The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

Slocke · May 21, 2023

Much as I love them wrasse can be weird......

Tcook · May 21, 2023

Slocke said:
Much as I love them wrasse can be weird......

He’s saying drop the mysis cube right on top of me

JoJosReef · May 21, 2023

Slocke said:
Much as I love them wrasse can be weird......

Or genius!

SaltyT · May 21, 2023

Sink_or_Swim said:
Picked up a new wrasse today (the one I bought myself for Mother's Day, haha). I had forgotten what they called it - "weedy surge wrasse". Looks like they have quite a few common names (pearly wrasse, pink-belly wrasse, etc.) I thought the coloring was really unique and pretty. I think this one is probably female? I was surprised when it didn't dive right into the sand when I released it into the tank. Actually seemed pretty comfy right off the bat. Then of course the melanurus and yellow tang noticed it. That yellow tang man... she's definitely tank boss. Nothing more than a little stalking and stuff, and then I did see the new wrasse wiggle into the sandbed. Anyway, thought I'd share some pics!

That's at the store - wanted to get a pic in case it dove straight into the sand at home lol.

And last but not least, just a decent pic of my melanurus for no real reason (well I guess this IS the wrasse lovers thread), lol.

He was showing off, but no aggression that I could see.

It looks like you picked up a Halichoeres nigrescens. It gets misidentified often because its habitat overlaps with other more common halichoeres. Yours looks to be a transitional male… which is probably why your melanurus was showing off to it

Cool find IMO.

OrionN · May 21, 2023

Just wanted to show off my new A. twistii. Sorry for the poor pictures. Better picture in the next few days once she is more comfortable in my QT. My QT is not really a QT, rather it is an acclimation tank.

Petcrazyson · May 21, 2023

Th

OrionN said:
Just wanted to show off my new A. twistii. Sorry for the poor pictures. Better picture in the next few days once she is more comfortable in my QT. My QT is not really a QT, rather it is an acclimation tank.

They are still great pictures!

OrionN · May 21, 2023

Got a few picture of this beautiful wrasse. I am really happy with this find.

jkcoral · May 21, 2023

Question for you all:

What do you think of “enrichment” or other little activities/“toys” to kind of “entertain” your fish?

I got some samples of this Nutramar food at a coral show that sticks to the glass, and all of the fish seem to find it really entertaining. Almost all of the fish will meet up and hang out for 30 minutes watching it and eating it as it dissolves. This is even after their bellies are full of their normal food.

All of the wrasses - especially the fairies, but even the pink streaks - seem to really enjoy it. And this got me wondering if others try different things to “entertain” their fish, or if I just need to cut back on the caffeine.

Petcrazyson · May 21, 2023

jkcoral said:
Question for you all:

What do you think of “enrichment” or other little activities/“toys” to kind of “entertain” your fish?

I got some samples of this Nutramar food at a coral show that sticks to the glass, and all of the fish seem to find it really entertaining. Almost all of the fish will meet up and hang out for 30 minutes watching it and eating it as it dissolves. This is even after their bellies are full of their normal food.

All of the wrasses - especially the fairies, but even the pink streaks - seem to really enjoy it. And this got me wondering if others try different things to “entertain” their fish, or if I just need to cut back on the caffeine.

A mirror as long as they don’t hurt themselves or spend too much time with it lol.

I think your method of the nutramar sticky food is nice.

I haven’t really thought of “playing“ for wrasse species, more like for larger fish like angels and puffers and triggers.

I’ve always tried to have as many mini mini arches and tiny caves for the wrasse to explore.

Good question/statement you’ve got

jkcoral · May 21, 2023

Petcrazyson said:
A mirror as long as they don’t hurt themselves or spend too much time with it lol.

I think your method of the nutramar sticky food is nice.

I haven’t really thought of “playing“ for wrasse species, more like for larger fish like angels and puffers and triggers.

I’ve always tried to have as many mini mini arches and tiny caves for the wrasse to explore.

Good question/statement you’ve got

A mirror sounds interesting. I’ve used them in the past, but mostly to mitigate aggression from bullies acting aggressive. I haven’t used a mirror in years, but I distinctly remember getting the feeling that at least some of the fish could recognize themselves.

Maybe they’d have fun with a mirror for 20-30 minutes every once in a while. Might have to try.

You might be right about not spending too much time with it lol. Made me think about cats and laser pointers, if they spend too long doing it they go crazy.

OrionN · May 21, 2023

I use large 24x18 mirror in front of my tank several times a week. This get all the blood circulated in my wrasses. A little territorial dispute once in a while is normal and healthy for fishes. It really bring ướt the color in all my wrasses

jkcoral · May 21, 2023

OrionN said:
I use large 24x18 mirror in front of my tank several times a week. This get all the blood circulated in my wrasses. A little territorial dispute once in a while is normal and healthy for fishes. It really bring ướt the color in all my wrasses

That is a good point. It’s probably good for them to get the blood pumping every now and then. I’m going to go pick up a mirror this evening.

How long do you keep the mirror in place? A few minutes, or a few hours?

OrionN · May 21, 2023

Get a plastic mirror. I hold it in place with magnet. Shatter glass in front of the tank is defiantly not a good thing.

Petcrazyson · May 21, 2023

jkcoral said:
You might be right about not spending too much time with it lol. Made me think about cats and laser pointers, if they spend too long doing it they go crazy

I’ve seen some FW fish go after a red laser, but only FW fish.