The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

i cant think said:
It’s a Paracheilinus attenuatus which is on many of our wish lists! Be prepared to drop mid-high triple digits and also a leg and an arm to find a female!

Well they aren‘t number one on my list for no reason! I can’t just be getting $120 or $230 now can I? No no no I got to get people excited!

i cant think · Dec 27, 2022

Petcrazyson said:
yep that’s what I got to do lol and am going to do

I’m sure we all have that fish we’d be prepared to do (or in my case, atleast 100)

Zero_Cool · Dec 27, 2022

Ah, Diamondtail. Thank you. That difficult to find or just a higher cost so fewer are collected?

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
@Petcrazyson - thank you. What are the names (common as well please) of those?

1st: Paracheilinus attenuatus aka Diamond Flasher
2nd: Cirrhilabrus nahackyi aka Nahackyi Fairy
3rd: Cirrhilabrus naokoae aka Naoko Fairy
4th: Macropharyngodon negrosensis aka Black Leopard (female)
5th: Macropharyngodon negrosensis aka Black Leopard (male)
6th: Halichoeres Iridis aka Radiant Wrasse
7th: Cirrhilabrus lubbocki aka Lubbock‘s Fairy (Indonesian variant)
8th: Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis aka Rhomboid Fairy
9th: Cirrhilabrus johnsoni aka Johnson’s Fairy

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
Ah, Diamondtail. Thank you. That difficult to find or just a higher cost so fewer are collected?

Both lol. It is hard to find and when it comes up be prepared to spend some!

i cant think · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
Ah, Diamondtail. Thank you. That difficult to find or just a higher cost so fewer are collected?

It’s kind of both in a way - fewer are collected because although they’re popular not many can afford the price tag so often the price tag drops then once they’re popular they rise in price again because so many people can get them.

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
Ah, Diamondtail. Thank you. That difficult to find or just a higher cost so fewer are collected?

Petcrazyson said:
Both lol. It is hard to find and when it comes up be prepared to spend some!

You wont see one under $300 I promise you that.

Zero_Cool · Dec 27, 2022

I will wait until my reef husbandry skills have been honed. Would hate for my lack of experience to be the cause of any fish's death much less a rarity.

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
I will wait until my reef husbandry skills have been honed. Would hate for my lack of experience to be the cause of any fish's death much less a rarity.

And if you thought the Diamond Tail was uhh…let’s put it this way….money sucking…..you don’t even want to know the Johnson’s. Ahhh I’ll tell you lol. A nice every day $1200. God my wallet LOVES ME

SaltyT · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
I would like to support my LFS as well but haven't QT'd a fish yet. I understand the huge value in doing so and as such started looking for pre-qt'd fish from online sources.

I have read through the 2022 QT guideline and watched the BRS 80/20 video series. Both address challenges with wrasses and copper.

What is the general QT practice used by the wrasse lovers crew?

Wrasses can handle chelated copper better than ionic copper. Coppersafe and copper power are the preferred copper medications for treating wrasses. The protocol for treating wrasses with copper is dosing to a therapeutic level of 2.00ppm with either coppersafe or copper power for 30 days. Unless absolutely necessary I don't like dropping wrasses in full copper. I dose to 1.00ppm add the wrasses, wait 12 hrs, then dose again to get the copper to 2.00ppm. A hanna copper checker is a must when dosing copper. You don't want to run your copper too high or too low, keeping it at 2.00ppm is key. Then after completion of copper treatment, it's recommended to do 3 rounds of prazi to defluke and deworm them.

It's a lot of work to prophylactically treat fish. Some of us on this thread no longer treat prophylactically bc we've been in the hobby a long time and can mitigate our risks, but if you're new to the hobby I would recommend either QT'ing your fish or paying for QT'd fish.

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

SaltyT said:
Wrasses can handle chelated copper better than ionic copper. Coppersafe and copper power are the preferred copper medications for treating wrasses. The protocol for treating wrasses with copper is dosing to a therapeutic level of 2.00ppm with either coppersafe or copper power for 30 days. Unless absolutely necessary I don't like dropping wrasses in full copper. I dose to 1.00ppm add the wrasses, wait 12 hrs, then dose again to get the copper to 2.00ppm. A hanna copper checker is a must when dosing copper. You don't want to run your copper too high or too low, keeping it at 2.00ppm is key. Then after completion of copper treatment, it's recommended to do 3 rounds of prazi to defluke and deworm them.

It's a lot of work to prophylactically treat fish. Some of us on this thread no longer treat prophylactically bc we've been in the hobby a long time and can mitigate our risks, but if you're new to the hobby I would recommend either QT'ing your fish or paying for QT'd fish.

Honestly I just hate copper. Very stressful for me. I think I’m only going to do that once I get a very worrisome fish like a CBB. Wait what? I didn’t say a CBB! Did I?

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Well I certainly got @i cant think ’s attention

Zero_Cool · Dec 27, 2022

It's the whole setting up and maintaining a cycled qt tank that is the issue for me.

Paying for a professionally QTd fish seems much easier but I also know how impulsive my wife and I can be when at a LFS.

i cant think · Dec 27, 2022

Petcrazyson said:
Honestly I just hate copper. Very stressful for me. I think I’m only going to do that once I get a very worrisome fish like a CBB. Wait what? I didn’t say a CBB! Did I?

This hobby really is split right through the middle when it comes to anything like QT isn’t it haha.

But also… CBB?

i cant think · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
It's the whole setting up and maintaining a cycled qt tank that is the issue for me.

Paying for a professionally QTd fish seems much easier but I also know how impulsive my wife and I can be when at a LFS.

I honestly recommend if you don’t want to QT then just watch the fish you want for 20-30 minutes and see how it behaves - if it’s normal, get it but if it’s off then ignore it.

Zero_Cool · Dec 27, 2022

Another question: what is used for a screen/cover for the tank and where do I find one? Old tank was acrylic with smaer openings that were easy to cover. New tank is glass and wide open.

SaltyT · Dec 27, 2022

i cant think said:
I honestly recommend if you don’t want to QT then just watch the fish you want for 20-30 minutes and see how it behaves - if it’s normal, get it but if it’s off then ignore it.

The quality of fish imports in England seems to be better than the quality we get here in the US. I think that's why QT is so big here.

i cant think · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
Another question: what is used for a screen/cover for the tank and where do I find one? Old tank was acrylic with smaer openings that were easy to cover. New tank is glass and wide open.

I use a netted lid which you can get quite easily from just an LFS (or Atleast over here you can).

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

SaltyT said:
The quality of fish imports in England seems to be better than the quality we get here in the US. I think that's why QT is so big here.

I agree.

Petcrazyson · Dec 27, 2022

Zero_Cool said:
Another question: what is used for a screen/cover for the tank and where do I find one? Old tank was acrylic with smaer openings that were easy to cover. New tank is glass and wide open.

I use the DIY RedSea covers.