Wrasse stocking (reef safe)

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

I am in the process of finishing out my fish stocking and am at the "semi-aggresive bit" which for this tank is just wrasses. 120g mixed reef, 150lbs of rock, 29g sump. 30xish flow, some nems, cuc consists of mostly larger snails (trochus, astrea, nassarius, turbo), hermit crabs (mostly there as snacks for the melanarus and valentini) and a trio of urchins. Tank stays pretty clean with little work, only major pest is zoa eating aterinas. I would like some suggestions since there are so many options. I currently have a large melanarus (4-5") who has been in the tank for 2 years. I just finished qting a lobbacks and a 6 line (both under 1.5"). I would like to add 2 more medium (melanarus sizeish) or 3-4 smaller wrasses before i add the dottyback and damsels.

 

[Lavey29]

I have 5 wrasses in my tank with no issues. Yellow coris wrasse, rohmboid wrasse, 6 line, pintail fairy and blue streak cleaner.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

I have 5 wrasses in my tank with no issues. Yellow coris wrasse, rohmboid wrasse, 6 line, pintail fairy and blue streak cleaner.

How large is your tank? I should mention i have the 2x2 not the 6' 120.

 

[Lavey29]

How large is your tank? I should mention i have the 2x2 not the 6' 120.

65g DT that is 36 in wide.

 

[Lavey29]

Paging @i cant think to the wrasse counter please

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

65g DT that is 36 in wide.

Oh wow I didn't think you could do that many in a tank that small. This is my first salt tank.

 

[Lavey29]

Oh wow I didn't think you could do that many in a tank that small. This is my first salt tank.

I have a lot of rockscape and those are all peaceful type wrasses that are small to medium size. 6 lines are aggressive sometimes but not mine at all. I have 12 fish total with no issues but I picked smaller colorful fish that like to swim. Some at the top, most mid tank and few at the bottom.

 

[vetteguy53081]

4-5 would be reasonable. You have to provide good scape for them with hiding areas and cave structure. What Lavey has in his size tank is Not unreasonable as most play well together and would be an example

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

4-5 would be reasonable. You have to provide good scape for them with hiding areas and cave structure. What Lavey has in his size tank is Not unreasonable as most play well together and would be an example

I made sure to add several dozen caves and recesses of various sizes. But knowing that I may do a few more. I'm not really into tangs or other massive biload fish. I prefer to have several gobies and smaller wrasses much more. I really like the wrasses from the melanarus' genes. Helochieres or something. There's a checkerboard in town but google says they get rather large.

 

[Lavey29]

I made sure to add several dozen caves and recesses of various sizes. But knowing that I may do a few more. I'm not really into tangs or other massive biload fish. I prefer to have several gobies and smaller wrasses much more. I really like the wrasses from the melanarus' genes. Helochieres or something. There's a checkerboard in town but google says they get rather large.

Yellow coris is great pest eater in the tank

 

[vetteguy53081]

I made sure to add several dozen caves and recesses of various sizes. But knowing that I may do a few more. I'm not really into tangs or other massive biload fish. I prefer to have several gobies and smaller wrasses much more. I really like the wrasses from the melanarus' genes. Helochieres or something. There's a checkerboard in town but google says they get rather large.

Largest checkerboard ive seen was shy of 5". Often we see websites and sellers like Divers den listing max sizes and often use numbers from the wild and not in a tank setting yet when they are selling them, they call a 3-4" LARGE.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Largest checkerboard ive seen was shy of 5". Often we see websites and sellers like Divers den listing max sizes and often use numbers from the wild and not in a tank setting yet when they are selling them, they call a 3-4" LARGE.

This guy was the same size as my mela. Who I'm going to temporarily give to my buddy in a few months. I have a zoa eating asterina problem and dont have the time to consistently pull them out. Not a huge population but every time i add zoas they get munched in days. Judging by what he occasionally does to hermits im not risking a harlequin.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This guy was the same size as my mela. Who I'm going to temporarily give to my buddy in a few months. I have a zoa eating asterina problem and dont have the time to consistently pull them out. Not a huge population but every time i add zoas they get munched in days. Judging by what he occasionally does to hermits im not risking a harlequin.

Asterinas many don't realize are nightmares and I had a colony of Bam Bams eaten by these stars. I resorted to pulling them manually daily. It seemed at first I was getting no where then suddenly I realized theyre gone. I tried Harlequin pair and they eventually vanished.
I am now understanding Bumble bee shrimp also eat them

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Asterinas many don't realize are nightmares and I had a colony of Bam Bams eaten by these stars. I resorted to pulling them manually daily. It seemed at first I was getting no where then suddenly I realized theyre gone. I tried Harlequin pair and they eventually vanished.
I am now understanding Bumble bee shrimp also eat them

Never heard of bumblebees. Are they a better alternative in your opinion? I would rather get something I could keep permanently that wont murder any ornamental star i add.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Never heard of bumblebees. Are they a better alternative in your opinion? I would rather get something I could keep permanently that wont murder any ornamental star i add.

