Another missing yellow coris wrasse question.

[OutColdCRNA]

I introduced an approximately 1 inch yellow coris wrasse about a week ago. It hid for a day but was out for the next day or so. intermittently. I have not seen him for the last 4-5 days. I know this behavior is normal for these. My concern is that the tank is fairly sterile. And by that I mean there are no pods built up in this tank yet. I have been feeding a bit heavy in the hopes that he is sneaking out to eat something left. At what point should I be concerned and sift through the sand looking for a dead wrasse? Thanks for the help!!

 

[Tcook]

I've had wrasses hide in the rock or sand for 2 weeks easy. Don't dig for it. What size tank is this and what other fish are in there? How deep is the sand?

 

[OutColdCRNA]

65 gallon Tideline. 4’ x 18” display. A juvenile clown pair and clown fairy wrasse are the only inhabitants thus far. Sand is approximately 2” in majority of the tank and slightly deeper in some areas.

 

[Tcook]

Those solon wrasses can be quite aggressive, especially to a small chrysus. You may not have witnessed any aggression as the chrysus wasn't out much. I would watch this closely. Perhaps some help : @Crabby48 @SaltyT @i cant think

 

[Crabby48]

Agree with Tcook. Could be normal but she is tiny and easy prey. Could raise her in separate tank to acclimate and grow some.
Also grab a cheap brine shrimp hatchery. Every day you can add baby brine shrimp for the wrasse to hunt at night. Get the one all you need is eggs and saltwater with a desk lamp.

 

[SaltyT]

Agree with @Tcook that the fairy wrasse is likely harassing the yellow wrasse when you’re not around, especially since your new wrasse was out intermittently and now it’s staying buried.

Acclimation boxes can help when introducing a new wrasse to an established wrasse.

 

[i cant think]

65 gallon Tideline. 4’ x 18” display. A juvenile clown pair and clown fairy wrasse are the only inhabitants thus far. Sand is approximately 2” in majority of the tank and slightly deeper in some areas.

I agree with the others in your fairy is likely to be beating on your newest wrasse.
Cirrhilabrus aquamarinus is known for its nasty behaviour, if I’m honest I would remove the fairy for a while and see if your chrysus comes out. If it does then it’s time to go for that wrasse. Besides, we can name 1000s of prettier wrasses!

 

[OutColdCRNA]

Excellent! Thanks for the advice!!

 

[OutColdCRNA]

The clown wrasse and the yellow were introduced at the same time. I would think aggression would come more from an established wrasse? Could that still be the case even though they were introduced together?

 

[Tcook]

Yes that can happen, especially with tangs. In your situation the Solon is more aggressive by nature. The chrysus is not. Eventually this was bound to happen. It may have taken a little longer if the chrysus was established but eventually the solon's aggression would show. Larger tank with many wrasses and other fish maybe not.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

I placed a piece of egg crate grid I had into the tank dividing off the clown wrasse from the side that I had seen the yellow wrasse on. Although it not completely walled off, the piece wasn’t big enough. The bottom 10 inches of the tank are blocked off from each other. Will try to get a bigger piece to block the whole thing off and still let water flow through. The other thing that may have happened is he may have escaped the screen too and the dog ate it and I didn’t notice. We will give it a few days with the egg crate in place and see what happens. Fingers crossed!!

 

[Tcook]

Hopefully it's still in there. I think, however, your probably going to have to rehome one of them.

 

[OutColdCRNA]

The wall didn’t work so I ordered a fish trap and acclimation box. The plan was to trap the clown wrasse. Well the healthy clown wrasse has been doing awesome. Eating and swimming around and I came home from work and he was on the way out. He was laying on his side. Not breathing particularly fast and almost posturing the way someone would with a brain injury. I’m wondering if he got spooked and crashes hard into the glass. No visible signs of disease to be seen. I guess I won’t need the trap for him after all.