Question for all the wrasse owners

Gsellers85 · Jul 30, 2014

So gonna bring home my first wrasse this weekend. He will be a melanurus. I have a 2 part question. First should I quarantine him for a while? 2nd I have a little 3G tank I was going to set up for my son but decided I would use this to quarantine for a while, my question with that is, I know they like to bury in the sand bed. I was hoping just to leave the little 3G bare and just add some live rock. Bc in the end this is going to be a fresh water tank setup for him so the less cleanup the better.

Thanks guys

evolved · Jul 30, 2014

Yes, you should always QT new additions.

A 3g tank is pretty darn small for a QT; I'd use a 10 or 20g.

You will need a "sanbox" in the QT; a plastic container big enough for the fish to lay sideways in with a couple inches of sand will suffice.

TJ's Reef · Jul 30, 2014

A BIG +1 to Hunter's advice ^above^ and here a pic of a 'sand box' for my Ornate Leopard Wrasses when I ran them through QT. I used black silicate sand in a plastic tub as to not be effected by copper if necessary.

Cheers, Todd

Gsellers85 · Jul 30, 2014

Sweet, thanks guys. I have a 30g QT tank I just figured for a small fish the 3G might have worked. Just being lazy I guess, didn't wanna have to go through storage to get the tank. I like the sandbed idea

footballdude2k3 · Jul 30, 2014

I have had mine in my DT for going on 3 weeks, he is out for 10ish minutes per day, so for the first little while, do not be surprised if they are pretty reclusive.

saltyhog · Jul 30, 2014

I quarantined mine for 8 weeks in a 29 gallon with no sand and some PVC pipe (didn't know any better as it was one of my first fish). He did great and was active and out front in the DT from the get go. Weird how individual fish can be.

Eienna · Jul 31, 2014

You know...I see you've already decided, but I couldn't recommend a leopard as a first wrasse (which kind of suggests to me you're a bit of a beginner? Correct me if I'm wrong.) They're generally referred to as expert-level fish.

eatbreakfast · Jul 31, 2014

Eienna said:
You know...I see you've already decided, but I couldn't recommend a leopard as a first wrasse (which kind of suggests to me you're a bit of a beginner? Correct me if I'm wrong.) They're generally referred to as expert-level fish.

...Except the OP got a melanurus, which is not a leopard, and generally pretty hardy...