Hoeven's/Melanurus wrasse question

footballdude2k3 · Jul 15, 2014

Hey guys, I picked one of these up and had it shipped to me last Friday, it looked super healthy in the bag, I acclimated it along with an Exquisite Fairy Wrasse, the fairy was not looking good in the bag, thought he might not make it, I am fairly sure there was quit a bit of ammonia in the bag, he pooped in there, so I made sure to do a quicker acclimation, he has been great, after about 30 minutes he was swimming around like he owned the place. Eats like a pig.

The Melanurus on the other hand, I have seen him swimming for maybe 5-10 minutes in the 4 days I have had him, One of the rocks that I have has a lot of area where the sand goes up to the base and there is enough room for him to wedge himself under there, so I see him everyday, and he moves around, but not open swimming. I know at first that you are more likely to successfully charge OJ with a crime than see them, but at what point should I start to worry that he is not swimming around?

Nobody in the tank has tried to mess with him at all, they have seen him, but that's about where it ends. I work from home, so I get to watch my tank almost all day, so I have a pretty god idea of what is going on in there.

eatbreakfast · Jul 15, 2014

This tentative behavior can last for over a month, but usually doesnt last that long if there is no aggression. It may take a little longer to change his internal clock to your time zone, but feed 15min before he goes to bed and this will get him staying up later and later. It wont be long before he is very bold in your tank.

evolved · Jul 15, 2014

How much sand, and what type, do you have?

footballdude2k3 · Jul 15, 2014

I feed 3-4 times per day, 2-3 during the day, and once 60-90 minutes after lights out, have 2-4 inches of aragonite, it rolls a little bit depending on the area of the tank

evolved · Jul 15, 2014

Then in that case, I agree with eatbreakfast. Just give it some time; a couple weeks would not be abnormal.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 15, 2014

Sounds great, thanks a lot for the help guys

pickupman66 · Jul 16, 2014

mine hid for what seemed like 3 or 4 weeks. Never saw the darn thing. we chalked him up as a gonner.. then one day. he showed up. more and more each day. I always fed in the evening so he stayed out late. I had a 6 line wrasse in the tank.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 16, 2014

Thanks for your story, yesterday was the first day that I didn't see him at all, so I am hoping he's still doing ok

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

I have yet to figure out where mine sleeps. He's first one to bed and is up begging for food every morning with the other 2.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 27, 2014

Today is the first day that he has really been out swimming around, it has been about 10 minutes so far today. All of the other fish do not see him much, so they go near him when he is out, no aggression at all, but the Melanurus gets scared and runs away. I am happy he is actually out today.

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

Yah he will be fine I think mine did the same thing and still is not out half as much as the others.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 27, 2014

Just as I said that, he decided he was done for the day and I saw him burrow back into the sand

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

Such a cool looking fish I hope he becomes more active for u. I just made the decision to trade my foxface rabbit in on a kole tang. If I can catch him. Just because he hides all the time. I think my purple tang being so active makes him hide.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 27, 2014

Yea I love this guy, hope he starts being a little more active, otherwise in the next tank he will go in a few weeks before the others to make sure he finds all of his favorite places, 10 months until upgrade time

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

Sweet! This week mines getting a new aqua scape. Gonna break it down clean it up drill it and start kinda fresh. Made some mistakes I'm gonna fix! Excited for coral soon as it cycles.

kireek · Jul 27, 2014

eatbreakfast said:
This tentative behavior can last for over a month, but usually doesnt last that long if there is no aggression. It may take a little longer to change his internal clock to your time zone, but feed 15min before he goes to bed and this will get him staying up later and later. It wont be long before he is very bold in your tank.

I have had one for years and he still goes missing once in a while.Recently my coris wrasse decided to move in and I notice them both out more.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 27, 2014

heathd.hd said:
Sweet! This week mines getting a new aqua scape. Gonna break it down clean it up drill it and start kinda fresh. Made some mistakes I'm gonna fix! Excited for coral soon as it cycles.

Nice! Throw some pictures up in here, or at least a link to wherever your build is so I can take a look

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163308

I ramble alot in my thread lol. Answering alot of my own questions. Can't wait to smash a few hundred dollars worth of Z's n P's on my new scape finally!

heathd.hd · Jul 27, 2014

Looks like you have a few acans. In your box eh?

footballdude2k3 · Jul 27, 2014

Yea, one small colony with 12ish heads, two common frags with 2 polyps each, I like a healthy mix of coral, but zoas are the only softies since they are easy to isolate, and love me some SPS, thanks for the link!