Various fish questions, mostly wrasse

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Hey everyone, I have a couple questions specifically about wrasse, and then some other fish compatibility that I don't know about, so figured it was worth a shot asking.

• China Wrasse (Anampses Neoguinaicus)​

How difficult is this wrasse if I'm able to find a healthy, eating specimen? My LFS got a couple in recently, and they all were absolutely chowing down on the frozen mysis and brine.
I've seen heaps of stories where the wrasse is doing great, and eating then suddenly dies, does anyone have any (successful or not) experience with this wrasse?
What size tank does this wrasse need? I haven't found a very clear answer yet.

• Timor Wrasse (Halichoeres Timorensis)

My main concern with this one is the potential for aggression. It's a beautiful fish, but would it pick on everything else? It would be going into a tank with super peaceful fish, Pink Streaked Wrasse, Yellow Assessor, Dartfish, etc.
I don't want to get a fish that'll bully other fish once it reaches maturity.

• Blue Streak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides Dimidiatus)

Do they harass tank mates too much with their cleaning? Would this stress the other fish out too much?

• I'm hoping to get a Leopard or Gold Nugget Wrasse at some point, would having multiple sand sleeping wrasse be an issue?

I also have a couple questions about other fish that I'll chuck in here too, because why not.

• Does anyone know whether Dartfish and Fang Blennies would be able to cohabitate, given that they share similar spaces in the tank?
• What is the likelihood that Blue Green Chromis will develop uromena?
• I know that people have tried, but is it possible to pair either Flame or Longnose Hawkfish? My LFS got in a huge shipment of tiny little baby ones, and I read that if wanting to pair them you should aim for 2 juveniles? Still not convinced that it's not absolute quack that they will even pair.

Thanks.

 

[blaxsun]

@i cant think can answer your wrasse questions.

If your chromis are healthy they should be fine (I have lots of chromis in my tank). I've tried pairing two flame hawkfish but it didn't take (I think it can be hit and miss).

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Thanks, when the pairing didn't take, did they try to kill each other, or just didn't display paired behaviour?

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Bump

 

[Reef By Steele]

I have fang blennies and the standard firefish in a RedSea XL525 and haven’t had a problem. I think staying the size of your tank will help with replies as well. @i cant think is definitely the goto guy for wrasses, that being said I was on the wrasse lovers thread and keeping multiple sand sleepers isn’t a problem (but again it may be tank size related as well).

When we visited the Denver Aquarium we did the shark feeding experience and the aquarium director happened to lead our experience and she was thrilled to discuss our tanks with us. I asked about blue cleaner wrasses, and she said that they needed to be sourced from the same ocean as your main fish (something about Atlantic vs pacific and maybe one wouldn’t clean fish from the opposite region, this memory is kind of vague so take it with a grain of salt) but I have read on threads here where they observe the wrasse cleaning tangs etc. I do not believe that cleaner wrasses will harass tank mates, it is more about whether they will clean or ignore their tank mates.

Didn’t look up you specific wrasse as for longevity, but hard to keep fish stem from three main issues IMO. Collection, we’re they cyanide caught, this is less prevalent today than when I started in the 80’s but there are areas it is still used and can have effects on the fish that are not apparent but claim them later. Second is disease and parasites. Quality quarantine process is doubly important with a known hard to keep fish. Internal parasites like worms can be a reason that a fish seems good but perishes later. And my third and I think most important is food. Saying the wrasses are readily taking frozen at the LFS is good, but fish like wrasses and anthias hunt nonstop and have a super high metabolism, so unless you plan to feed every couple of hours it is super important to stack your tank with live prey. That is how I got into culturing pods and phyto was for my three wrasses I wanted to purchase and figured the only way I would get them through QT would be to to constantly supply pods. For me it just snowballed until I decided I wanted to try to provide a less expensive option for people who don’t have the time or patience to do this theirselves. Absolutely Nike your tank with an assortment of pods as they all have their place. Tigriopus are out and about so get eaten quickly, Apocyclops out some but less and breed rather quickly (possibly the easiest to get established) and Tisbes really hang on the rocks (and glass at night) but your mandarins, deagonets, and wrasses will scour the rock work every minute they are awake and this allows them a better chance at survival.
Many will tell you that you can’t keep a mandarin in a new tank. I think mine was the third or fourth fish in my 525 that I started in May of 2021. He is now in my S1000 and I have a target mandarin in the 525. Along with other hunters like my Ruby red dragonets.

Because they always say only one hawk fish I haven’t tried more than one. I do not know how the sex (do they change like clowns and some anthias etc., or do you have to know which is which) like with the dragonets I had to ensure that only one had the dorsal spike. If they don’t morph you would first have to be sure you got one of each, next think would be whether one of each is ok or if like anthias and dragonets you need one male an more than one female for an increased chance of success.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Thanks, that's a heap of super useful information!
My tank is a Waterbox 100.3, 3 foot 70 gallon display tank, with 100 gallons total volume, I thought I included this, sorry.

 

[blaxsun]

Thanks, when the pairing didn't take, did they try to kill each other, or just didn't display paired behaviour?

One chased the other around until it jumped out of the tank (happened at night).

 

[Reef By Steele]

Here is the wrasse lovers thread. It is huge and detailed so might take a while to find what your looking for, but if you post this there you should get quick answers.

The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

And now I see you also have pencil and torpedo wrasse… So tempting Torpedo Wrasse ended recently, but maybe they will send more soon. If you want to place an order and discuss it, then write in private messages. We shouldn't be doing this here.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[OrionN]

Thanks, that's a heap of super useful information!
My tank is a Waterbox 100.3, 3 foot 70 gallon display tank, with 100 gallons total volume, I thought I included this, sorry.

I think a 70 gal is too small to try to keep harem of wrasses. If you have a larger tank, you can keep harems of Leopards (I keep Black leopard harem and Meleagris Leopard harems) and Harem of China wrasse without problem in my 320 gal tank.