No luck with Possum Wrasses

[Tamberav]

TSM has them for sale right now and they are already fully quarantined and their reviews are top notch.

Clearly most fish can be QT but like anything it takes experience and I am sure TSM knows which wholesalers to use. A lot of times picking out the right fish from the get go is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Two of the three the OP tried sounded already like they looked bad before you even got them home.

Remember the OP put one directly in his DT and still lost both the wrasse and his royal gramma and had to go fallow.

 

[SauceyReef]

TSM has them for sale right now and they are already fully quarantined and their reviews are top notch.

Clearly most fish can be QT but like anything it takes experience and I am sure TSM knows which wholesalers to use. A lot of times picking out the right fish from the get go is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Two of the three the OP tried sounded already like they looked bad before you even got them home.

Remember the OP put one directly in his DT and still lost both the wrasse and his royal gramma and had to go fallow.

It is a bit funny/ironic. I have been speaking with these stores for a few months now trying to get this fish in. Finally my LFS gets one, it starts eating, I grab it, and all the stores start getting them!

I am happy and feel lucky about this purchase though. The LFS is the nicest one in NE Ohio. They waited until the fish ate before I paid which was very kind of them + preordering it for me. I picked him up Sunday. Smaller than I thought which is good (around 1").. Ya'll are right though. The personalities of wild fish especially wild wrasse are striking. The moment I put him in I assumed it would go for the rock but within hours started exploring the whole tank. I am excited to upgrade for this Little one. Such a cool fish! And eating some already. Seems to be at home in the tank but would enjoy more space. The only issue so far is my clownfish is showing small bits of aggression towards it. The fish does not seem to understand the warnings of the clown not to get to close to the Duncan or hammer coral and if it gets to close gets a little chase. This is only in a 1-3" proximity of the coral that this happens.

 

[SauceyReef]

After a few hours in the tank I noticed the fish was covered in white specks. I am still unsure if this was ich flairing up, sand/particles, bubbles, or the fish color changing. I am assuming ICH though. After reading through everything I really thought and still think QT is pretty much a death sentence for this fish and I made the right decision to put directly into the tank. I really wish I had ordered offline from a store that does a heavy QT beforehand, but remember it had been months with no signs or warnings from any of the stores one was coming in. I think I still lucked out with this one. Since putting in the tank and seeing the spots there has been no signs of any more spots or flashing from ANY of the fish. The possum is nibbling some frozen, nibbling some off the rocks, and mainly exploring the tank all day. His poop looks good (I always think this is hilarious how important pooping is for the fish) so no internal parasites!

 

[JMann]

Thank you for chiming in! I am also falling in love with them. Your experience and advice seems to support in my head they should not be QT'd and put directly into DT. Dave1993's obersvation also supports this. It would make sense seeing they come from the wild, are used to intricate rock work, and directly feed off this rock work.

Yeah, in many ways I don’t think any fish really benefits from a usually barren, crowded, medicated, small system like what QT’s are. However I realize the reasoning behind QT’s and I know they can be a necessary and effective evil for acute fish problems. But definitely not Possum friendly. Ive seen them eat well and do ok in medicated tanks but on average they don’t do so well long term in a QT.

I think the biggest issue is how the fish are collected and treated and the conditions they find themselves in prior to your tank. It’s tough for vendors but I grew up collecting wild fish off south Florida myself and we never had disease issues in our tanks.

 

[OdinPrime]

Came across this post after after doing some google research on the possum wrasse. I pulled the trigger and just now ordered this little guy on LiveAquaria Divers Den. He's going to be going into my 90gal. Really excited! Says his size is currently 1 1/2". Cant wait to meet the little guy when hes delivered next week!

 

[Clo]

Came across this post after after doing some google research on the possum wrasse. I pulled the trigger and just now ordered this little guy on LiveAquaria Divers Den. He's going to be going into my 90gal. Really excited! Says his size is currently 1 1/2". Cant wait to meet the little guy when hes delivered next week!

lol I was waffling on whether to press the buy button or not but decided to just wait until Monday. Ahahaha
Please share pics when he arrives, would love to see how he does.

 

[OdinPrime]

lol I was waffling on whether to press the buy button or not but decided to just wait until Monday. Ahahaha
Please share pics when he arrives, would love to see how he does.

Ha, same! Saw him on there last night and had to sleep on it. I will absolutely post pics the moment he arrives and is settled in .

