What to feed a tiny pink-streaked wrasse?

[Rjmul]

Give him time. He'll eat. I just got one from them. It hid for a week or so. Now he's eating with all the big boys. Mysis, rods, whatever I throw in

 

[djryan2000]

Mine wasn't much bigger than that when I got it (5 years ago from BlueZoo). It should be able to handle pellets that are 0.5 to 1.0 ... such as New Life Spectrum 1mm sinking pellets or Reef Nutrition TDO-B1,C1 or C2 Chroma Boost. It'll probably also suck down LRS Nano Frenzy like a champ. And it will continually peck at any copepods throughout the day.

Great, thanks! I currently feed my reef frozen once per day, but I understand wrasses need 2-3 feedings daily. I am thinking of doing frozen once like I do and then adding either pellets, frozen pods, or live brine shrimp (rotating) 1-2 times daily. Do you happen to have any rough idea as to how much this would add to my bioload? I've heard mixed reviews about pellets and similar non-frozen foods being almost negligible and I've heard that they will add nitrates just as much as frozen.

 

[djryan2000]

Give him time. He'll eat. I just got one from them. It hid for a week or so. Now he's eating with all the big boys. Mysis, rods, whatever I throw in

great to hear

 

[flampton]

Great, thanks! I currently feed my reef frozen once per day, but I understand wrasses need 2-3 feedings daily. I am thinking of doing frozen once like I do and then adding either pellets, frozen pods, or live brine shrimp (rotating) 1-2 times daily. Do you happen to have any rough idea as to how much this would add to my bioload? I've heard mixed reviews about pellets and similar non-frozen foods being almost negligible and I've heard that they will add nitrates just as much as frozen.

I'm going chime back in and say depends on the size of the wrasse and your aquarium copepod population. If you have a ton of copepods in a decent sized aquarium you wouldn't even have to feed it at all. Then depending on the population of these copepods you might need 1 2 or 3 feedings

 

[djryan2000]

I'm going chime back in and say depends on the size of the wrasse and your aquarium copepod population. If you have a ton of copepods in a decent sized aquarium you wouldn't even have to feed it at all. Then depending on the population of these copepods you might need 1 2 or 3 feedings

Thanks! I'm not sure what my pod population is like. My hawkfish that I added a week ago hunts for pods all day - I see him dart into rocks or at the sand quite often. I also sometimes see one on the glass - so I do have some pods in my tank.

I also just feel bad only feeding my clownfish once a day.

 

[Rjmul]

great to hear

Keep in mind though, mine might have been bigger ? I didn't have an option to chose size. I just bought the fish. Maybe an inch ?

 

[malacoda]

Great, thanks! I currently feed my reef frozen once per day, but I understand wrasses need 2-3 feedings daily. I am thinking of doing frozen once like I do and then adding either pellets, frozen pods, or live brine shrimp (rotating) 1-2 times daily. Do you happen to have any rough idea as to how much this would add to my bioload? I've heard mixed reviews about pellets and similar non-frozen foods being almost negligible and I've heard that they will add nitrates just as much as frozen.

I used to feed the 24g it was in twice a day: two pinches of 1mm pellets in the morning and a M&M sized portion of LRS Nano Frenzy frozen food in the evening. That was for 4 fish: a fang blenny, gold assessor, tailspot blenny and the pink-streaked wrasse.

If the pink-streaked is your only fish, then a little pinch of pellets and a Tic-Tac-sized portion of frozen ought to be fine. (Even if it doesn't eat most of the pellets when you drop 'em in, It'll eat any it finds on sandbed/tank bottom throughout the day.)

If the pink-streaked, the hawkfish, and the yellow wrasse (a Halichoeres chrysus?) are all going to be in the same tank, I wouldn't rely on pods alone. Depending on the tank size, they may get eaten quicker than they can reproduce.

As for bioload, that'll all depend on how many fish you have and how much of the food gets eaten. Just test your PO4 and NO3 once or twice a week. If you find them climbing higher than you'd like, trim back the food portions a little and/or increase your filtration and/or water changes a bit to gradually bring them back down. (I like to shoot for P04 of 0.05 to 0.1 and NO3 of 5-10 ppm.)

Nutrients aren't anything to be afraid of. They only cause problems if they reach extremes — bottoming out at zero, being kept really high ... say, above 1.0 PO4 and above 20 for NO3 ... for weeks-on-end in a new, un-established tank, or causing a BIG, sudden spike in them overnight.

 

[malacoda]

I also have a yellow wrasse coming in the mail from them.. hopefully he doesn’t decide to have a $70 meal in my QT tank.

Do you mean a Halichoeres chrysus? If so, they should be fine. Don't think I've ever heard of a Halichoeres chrysus and a Pseudocheilinops ataenia (pink-streaked) going at each other.

 

[djryan2000]

I used to feed the 24g it was in twice a day: two pinches of 1mm pellets in the morning and a M&M sized portion of LRS Nano Frenzy frozen food in the evening. That was for 4 fish: a fang blenny, gold assessor, tailspot blenny and the pink-streaked wrasse.

If the pink-streaked is your only fish, then a little pinch of pellets and a Tic-Tac-sized portion of frozen ought to be fine. (Even if it doesn't eat most of the pellets when you drop 'em in, It'll eat any it finds on sandbed/tank bottom throughout the day.)

If the pink-streaked, the hawkfish, and the yellow wrasse (a Halichoeres chrysus?) are all going to be in the same tank, I wouldn't rely on pods alone. Depending on the tank size, they may get eaten quicker than they can reproduce.

As for bioload, that'll all depend on how many fish you have and how much of the food gets eaten. Just test your PO4 and NO3 once or twice a week. If you find them climbing higher than you'd like, trim back the food portions a little and/or increase your filtration and/or water changes a bit to gradually bring them back down. (I like to shoot for P04 of 0.05 to 0.1 and NO3 of 5-10 ppm.)

Nutrients aren't anything to be afraid of. They only cause problems if they reach extremes — bottoming out at zero, being kept really high ... say, above 1.0 PO4 and above 20 for NO3 ... for weeks-on-end in a new, un-established tank, or causing a BIG, sudden spike in them overnight.

Thanks! I do plan on putting all of them in the same tank, my JBJ 45. Worst case if nitrates start to get high Ill dose carbon or change more water.

 

[djryan2000]

Do you mean a Halichoeres chrysus? If so, they should be fine. Don't think I've ever heard of a Halichoeres chrysus and a Pseudocheilinops ataenia (pink-streaked) going at each other.

Yup! My primary concern was over the the size difference. I ordered the two wrasses together and am still waiting on the yellow to come in. I’m fairly confident they’ll be fine

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Great, thanks! I just ordered a brine shrimp hatchery too, so I'm hoping he'll eat that. I've been considering cultivating brine shrimp for either a dwarf seahorse or jellyfish tank and the possibility of feeding them to the little guy made up my mind.

Live baby brine would be my first choice, but time is going to work against you because you still will need 20 hours after you get it to hatch some out. Good luck!
Jay