Making waves and turning heads: Do you have a favorite type of wrasse?

[Slocke]

Thanks! Will research those! Live Aquaria has radiant as expert and dusky as difficult - what puts them in those categories?

I like the colors of melanarus, but the owner of my LFS always wrinkles her nose and says, “nah, there are others.“

Honestly I’ve never had issues with either of those species. Radiants can sometimes be a bit sensitive at first but duskies are usually quite tough.
Melanarus is often disliked because it is common but can be very pretty in the right light. They are more aggressive then some other Halichoeres but in you tank that shouldn’t matter.

 

[Mark Gray]

My Naoko wrasse has been doing pretty good, he's hard to get a picture of.

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

Fine fine. A real answer.

Favorite type of wrasse. Well I have 11 genera and 16 wrasse which is a lot of wrasse and I guess 11 different types.
Alphabetically:

Anampses (tamarin) wrasse are definitely among the most beautiful wrasse but unfortunately are too difficult for the average reefer. Here’s my Gemma who is like a gem tang but more vibrant, doesn’t have that ugly face, and is peaceful. So just better then a gem tang:

Bodianus (hogfish) are a great fish for a bigger tank. Though they are often overlooked for their close cousin the harlequin tusk fish they offer far more variety. Here is my lyretail, B anthioides:

Cirrhilabrus (fairy) are another awesome genus since there are so many and are generally a lot easier and have great personalities. Here’s my favorite C Rubeus!

Coris wrasse are too big but they are probably my favorite in terms of looks. They have the most incredible patterns! Mine is still quite young though.

Halichoeres or salt pig wrasse are probably the best starting wrasse. Generally tough but also usually peaceful. They also have a ton of variety. Here are two of my four. H iridis and H marginatus

Labroides are cleaner wrasse and are not a great fish unless you get them captive bred. They are probably the smartest fish in the world and have awesome personalities. Mine is a tiny baby!

Macropharyngodon! Though leopard wrasse are difficult they are also the cutest and most sparkly!

Paracheilinus aka flasher wrasse are one of those fish that start off bland but can become the prettiest! Here’s my little P cyaneus.

Psuedocheilinops. What is Pseudochilinus didn’t like to kill other fish? Good thing there’s this little not-monster!

Novaculilichthys. Dragon wrasse are evil. But they are like Heath Ledger joker evil. Really really fun to watch!!

Thalassoma. What are you crazy?! They kill everything even urchins and starfish. Only a fool would get a Thalassoma. Here’s mine, T lunare…

I love love love your write up, very well done and great photos to boot. I have some of what you have, but building towards 10-12 wrasse in one of my tanks, several others in a smaller tank. What about the Harlequin Tusk, such an all time beauty. And the Maori wrasses....I have a Two Spot...it's just the colorful "Maori" lines in the face area that get me

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

stunning!! Mine is still to young to show the vibrant colors yours has....but in time....

 

[jkcoral]

Very nice specimen

 

[Slocke]

I love love love your write up, very well done and great photos to boot. I have some of what you have, but building towards 10-12 wrasse in one of my tanks, several others in a smaller tank. What about the Harlequin Tusk, such an all time beauty. And the Maori wrasses....I have a Two Spot...it's just the colorful "Maori" lines in the face area that get me

Thanks! Come to the wrasse lovers thread if you want advice on stocking.
I’ve had a two spot Māori but it jumped and I’m still tempted on a tusk but I’m worried it won’t get on with the hogfish.

 

[jkcoral]

B bibamulatus
B izuensis
B pulchellus?
B sepiacaudus

It’s pretty simple with wrasse. Look at their max length. If they get in the 6-10” range they will probably eat shrimp and crabs. Bigger they eat everything.

Except Thalassoma. They eat everything no matter how small they are

My yellow candy hogs were always “reef safe.” And over the years I’ve had 3 Cuban hogfish. One was more or less reef safe, but the other two were both born to kill haha

University of Florida’s Indian River lab has had recent success getting the yellow candy hogfish to spawn in captivity. It’s pretty cool to see the high fertility rates on them.

