Exciting final fish to add to 60g Penninsula?

[Enad]

What's your budget? Flame wrasse are a hawaiian only fish and 1000+ bucks these days

Ah shame. Yeah, that's out of my price range haha. I'd probably want to max out around $200 per fish if I were to do a pair. I'd love to do a flasher wrasse male/female combo but the females always look so boring. Flame Wrasse being the exception.

What about Blue Flasher Wrasse? They seem to be affordable and look pretty striking, at least the males do.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Ah shame. Yeah, that's out of my price range haha. I'd probably want to max out around $200 per fish if I were to do a pair. I'd love to do a flasher wrasse male/female combo but the females always look so boring. Flame Wrasse being the exception.

What about Blue Flasher Wrasse? They seem to be affordable and look pretty striking, at least the males do.

They're gorgeous. I loved mine it sadly jumped through a tiny hole and killed itself. Be sure of you're going to have one that you have a TIGHT lid

 

[Enad]

They're gorgeous. I loved mine it sadly jumped through a tiny hole and killed itself. Be sure of you're going to have one that you have a TIGHT lid

This is why I've always stayed away from Wrasses. I feel like everyone who has owned them talks about how they jump out and kill themselves even with a lid. I use a lid at night or when I'm not home, it's a custom fit lid so I imagine it would be alright..but so many stories of jumpers even with a lid.

In any case - I've been interested in the Royal Flasher Wrasse but I want some real world thoughts on Flashers. I see these pictures online of the Royal Flasher for example, and the males are stunning, but in reality - how often are they going to be displaying those colors? Assuming I have a female in the tank too.

I've seen other pictures of the Royal Flasher in what I imagine are more typical scenarios and it looks fine, but nothing striking like the pic I've attached.

 

[JoJosReef]

Yes I had been heavily considering a Chaoti. It's one of the most striking fish but I'm just a bit nervous about spending ~$300 on a fish that often doesn't do well. It certainly would be top of my list otherwise.

It's still a consideration, just difficult to justify the cost vs risk.

If you're getting fish shipped, I wouldn't do it. Too much risk for sensitive leopards during shipment. If you have a local with one or a local QTer or vendor that has a choati that's already eating, awake during daytime hours and not emaciated, that's a much better bet.

 

[Cthulukelele]

This is why I've always stayed away from Wrasses. I feel like everyone who has owned them talks about how they jump out and kill themselves even with a lid. I use a lid at night or when I'm not home, it's a custom fit lid so I imagine it would be alright..but so many stories of jumpers even with a lid.

In any case - I've been interested in the Royal Flasher Wrasse but I want some real world thoughts on Flashers. I see these pictures online of the Royal Flasher for example, and the males are stunning, but in reality - how often are they going to be displaying those colors? Assuming I have a female in the tank too.

They're truly striking fish, and when they're displaying the colors are fairly accurate. My personal favorite is the blue when it flashes. They dart quickly back and forth with their little flashing streamers up and they luminesce. It's the only fish I've ever had successfully jump in almost 8 years in the hobby with my setup. It's a real risk with Flasher and fairy wrasse especially. In my experience flashers are the absolute worst because of their natural flashing behavior. They usually flash less in tanks shorter than 4 feet though.

Also that photo is a very accurate representation of what they look like when they're flashing, but they're moving very quickly diving back and forth. You can see them wind up the colors as they get ready to flash.

 

[Enad]

They're truly striking fish, and when they're displaying the colors are fairly accurate. My personal favorite is the blue when it flashes. They dart quickly back and forth with their little flashing streamers up and they luminesce. It's the only fish I've ever had successfully jump in almost 8 years in the hobby with my setup. It's a real risk with Flasher and fairy wrasse especially. In my experience flashers are the absolute worst because of their natural flashing behavior. They usually flash less in tanks shorter than 4 feet though.

Right, but how often would they be flashing/displaying those colors? I really know nothing of their habits and would assume it's more of a spawning/mating ritual, or is it just something they do daily?

 

[Cthulukelele]

Right, but how often would they be flashing/displaying those colors? I really know nothing of their habits and would assume it's more of a spawning/mating ritual, or is it just something they do daily?

It depends. My blue flasher wrasse flashed for maybe 30 minutes to an hour a day. I had a mccoskers Flasher that only flashed once or twice a week. Really depends on your fish and the environment it is. Not a satisfying answer. They're beautiful open swimmers even when not flashing tho

 

[sgdnycct]

I’m curious how your mandarins have faired?

 

[Enad]

I’m curious how your mandarins have faired?

They're doing great. Never trained them to eat anything but they eat absolutely everything as far as I can tell, they love frozen, love live worms, love pods. My male is getting very large, but my female has stayed pretty small though she has a big belly.

Very chill fish, nothing really bothers them.

I don't have a very recent pic but here they are back in Jan - my male, Dorito, has grown a bunch since then. He's almost as big as my clownfish now.

 

[sgdnycct]

They're doing great. Never trained them to eat anything but they eat absolutely everything as far as I can tell, they love frozen, love live worms, love pods. My male is getting very large, but my female has stayed pretty small though she has a big belly.

Very chill fish, nothing really bothers them.

I don't have a very recent pic but here they are back in Jan - my male, Dorito, has grown a bunch since then. He's almost as big as my clownfish now.

That's amazing that you have more than one. Most people can't keep a single one sometimes in giant 200+ g tanks. You should start a thread on how you did it. I know I'd appreaciate it. I'd love to keep at lease one mandarin. Congratulations.

