Need Help... Melanarus and Yellow Wrasse

[stevewuk]

I think I've made a mistake.

I've had a yellow wrasse for about 1.5 years who I called Kev after the minion. He used to be confident until I had to catch him as I had a velvet outbreak. Ever since he has been super skittish.

Then 3 months back I bought a Melanarus wrasse....absolutly beautiful. However a few weeks back, noticed the melanarus bullying Kev with the result being keV will dive in the sand and disappear for weeks. When he emerges, if I am around I will feed him, but he is usually only out for a few minutes before he gets harassed again.

Does anyone have any tips to resolve this? Have tried the mirror, but even that didn't distract enough! Need Kev back!

Thanks,
Steve

 

[John Bolden]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think I've made a mistake.

I've had a yellow wrasse for about 1.5 years who I called Kev after the minion. He used to be confident until I had to catch him as I had a velvet outbreak. Ever since he has been super skittish.

Then 3 months back I bought a Melanarus wrasse....absolutly beautiful. However a few weeks back, noticed the melanarus bullying Kev with the result being keV will dive in the sand and disappear for weeks. When he emerges, if I am around I will feed him, but he is usually only out for a few minutes before he gets harassed again.

Does anyone have any tips to resolve this? Have tried the mirror, but even that didn't distract enough! Need Kev back!

Thanks,
Steve

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Fish aggression is difficult to manage, people try a number of tricks, but they often do not work. In the end, you may need to separate the two fish so that Kev can get enough food.

The tricks people try include mirrors, rearranging the tank decor, feeding the fish more and giving the aggressor a "time out". None of those are likely to work with wrasse though.

Any possibility of adding a tank divider?

Jay

 

[Slocke]

I think I've made a mistake.

I've had a yellow wrasse for about 1.5 years who I called Kev after the minion. He used to be confident until I had to catch him as I had a velvet outbreak. Ever since he has been super skittish.

Then 3 months back I bought a Melanarus wrasse....absolutly beautiful. However a few weeks back, noticed the melanarus bullying Kev with the result being keV will dive in the sand and disappear for weeks. When he emerges, if I am around I will feed him, but he is usually only out for a few minutes before he gets harassed again.

Does anyone have any tips to resolve this? Have tried the mirror, but even that didn't distract enough! Need Kev back!

Thanks,
Steve

Unfortunately I’ve had this and I suggest rehoming the Melanurus. If you cannot do that then get an acclimation box with an inch of sand (or one that can be lowered into the sand) and put the Melanurus in that. Leave it in there for a few weeks and observe how it reacts to the other wrasse and vice versa.
You should always use an acclimation when adding two species of the same genus. Halichoeres wrasse being the a good example of that. They usually will live happily together and I have seen many H chrysus and H melanarus together without issue but every now and then you have a male that refuses to allow other males in its tank.

 

[bradreef]

Those two wrasses are the same Genus Halichoeres. The melanurus will get bigger and eventually kill Kev. Ide remove it and get a leopard, flasher, fairy, or Pseudocheilinus if you want another wrasse.

 

[stevewuk]

Thanks all. It all seemed so promising for a while...he's gonna be a nightmare to catch!

 

[Slocke]

Thanks all. It all seemed so promising for a while...he's gonna be a nightmare to catch!

I find wrasse easy to catch. They are very inquisitive and a trap and patience works well!

 

[LucentFish]

Depending on the size of your tank, can you rescape to create more line of sight blocks?