Do flasher wrasse eat amphipods?

[nereefpat]

I have a 65G, do you think that’s fine for him?

You bet

 

[living_tribunal]

You bet

I'm kind of excited for him. I'm hoping that he doesn't go too hog wild with the amphipod consumption so that it's balanced. A canary wrasse is going to do what it's evolved to do though.

Amphipods are just wayyy too effective at keeping your tank clean. Achieving balance and a nice hierarchy in your tank is no joke.

 

[Crabby48]

I'm kind of excited for him. I'm hoping that he doesn't go too hog wild with the amphipod consumption so that it's balanced. A canary wrasse is going to do what it's evolved to do though.

Amphipods are just wayyy too effective at keeping your tank clean. Achieving balance and a nice hierarchy in your tank is no joke.

I think a full grown canary has the potential to make most amphipods disappear. I think it really comes down to the individual and how much natural hunting instincts she or he has.

My Melanurus ate anything in qt but when he went in my display he never stopped hunting and only ate dead food once in awhile.

 

[living_tribunal]

I think a full grown canary has the potential to make most amphipods disappear. I think it really comes down to the individual and how much natural hunting instincts she or he has.

My Melanurus ate anything in qt but when he went in my display he never stopped hunting and only ate dead food once in awhile.

Just want to update and thank everyone for the input and recommendations. I purchased a yellow coris wrasse from @dr.reef and am thrilled with the results so far.

I have noticed far less amphipods nesting in my wilsonis tissue, and their numbers have dropped considerably. They are no longer coming out during the day either and it even takes me a second or two to find one.

The yellow coris wrasse was the perfect fish for the problem. He guzzles amphipods like they are no problem. He has to be consuming about 50-100 of them a day. Hopefully my favias and wilsoni can regain their health.

 

[Brew12]

Just want to update and thank everyone for the input and recommendations. I purchased a yellow coris wrasse from @dr.reef and am thrilled with the results so far.

I have noticed far less amphipods nesting in my wilsonis tissue, and their numbers have dropped considerably. They are no longer coming out during the day either and it even takes me a second or two to find one.

The yellow coris wrasse was the perfect fish for the problem. He guzzles amphipods like they are no problem. He has to be consuming about 50-100 of them a day. Hopefully my favias and wilsoni can regain their health.

Too bad they are such an ugly fish.

Glad its working for you!

 

[living_tribunal]

Too bad they are such an ugly fish.

Glad its working for you!

I think they look pretty cool! Their eyes definitely freak me out though. It’s cool to see him burrow and leave the two black spots showing on the surface. Is this how they defend themselves/potentially hunt?

Also, this purely anecdotal and I don’t know if there is any research to back something like this up but my mccoskers and yellow coris have become pretty good friends it looks like. They swim together just like my mated clowns do. My mccoskers has started hitting the rocks pretty hard! I wonder if he picked it up from the yellow coris?

 

[Brew12]

I think they look pretty cool! Their eyes definitely freak me out though. It’s cool to see him burrow and leave the two black spots showing on the surface. Is this how they defend themselves/potentially hunt?

Also, this purely anecdotal and I don’t know if there is any research to back something like this up but my mccoskers and yellow coris have become pretty good friends it looks like. They swim together just like my mated clowns do. My mccoskers has started hitting the rocks pretty hard! I wonder if he picked it up from the yellow coris?

I love the way they look. And, just so you know, they aren't Coris wrasses. That is a different species and I'm not sure why people call them that so commonly. I think mine buries itself completely. Could it be as deep as it can go in your sand bed?

I do believe fish learn from each other. Fish are much smarter than many of us give them credit for.

 

[living_tribunal]

I love the way they look. And, just so you know, they aren't Coris wrasses. That is a different species and I'm not sure why people call them that so commonly. I think mine buries itself completely. Could it be as deep as it can go in your sand bed?

I do believe fish learn from each other. Fish are much smarter than many of us give them credit for.

Oh that’s interesting. I’ve seen so many names applied to this fish: canary, yellow, rainbow, h chrysus, etc. Maybe h. Chrysus is the most appropriate name for it.

Mine sometimes goes all the way but he will work his way up just enough to see what’s going on, when he does this he reveals the black spot on the center of his body and his tail so that there are three black spots (including his eye) showing.

He does this less now that he’s comfortable in the tank though.

Regarding the bond/learning from each other, I think it’s possible. I find it bizarre how close they are and so fast. My mccoskers was really close to my tail spot that somehow jumped out of my tank the day before I received the h. Chrysus. Maybe he needed a new friend.

It’s pretty cool, they swim in sync and rarely are apart.

 

[Crabby48]

Just want to update and thank everyone for the input and recommendations. I purchased a yellow coris wrasse from @dr.reef and am thrilled with the results so far.

