Educate My Ignorance...

Jesterrace · Mar 30, 2019

ccombs said:
Ok, so it is obvious that a ton of people on the forum have a love affair with Wrasses. I have read up on them, including the very informative article by @evolved from 2016. I even looked into some smaller Wrasses for my 30 long because I want an active swimmer.

That being said, there seem to be several downsides to having a wrasse. I don't want a bully in my tank that eats my shrimp!

I understand that they are all different per their genus. However, I still see a lot of negatives of owning one in general. Why do so many people love them? I am not trying to discredit anyone, I am not sure that I 'get' why they are so popular. (I do think they look really, really cool though)

The problem is that people lump the entire wrasse family into vague generalizations when the fact is that they are a MASSIVE family with everything ranging from a small and shy Possum Wrasse that doesn't reach 3 inches, to very aggressive Thalassoma Wrasses that get well over a foot in length (technically the big Parrotfish are also part of the Wrasse Family if memory serves me correctly).

The Wrasses that people tend to recommend are the generally peaceful Flasher, Fairy and Halichoeres Wrasses. The First 2 are reef safe and the last does have issues with munching inverts but will leave corals alone. It just a matter of what people are willing to compromise. For a 30 gallon Long the stock list is pretty limited for wrasses as most need a 4 foot long tank, but it might work to put the likes of a Lubbock's/Multicolor Fairy Wrasse as they stay relatively small and have gorgeous colors:

Jesterrace · Mar 30, 2019

eatbreakfast said:
I agree that every group of fish has positives and drawbacks.

But some wrasses provide the best "bang for your buck" as far as hardiness, bright color, activity, and personality.

Agreed. When I got my first tank I was trying really hard to keep things peaceful in my tank and so I ended up with Firefish, Gobies, Dartfish and a Mandarin. The problem? At any given time my entire tank would disappear and be literally fishless. After several different adjustments I got frustrated and went to my LFS seeking a fish that was colorful, highly visible but still generally peaceful. Their response? YOU NEED A WRASSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ccombs · Mar 30, 2019

Jesterrace said:
The problem is that people lump the entire wrasse family into vague generalizations when the fact is that they are a MASSIVE family with everything ranging from a small and shy Possum Wrasse that doesn't reach 3 inches, to very aggressive Thalassoma Wrasses that get well over a foot in length (technically the big Parrotfish are also part of the Wrasse Family if memory serves me correctly).

The Wrasses that people tend to recommend are the generally peaceful Flasher, Fairy and Halichoeres Wrasses. The First 2 are reef safe and the last does have issues with munching inverts but will leave corals alone. It just a matter of what people are willing to compromise. For a 30 gallon Long the stock list is pretty limited for wrasses as most need a 4 foot long tank, but it might work to put the likes of a Lubbock's/Multicolor Fairy Wrasse as they stay relatively small and have gorgeous colors:

I want trying to generalize them together, just saying each genus seemed to have some bigger drawbacks that might make them less popular in the hobby.

I am not planning on getting one with my 30 gallon, I just found their popularity surprising so I figured I would pick some brains.

Jesterrace · Mar 30, 2019

The only drawbacks I have seen to them (the ones I mentioned) are that certain members can pick off inverts. Flasher and certain fairy wrasses can be a bit more delicate but honestly I think the biggest reasons they are less popular:

1) Outside of the Possum/Pygmy Wrasses (which tend to be a little bit pricey by comparison to other fish) none of the Wrasses really fit into the common nano tanks. Given that Nano Tanks are kind of the new fad you tend to eliminate wrasses right off the bat.
2) For folks that do have the tanks big enough to support some of the Wrasses mentioned, they tend to gravitate towards the slender profile fish (ie Tangs, Foxfaces, Butterflyfish, Angels and Dwarf Angels). For this reason the Wrasses tend to get left behind because of their shape.
3) Wrasses are well known jumpers and for whatever reason people have this false concept of jumpers vs non-jumpers when in fact the correct terms are more prone vs. less prone. Either way I am consistently amazed at the people who simply dismiss wrasses because they don't want a cover on their tank. If all I have to do to have a great fish in my tank is to put a cover on it then I will do it.

ccombs · Apr 4, 2019

Well..... funny story.....

I think @evolved might have converted me to Team Wrasse.....

We had a little side chat in the PM's and I plan on adding one in a few weeks. Do I need a Wrasse ID card or anything, any monthly dues for being Team Wrasse?

When do we have our next pot luck???