bullied as if she was a new fish. My female leopard should be arriving on Thursday so I hope to have an update for you guys soon! She's supposed to be around 1.5inches so hopefully my male leopard will show some mercy!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

If you can find all 3 at the same time, awesome! Then add them all at the same time. Chances are all 3 will be female as male leopards are hard to come by because they ship poorly. If you‘re able to add all 3 leopards at the same time I‘d skip the acclimation box. Releasing 3 leopards at once should be enough to disperse aggression and I don’t think all 3 leopards would do well in a box together for days, but that’s just my opinion. Keep us posted on how the introduction of your female goes!

Got my blue star today, she's been in my tank for about 3 hours. Played dead for the entire time, as the lights kicked on she started swimming around a bit more but I don't think my male blue star has seen her yet!

 

[SaltyT]

Got my blue star today, she's been in my tank for about 3 hours. Played dead for the entire time, as the lights kicked on she started swimming around a bit more but I don't think my male blue star has seen her yet!

She's so tiny! Adorable! Since she's so small I wouldn't expect there to be much trouble introducing her.
Beautiful flame wrasse too! I just recently lost my flame, my Johnson's fairy killed her as she started transitioning. SIGH

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

She's so tiny! Adorable! Since she's so small I wouldn't expect there to be much trouble introducing her.
Beautiful flame wrasse too! I just recently lost my flame, my Johnson's fairy killed her as she started transitioning. SIGH

Thank you!! Sorry to hear that, my flame was quite the bully to my blue star in the beginning but he's calmed down a bit. My male saw her, flared up and charged at the box once or twice but he's definitely not hell bent on killing her. She's only 1.5 inches, never kept a fish that small before! What would you advise I feed her? She picked at some mysis earlier but seems big for her tiny little mouth haha. Here's some more pics!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

She's so tiny! Adorable! Since she's so small I wouldn't expect there to be much trouble introducing her.
Beautiful flame wrasse too! I just recently lost my flame, my Johnson's fairy killed her as she started transitioning. SIGH

Also would love to hear your experience on this topic! https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...enace-in-your-tank.842882/page-4#post-9139096

 

[SaltyT]

Thank you!! Sorry to hear that, my flame was quite the bully to my blue star in the beginning but he's calmed down a bit. My male saw her, flared up and charged at the box once or twice but he's definitely not hell bent on killing her. She's only 1.5 inches, never kept a fish that small before! What would you advise I feed her? She picked at some mysis earlier but seems big for her tiny little mouth haha. Here's some more pics!

Not sure which brand of mysis you tried, but Hikari mysis in the cube form is pretty small. LRS is another good option it has tiny pieces in it that small fish can eat. LRS Fish Frenzy is my go-to to get leopards to start eating.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Not sure which brand of mysis you tried, but Hikari mysis in the cube form is pretty small. LRS is another good option it has tiny pieces in it that small fish can eat. LRS Fish Frenzy is my go-to to get leopards to start eating.

I have some lrs, I'll give it a shot! I did use the hilarious mysis, I'm gonna give that another shot as well. I want to pick up a tamarin as well, do you have any experience with those guys?

 

[SaltyT]

I have some lrs, I'll give it a shot! I did use the hilarious mysis, I'm gonna give that another shot as well. I want to pick up a tamarin as well, do you have any experience with those guys?

The only tamarin I've kept so far is A. neoguinaicus. I would love to have A. femininus, my dream is A. lennardi ;Drool Which tamarin are you looking to get?

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

The only tamarin I've kept so far is A. neoguinaicus. I would love to have A. femininus, my dream is A. lennardi ;Drool Which tamarin are you looking to get?

I would like either a Anampses chrysocephalus, Anampses Meleagrides, or a Anampses femininus. Kinda nervous about a femininus because it's a long flight from Australia and not to mention they're really expensive, not the same cost as a lennardi but still a pretty penny. Would love a lennardi as well, but I would have to buy a quarantined specimen which is north of $2,000 so that makes me really nervous

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[SaltyT]

I would like either a Anampses chrysocephalus, Anampses Meleagrides, or a Anampses femininus. Kinda nervous about a femininus because it's a long flight from Australia and not to mention they're really expensive, not the same cost as a lennardi but still a pretty penny. Would love a lennardi as well, but I would have to buy a quarantined specimen which is north of $2,000 so that makes me really nervous

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I just got back from my LFS they showed me their wholesaler lists, femininus and meleagrides are both available right now. You can probably have drreef order either one... or both TSM Aquatics had lennardi‘s back in Dec fully quarantined for around $1000 IIRC. When they’re collected again this fall hopefully TSM will post another pre-order notice.

 

[TUSI]

Lennardi wrasses are pretty hardy and once they are eating they are very active. It pays to pay extra for one that is eating then going through few to get one that will make it. Feminines on the other hand is a very delicate fish and you would need a small tank for it to get him adjusted to food lights etc. I spent a fortune on this fish till I learned how to get them to adjust and get them eating well . These two fish in my opinion are the two holy grails of wrasses

 

[SaltyT]

Lennardi wrasses are pretty hardy and once they are eating they are very active. It pays to pay extra for one that is eating then going through few to get one that will make it. Feminines on the other hand is a very delicate fish and you would need a small tank for it to get him adjusted to food lights etc. I spent a fortune on this fish till I learned how to get them to adjust and get them eating well . These two fish in my opinion are the two holy grails of wrasses

Thanks for chiming in. I’ve read that lennardi need cooler water, have you found this to be true? I run my tank at 76. How long have you had your femininus? How’s its temperament?