I have noticed far less amphipods nesting in my wilsonis tissue, and their numbers have dropped considerably. They are no longer coming out during the day either and it even takes me a second or two to find one.

The yellow coris wrasse was the perfect fish for the problem. He guzzles amphipods like they are no problem. He has to be consuming about 50-100 of them a day. Hopefully my favias and wilsoni can regain their health.

What a beautiful addition to your tank. I really enjoy wrasse that are hunters and burry in the sand. Happy he is earning his rent eating amphipods.

 

[living_tribunal]

What a beautiful addition to your tank. I really enjoy wrasse that are hunters and burry in the sand. Happy he is earning his rent eating amphipods.

He is the fearless leader of the amphipod genocide. Everyone is playing their part, even this lazy pipefish.

 

[Healeyjet]

I was having the same issue with huge amphipods eating my soft corals and rock flowers. I believe they hassled the corals until they were weakened then started eating them. I have never added pods to my tank which is only a 20 gallon. I just got a coris wrasse so hoping that does the trick. Sadly most of the pods are out at night while the wrasse is napping.
Ward

 

[madlos123]

tbh my bangai cardinal and royal gramma decimated my amphipod population lol

 

[coralkurd]

I am having the same problem! I tell everyone that the amphipods are eating my zoas and no one believes me lol. I literally shine a light on my tank at night and I see hundreds on my zoas and they are ripping the lashed off and forcing it open.

I am thinking about getting a yellow wrasse also. do they hunt at night though? I rarely see the amphipods during the day and only during the night. will the wrasse work or does anyone know a fish that eats them and hunts at night?

 

[old salt reefer]

This is exactly what I was trying to avoid, I’ve been watching them all day eat these corals. The larger amphipods take larger chunks and I’m not going to sit here and just listen to a common narrative when direct observation that’s been repeated consistently tells a different story.

All of these frags have been incredibly happy and healthy. I also quarantine everything that enters my system from fish to frags to inverts for months.

All have grown very fast until they immediately began incredibly fast tissue loss. I’ve never seen any disease or pests demolish a coral that fast. Ever. It’s not bjd.

There are 1,000s of different amphipods, many carnivorous so this odd narrative that people prescribe to that amphipods won’t eat coral tissue has less precedent than them eating it. The last frag had split 5 heads this week and boom, he had about 20 amphipods feasting on that one single spot and had lost that much tissue in a day...

The first frag also immediately stabilized in my frag tank which does not have any amphipods. So if it were smaller pests, I’m sure they would still be eating it.

Once again, I didn’t include this in the original post so I could just get an answer to wrasse that will eat amphipods. That’s all I’m looking for an answer to.

I believe I’m going to be picking up a pipefish today.

Amphipods DON'T eat corals. Funny you've watched it with your own eyes. I'VE WATCHED it with my own eyes in one of my tanks. There are videos on youtube of amphipods eating corals. And yet someone comes on your thread and says it doesn't happen. Well in my case I had a bottomless tank so I couldn't get a wrasse that slept in the sand/gravel at night so I went with a sixline wrasse who has been a model citizen(most likey because everything in the tank is as mean as she/he is). And for the person that's going to come a long and say I could have put a container of sand/gravel in for the wrasse to sleep in I didn't want the mess from the sand/gravel that it would knock out of the container or it taking up space(the container) on the tank bottom.
The sixline has done a great job at eating amphipods. The things used to run around in the day, they were everywhere. Not no more. Same can be said for any kind of worm. If they come out during the day they're dead. IMHO best $20.00 I spent at Petco(yes Petco).

 

[old salt reefer]

Just want to update and thank everyone for the input and recommendations. I purchased a yellow coris wrasse from @dr.reef and am thrilled with the results so far.

I have noticed far less amphipods nesting in my wilsonis tissue, and their numbers have dropped considerably. They are no longer coming out during the day either and it even takes me a second or two to find one.

The yellow coris wrasse was the perfect fish for the problem. He guzzles amphipods like they are no problem. He has to be consuming about 50-100 of them a day. Hopefully my favias and wilsoni can regain their health.

Excellent choice, If I had gravel I'd have made the same one. May be just yellow with black dots but I think they are very pretty fish with great personalities(I've had one in the past).

 

[FreeEnergyReefer]

Been having the same problem on and off for a year. Blue head Fairy wrasse did the trick for 6months until one night he killed my tailspot blenny and unleashed havoc on the rest of the fish. I have a pair of mandarins and a yellow coris that decimate pods all day,seahorse in the fuge. Hell my clowns even eat pods all day. Still not enough for a 75g tank I guess. Been looking for a flasher wrasse to add to the mix,stupid lfs never carries em. Would love to add another yellow coris but that tank is so stocked with corals it took me 2months to catch the fairy wrasse if the yellows dont pair up. Who knows hopefully they'll get em under control soon.