 

[Enad]

That's amazing that you have more than one. Most people can't keep a single one sometimes in giant 200+ g tanks. You should start a thread on how you did it. I know I'd appreaciate it. I'd love to keep at lease one mandarin. Congratulations.

Thank you! I'm not sure I really have enough insight or wisdom to put together a thread on how I did it but I'm happy to explain here how I did it.

First off, it's always best to get a captive bred from Biota or ORA. I've heard plenty of stories of the wild caught fish not doing well and it just feels deeply unethical to me.

Anyway - Prior to getting the fish, I decided on setting up a little IM15 tank that would house them for a while, to make sure they were healthy and unbothered when they arrived, and to let them grow out a bit before they went into the main tank. I set the tank up with some live branching Aussie rock, and also took some rock from my main tank and popped it in there to build up the pop population. I put in a few basic corals just for the sake of biodiversity(some xenia, green mushrooms, zoas and a toadstool). I had some promo for AlgaeBarn at the time, so I ended up getting like 6 containers of pods for $100 and dumped them all in the IM15. The tank sat for like 3 or 4 weeks to let it settle and to let the pop population explode. Didn't really need to cycle as it was all live rock but none the less I waited a few weeks before ordering the fish. I also kept the flow very low in this tank, I replaced the return pump with some Sicce pump and turned it as low as possible. Probably didn't need to be that low but I wanted them to have a calm experience.


When the Mandarins arrived, they were barely the size of my fingernail. I was prepared for tiny fish, but these were super tiny. They were very grey colored and took a day or two to really start moving around but they eventually became very active. Seeing as I put them in a very natural and uncontrollable environment, I wasn't able to really train them on anything, so I just relied on the pods to feed them. Once I got these fish, I also started seeding my main tank with pods once a month so I would typically use half of one of the bottles to replenish the Mandarin tank as well, but that tank was absolutely crawling with pods - glass was covered in them daily, there were all sorts of feather dusters, clams and what not living in there. It was a great space for them.

I don't remember exactly how long I kept them in there, but it was probably around 2 months. I planned on keeping them in there longer, but they were growing really well and honestly the super low flow of the tank made it a detritus magnet, and it was difficult to keep the sand bed clean. In any case, they moved into the 60 gallon main tank and have been growing strong since.

Since moving into the big tank, they've also started eating frozen food and live black worms, so they've got a good diet going. I still dose pods monthly though just to keep the population up. They do their little mating dance at night often but I don't think they're quite ready yet to actually produce anything but hopefully soon. They'll be a year old in August.

Attaching some pics I just took of them today. Let me know if you have any questions about them!

 

[Kasrift]

I'd recommend golden assessors, they are cool and swim in interesting patterns, might fight with royal grammas. If you have the budget, flashing tilefish are cool.

 

[sgdnycct]

Thank you! I'm not sure I really have enough insight or wisdom to put together a thread on how I did it but I'm happy to explain here how I did it.

First off, it's always best to get a captive bred from Biota or ORA. I've heard plenty of stories of the wild caught fish not doing well and it just feels deeply unethical to me.

Anyway - Prior to getting the fish, I decided on setting up a little IM15 tank that would house them for a while, to make sure they were healthy and unbothered when they arrived, and to let them grow out a bit before they went into the main tank. I set the tank up with some live branching Aussie rock, and also took some rock from my main tank and popped it in there to build up the pop population. I put in a few basic corals just for the sake of biodiversity(some xenia, green mushrooms, zoas and a toadstool). I had some promo for AlgaeBarn at the time, so I ended up getting like 6 containers of pods for $100 and dumped them all in the IM15. The tank sat for like 3 or 4 weeks to let it settle and to let the pop population explode. Didn't really need to cycle as it was all live rock but none the less I waited a few weeks before ordering the fish. I also kept the flow very low in this tank, I replaced the return pump with some Sicce pump and turned it as low as possible. Probably didn't need to be that low but I wanted them to have a calm experience.


When the Mandarins arrived, they were barely the size of my fingernail. I was prepared for tiny fish, but these were super tiny. They were very grey colored and took a day or two to really start moving around but they eventually became very active. Seeing as I put them in a very natural and uncontrollable environment, I wasn't able to really train them on anything, so I just relied on the pods to feed them. Once I got these fish, I also started seeding my main tank with pods once a month so I would typically use half of one of the bottles to replenish the Mandarin tank as well, but that tank was absolutely crawling with pods - glass was covered in them daily, there were all sorts of feather dusters, clams and what not living in there. It was a great space for them.

I don't remember exactly how long I kept them in there, but it was probably around 2 months. I planned on keeping them in there longer, but they were growing really well and honestly the super low flow of the tank made it a detritus magnet, and it was difficult to keep the sand bed clean. In any case, they moved into the 60 gallon main tank and have been growing strong since.

Since moving into the big tank, they've also started eating frozen food and live black worms, so they've got a good diet going. I still dose pods monthly though just to keep the population up. They do their little mating dance at night often but I don't think they're quite ready yet to actually produce anything but hopefully soon. They'll be a year old in August.

Attaching some pics I just took of them today. Let me know if you have any questions about them!

This is great info! I’ve ordered from Biota with bad results but after reading your comments I realize the fish are very a small. I should have quarantined them like you did. I’m going to follow your instructions and give it a shot. You have a lot of really good ideas here! Thank you!!!

Q: did you feed phyto for the pods?