 

[fachatga]

Just to add reefprostore has a possum right now. They will qt it for you and I’ve had excellent experiences with them. They answer questions promptly even over the weekend. Very good company and I’ve had excellent fish from them. Even wrasses which are delicate travelers. So you won’t have to qt yourself. It’s not cheapest but you get quality healthy fish. Just an option to think about.

 

[Clo]

Just to add reefprostore has a possum right now. They will qt it for you and I’ve had excellent experiences with them. They answer questions promptly even over the weekend. Very good company and I’ve had excellent fish from them. Even wrasses which are delicate travelers. So you won’t have to qt yourself. It’s not cheapest but you get quality healthy fish. Just an option to think about.

I’m placing an order for a white banded possum Monday which is why I waited. Hahaha
I’m pretty sure I can’t have both in my 35g

 

[fachatga]

Keep them in mind for other fish too. Also can ask them to get something for you. The customer service is really great. They can usually source about anything. They also condition all fish before they even list them so even if you don’t have them qt they will acclimate them to frozen foods and treat for worms for at least 2 weeks on all fish. I like that they really seem to care to take care of what they are selling.

 

[OdinPrime]

Keep them in mind for other fish too. Also can ask them to get something for you. The customer service is really great. They can usually source about anything. They also condition all fish before they even list them so even if you don’t have them qt they will acclimate them to frozen foods and treat for worms for at least 2 weeks on all fish. I like that they really seem to care to take care of what they are selling.

Tanks for showing me these folks. I've pretty much always delt with LiveAquaria since they're always so consistent. Excited to try out these folks. I'll be ordering from them soon

 

[JMann]

I’m placing an order for a white banded possum Monday which is why I waited. Hahaha
I’m pretty sure I can’t have both in my 35g

I’ve had a Tanaka’s and yellow banded together in a 40 gallon for over a year and a half now. They get along just fine. I had the Tanaka’s in a 20 gallon QT with a White Banded Possum as well when I first had em. No problems there either.

 

[JMann]

Came across this post after after doing some google research on the possum wrasse. I pulled the trigger and just now ordered this little guy on LiveAquaria Divers Den. He's going to be going into my 90gal. Really excited! Says his size is currently 1 1/2". Cant wait to meet the little guy when hes delivered next week!

You’re gonna love that fish dude. Really inquisitive and fun to watch cruise around.

 

[happyhourhero]

I have a pink streaked and a yellow banded possum in my 25. I love them! Possum is out more than the pink streaked.

 

[Billldg]

Order it from @tsmaquatics and be done with it. They do the QT'ing, you just need to float and release and ENJOY the wrasse. I have ordered wrasses from them and I will honestly say, they were the MOST stress free wrasses that I ever seen. Even a Divided Leopard wrasse was stress free. When I released it, it just started to swim around like it lived there its whole life. I have lost several wrasses in QT, thus the reason I will pay a little more money and get it from TSM.

Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse (Wetmorella nigropinnata)

Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse

tsmaquatics.com

 

[jaganshi066]

lol I was waffling on whether to press the buy button or not but decided to just wait until Monday. Ahahaha
Please share pics when he arrives, would love to see how he does.

My fish store sells them for $45 so that’s a huge difference and it’s always nice to see the fish before buying it!

 

[SauceyReef]

Update: My yellow banded Possum is seriously now my favorite fish! It combatted the ich or it was just possibly sand as I have seen no signs since day one or any flashing/scraping. It's personality is fantastic and takes on way bigger food/pods than I thought it could. I can't wait to upgrade to a bigger tank as this little one already owns my fluval 13.5. When I upgrade to a 28 gallon biocube I plan on adding a Pink Streaked wrasse also.

FYI: From what I am learning these fish are caught during specifically summer which is why they start becoming more unavailable after. 2 months ago not a single store had one available. They are all wild caught seemingly giving them a different personality than the average tank raised fish. They are jumpers and will scour the tank for all spots/escapes!

 

[Tamberav]

TSM has them and they are too notch. Much better choice than DD specimens.

My LFS gets them too for 60 bucks? But then I have to QT them

 

[SauceyReef]

+1 on TSM - worth the extra $ if any

 

[OdinPrime]

As promised. Got into the tank yesterday and is doing great. So far a little shy, but is starting to come out more and more. Hes so awesome! Adorable little guy about 1.5" long.