Aggressive Hoeven's Wrasse

[Andygator]

I have a well established male Hoeven's wrasse in my reef. I added an Anampses neoguinaicus (aka China wrasse) yesterday to the tank. The Hoeven has been tormenting the China wrasse since the second I added it. Any advice on how to get them to tolerate each other? Looks like I will be needing to rehome the China wrasse at this point.

 

[Twocoralsonetank]

Learned this lesson a long time ago, any wrasse that is established and has strips on it, is the devil.

 

[Andygator]

Learned this lesson a long time ago, any wrasse that is established and has strips on it, is the devil.

I think you are on to something there. Really stinks because I love the unusual coloration of the (female) China wrasse.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Try re-introducing using a social acclimation box.

 

[Andygator]

Well I let them be and when I got home from work this evening they seem to be tolerating each other. Guess they worked out the pecking order or declared a truce. Either way I’m glad the jumping and splashing water out the tank has stopped.

 

[nereefpat]

A box like a critter cage is a good idea.

What is the size of the tank?

 

[Jesterrace]

I have a well established male Hoeven's wrasse in my reef. I added an Anampses neoguinaicus (aka China wrasse) yesterday to the tank. The Hoeven has been tormenting the China wrasse since the second I added it. Any advice on how to get them to tolerate each other? Looks like I will be needing to rehome the China wrasse at this point.

I had a similar situation about 2 months ago when I added a blue star leopard wrasse to my tank with a well established Melanurus Wrasse. The first week was brutal with the Melanurus constantly trying to chase the Leopard out of the top of my 90 gallon tank, but the Leopard refused to go away and even fought back after a while. They still periodically flare up and circle each other and the Melanurus can be a bit of a pain at feeding time (the Leopard still finds a way to get food though). Overall though they have calmed down quite a bit as long as they are kept well fed. I would say a lot of it depends on how resilient that China Wrasse is. If it's persistent enough the Melanurus may simply get worn out, if it's cowardly and looks stressed then I would go ahead and remove it. It may just take time and it may never go away. Mine took about 2 weeks before it eased up.