A couple of years ago they were also able to get some Cuban hogfish to spawn, and they are still working on those too.

The Beginnings of Candy Hogfish, Bodianus bimaculatus, Aquaculture at UF/IFASIRREC – Rising Tide Conservation

www.risingtideconservation.org

Just sharing in case anyone would find it interesting.

 

[Slocke]

My yellow candy hogs were always “reef safe.” And over the years I’ve had 3 Cuban hogfish. One was more or less reef safe, but the other two were both born to kill haha

University of Florida’s Indian River lab has had recent success getting the yellow candy hogfish to spawn in captivity. It’s pretty cool to see the high fertility rates on them.

A couple of years ago they were also able to get some Cuban hogfish to spawn, and they are still working on those too.

The Beginnings of Candy Hogfish, Bodianus bimaculatus, Aquaculture at UF/IFASIRREC – Rising Tide Conservation

www.risingtideconservation.org

Just sharing in case anyone would find it interesting.

That is interesting! Hopefully we can see more wrasse captive bred. I’m sure it would increase success rates of the more difficult ones like tamarins and pencils.

 

[saltyhog]

I have 12 in my tank at the moment but still going to add a few more.

 

[Slocke]

I have 12 in my tank at the moment but still going to add a few more.

Wow
Those are not the common cheapos I have

 

[HighlandReef]

Always been a big fan of the Red Coris Wrasse / Yellowtail Coris Wrasse / Gaimard’s Wrasse, whatever you want to cal it, lol.
Some other beautifully wrasse that other have already mentioned. Seems to be a few beautiful types of fairy wrasses, etc.

 

[Slocke]

Always been a big fan of the Red Coris Wrasse / Yellowtail Coris Wrasse / Gaimard’s Wrasse, whatever you want to cal it, lol.
Some other beautifully wrasse that other have already mentioned. Seems to be a few beautiful types of fairy wrasses, etc.

Coris gaimard

 

[foxngn]

Currently have over a dozen, not all in the same tank, but here are a few of my favorites that I have had….

May I know which wrasse is this ?

 

[galmase]

I have mainly wrasses in my 100gallon tank. Love the leopards the most. Choats, ornate, black spotted, blue star, red jewel. But of course can’t ignore my lineatus and madagascar flasher.

 

[scardall]

 

[ACW33]

Making waves and turning heads: Do you have a favorite type of wrasse?

In addition to being great utility fish, wrasses can be absolutely stunning! Additionally, wrasses are popular throughout the hobby and can be readily found by many online fish sellers and local fish stores (LFSs). I saw an exquisite wrasse in a LFS this past week that stopped by in my tracks and had me mesmerized while I closely observed the wonderful markings! The variations of markings, body shapes, and tail shapes of different types of wrasses is fascinating and even the different markings within a specific wrasse species allows for some visually striking fish! Whether it is for their utility in your tank or for their beauty, do you have a favorite type of wrasse? If so, please let us know what kind, and if possible, please share pictures in the related R2R thread!

Photo by Lemon Tyk from Facebook; Paracheilinus hemitaeniatus, the Madagascan half-striped flasher wrasse


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tckcorals.com

Beautiful fish!!

 

[ACW33]

6-line for me. . . beautiful fish that is easy to come by and it eats undesirable critters. . . can't go wrong with a classic!!!

I keep running across threads where people do not recommend the six line. Any issues with yours and other tank mates?

 

[Slocke]

I keep running across threads where people do not recommend the six line. Any issues with yours and other tank mates?

Six line wrasse are a fish that tend to stake out territories in the wild that they will defend violently even from much bigger fish. For that reason they can be surprisingly aggressive and are not a fish I would recommend for someone keeping a community tank.
As an alternative I suggest pink streak wrasse, possum wrasse, or Halichoeres wrasse.

 

[OrionN]

Some of the wrasses I like, not in any particular orders
Black Leopard Male nuptial and base color and Female (last picture)

Porcelain (China) Wrasse
Nuptial and base color male. Female

Bluethroat Fairy nuptial coloration

Carpenter Flasher

 

[OrionN]

Eightline Flasher. I raised this pair from tiny Juveniles.