The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

eatbreakfast · Feb 15, 2015

saltyhog said:
Evolved...is this aggressive or courtship behavior? Yellowhead wrasses.

This is a pic of 2 males onvolved in a battle for doninance/territory/females.

Aquaph8 · Feb 15, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
This is a pic of 2 males onvolved in a battle for doninance/territory/females.

That's not kissing?

saltyhog · Feb 15, 2015

It was taken on Valentine's day. :laugh:

TUSI · Feb 15, 2015

I am freaking out my female Johnson wrasse is chasing the male for now 4 days which I hope it doesn't mean she is turning into a male. Any suggestions will be helpful thank you in advance

evolved · Feb 16, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
This is a pic of 2 males onvolved in a battle for doninance/territory/females.

+1
Mortal Kombat.

TUSI said:
I am freaking out my female Johnson wrasse is chasing the male for now 4 days which I hope it doesn't mean she is turning into a male. Any suggestions will be helpful thank you in advance

It does, and not really. So long as no damage is resulting and the old male isn't being constantly forced into hiding, I'd let it ride for now. You may end up need to remove one however.

TUSI · Feb 16, 2015

So far he is not hiding he try to stand for it but she keeps chasing which blows my mind cause they were a true pair. If this is a common problem with wrasses why buy wrasses in pairs, it does not make sense.

c_healy · Feb 17, 2015

Wrasses dont pair up like clownfish. Often in home aquaria "pairs" will result in 2 males in a matter of time.

evolved · Feb 17, 2015

^ Exactly.

Wrasse do not form bonded pairs. The relationship between males/females all about about dominance and submission. Think like Anthias, not like clowns.

I don't bother much with pairs these days. I prefer to purchase lone juvi's.

KoleTang · Feb 17, 2015

evolved said:
^ Exactly.

Wrasse do not form bonded pairs. The relationship between males/females all about about dominance and submission. Think like Anthias, not like clowns.

I don't bother much with pairs these days. I prefer to purchase lone juvi's.

In your experiance, how long does it take on average for the juvis to go male?

evolved · Feb 17, 2015

Answering that on the basis of average wouldn't really be fair; average washes out a lot of variation here. There's lots of factors which can (and do) weigh in. I've seen it take only a couple months (if not less), or sometimes a couple years (if not more). And sometimes never, with certain genera (always remains female).

ingtar_shinowa · Feb 17, 2015

ive had a juvenile lineatus for 2.5 years

KoleTang · Feb 17, 2015

Then why buy them juvenile? Lol

BTW, I saw in another thread somewhere that you mentioned P. octotaenia only having a 2yr lifespan. What's the story behind that? How much shorter is that than most other Paracheilinus?

Aquaph8 · Feb 17, 2015

Juvi males/females adapt better IMO and it's fun to watch them grow. Also some of the large males I've purchased haven't lasted long in comparison and got real old and frail looking in like a year or so.

vanz · Feb 17, 2015

There should be a wrasse lovers forum with all the different types of wrasses. I just have a melanurus and yellow coris.

evolved · Feb 17, 2015

KoleTang said:
Then why buy them juvenile? Lol

Aquaph8 said:
Juvi males/females adapt better IMO and it's fun to watch them grow. Also some of the large males I've purchased haven't lasted long in comparison and got real old and frail looking in like a year or so.

Exactly; that's why.

For Paracheilinus and Cirrhilabrus, it's simply a matter of time before they turn male. My earlier comments about maybe never are only applicable to other genera.

I think of it as pretty akin to growing SPS; it's a matter of patience and it ends up feeling a bit rewarding.

KoleTang said:
BTW, I saw in another thread somewhere that you mentioned P. octotaenia only having a 2yr lifespan. What's the story behind that? How much shorter is that than most other Paracheilinus?

My last octotaenia only made it about 2 years, but I estimate it was about 2 years old when I purchased it. You'll be hard pressed to find any Parachelinus which lives longer than 5 years. It's pretty uniform across this genus; they simply are not built to live long.

TUSI · Feb 17, 2015

Hunter the female johnson does not look as it is changing to a male though unless its to early to say.

TUSI · Feb 17, 2015

I don't bother much with pairs these days. I prefer to purchase lone juvi's.[/QUOTE]

Cant agree more

KoleTang · Feb 17, 2015

Thanks for the info guys.

Hunter, how do Cirrhilabrus compare to Paracheilinus I'm regards to lifespan? Longer than 5 years average?

Any tips for tracking down the juvis/females? Seems like they are harder to find and can have false IDs.

eatbreakfast · Feb 18, 2015

Cirrhilabrus are generally longer lived than Paracheilinus IME. It should not be unusual to get 5+ yrs out of them.

As far as locating juveniles and females, most LFS are able to source them, just ask. LA will list them on their site as well.

evolved · Feb 18, 2015

^Agree

And yes, there is an increased risk for misindentifications. I don't buy much that isn't in person or WYSIWYG for this reason amongst many others.