Honestly. Ive never had them and would be giving you unknown answer but hopefully link below helps but sounds like Not a good choice either:

Bumble Bee Shrimp – Detailed Guide: Care, Diet, and Breeding - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

If you are looking for something unique to add to your small reef aquarium other than fishes, and snails then the Bumble Bee Shrimp (Gnathophyllum americanum and Gnathophyllum elegans) can be an interesting choice for you. Bumble Bee Shrimp are a good choice for many small saltwater aquarium set...

aquariumbreeder.com

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Honestly. Ive never had them and would be giving you unknown answer but hopefully link below helps but sounds like Not a good choice either:

Bumble Bee Shrimp – Detailed Guide: Care, Diet, and Breeding - Shrimp and Snail Breeder

If you are looking for something unique to add to your small reef aquarium other than fishes, and snails then the Bumble Bee Shrimp (Gnathophyllum americanum and Gnathophyllum elegans) can be an interesting choice for you. Bumble Bee Shrimp are a good choice for many small saltwater aquarium set...

aquariumbreeder.com

Looks like they are still rather risky to add with bigger stars. Wish there was a fish that ate them.
Heh. If wishes were fishes. You may now groan.
It's a shame cuz I really enjoy my melanarus but it will have to be done for however long it takes to murder every asterina.

 

[SaltyT]

Since you have a 5” melanurus and a six line, you could add a checkerboard wrasse. But you’ll likely need to rehome the lubbocki at some point as any of those other wrasses could bully the lubbocki. Are you wanting to stick with semi-aggressive wrasses?

Having a six line will throw a wrench in your wrasse stocking plans. Six lines have a bad reputation with other wrasses. They can be perfect gentlemen for a while, even a couple of years, but once they reach maturity they can snap. I’ve had to pull those little devils out of so many of my customer’s tanks over the years.

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

Since you have a 5” melanurus and a six line, you could add a checkerboard wrasse. But you’ll likely need to rehome the lubbocki at some point as any of those other wrasses could bully the lubbocki. Are you wanting to stick with semi-aggressive wrasses?

Having a six line will throw a wrench in your wrasse stocking plans. Six lines have a bad reputation with other wrasses. They can be perfect gentlemen for a while, even a couple of years, but once they reach maturity they can snap. I’ve had to pull those little devils out of so many of my customer’s tanks over the years.

The six line has to be one of the most mixed review fish ive ever heard of. I may swap him out when he gets bigger but hes the size of the last digit of my pinky rn. And the rest of the tank is rather chill, would like to keep it that way. Ive even successfully kept a pair of rainfords gobies in here for 6 months. Other inhabitants are clown gobies, a sailfin and blue hippo (both small) a decent size foxface, ocellaris pair, velentini puffer (likely only here temporarily) a pajama cardinal, a bicolor blenny, and the pink spot/tiger pistol. After the wrasses are figured out i will finish stocking with;
2 mandarins
5 of the chillest, smallest damsels possible (may skip)
Royal gramma
Psuedochromis (havnt decided which.)

Because of the mandarins i would prefer wrasses that dont nuke your pods. Ive been pumping the posiedon mix and tiggers in particular the last few months just to make sure i have a good population. Still have to make a cheato basket for the sump and order some.

 

[SaltyT]

The six line has to be one of the most mixed review fish ive ever heard of. I may swap him out when he gets bigger but hes the size of the last digit of my pinky rn. And the rest of the tank is rather chill, would like to keep it that way. Ive even successfully kept a pair of rainfords gobies in here for 6 months. Other inhabitants are clown gobies, a sailfin and blue hippo (both small) a decent size foxface, ocellaris pair, velentini puffer (likely only here temporarily) a pajama cardinal, a bicolor blenny, and the pink spot/tiger pistol. After the wrasses are figured out i will finish stocking with;
2 mandarins
5 of the chillest, smallest damsels possible (may skip)
Royal gramma
Psuedochromis (havnt decided which.)

Because of the mandarins i would prefer wrasses that dont nuke your pods. Ive been pumping the posiedon mix and tiggers in particular the last few months just to make sure i have a good population. Still have to make a cheato basket for the sump and order some.

LOL yes, six lines do have their lovers and haters. Personally, I love them in frag tanks. Great pest hunters.

Your six line will compete with mandarins for pods. So will your melanurus. Any wrasse in the halichoeres genus is a pod hunter. Just something to consider. If you want wrasses that don’t eat pods, you could look into some more fairy wrasses or some flasher wrasses?

 

[Bixby'sMenagerie]

LOL yes, six lines do have their lovers and haters. Personally, I love them in frag tanks. Great pest hunters.

Your six line will compete with mandarins for pods. So will your melanurus. Any wrasse in the halichoeres genus is a pod hunter. Just something to consider. If you want wrasses that don’t eat pods, you could look into some more fairy wrasses or some flasher wrasses?

That explains why I stopped seeing so many pods on the glass...
And yes I like both. Then again, never seen a flatworm or anything else bad in here so at least he did his pest control job.