What's good about Wrasses and why do people like them?

[Subnautica]

I've had a small female Melanurus for a week now and she's fun to watch. But other than that she hasn't shown any interesting behaviour. She spends all day swimming around the rock looking for food... Surprisingly my Yellow Tang is more fun than her.

So I was wondering what else did I miss. What's good about Wrasses that make people like them so much? Is my Wrasse a boring fish or she's just too young to be more interesting?

 

[ScottR]

There are so many different types of wrasse that have different behaviors, colors, diet, etc. By comparison, I think some wrasse are more fun to watch than a lot of the tangs out there. Flasher wrasse add great color to a tank. I think a 6 line has amazing colors and it eats a lot of tank pests so it’s a must in my tank.

 

[alton]

Why people like wrasses?

 

[madweazl]

Big fan of flashers! Exquisite color and always active.

 

[Mono]

I think swimming around is their interesting behavior. They are active in the water column, have a fascinating style of swimming and you can find relatively peaceful community varieties. They can be pretty darn colorful especially if you observe them close up. You can also pick yous size. Try finding a peaceful tang.

 

[Jay Z]

Think most fish have a job to perform, or a natural habit they follow.

I have not had every wrasse available, or even a small portion of them.

From my experience, blue lines are usually always active and on display, usually looking for a customer, hanging out in the front of the tank. My others are chasing pods and what not, just cruising the rock work. They are fun to watch, but kind of come and go as they move around the tank.

For my kitchen counter tank I went with fire fish and a small pair of clown triggers (1"). The clowns cruise around checking everything. Fire fish are always out in the front, which I love for the instant gratification.

I did add a bi color blenny I found yesterday. Every time I looked in the tank, he would hide, then just poke his head out to check if I was still watching. Loved the personality, so I bought him. Probably will see him once a day in my main tank if I'm lucky, but its like a scavenger hunt. lol

 

[maroun.c]

what is really the definition of boring, fun or interesting fish? in what exactly is the tang more fun?
not taking away from the beauty of tangs in tanks, wrasses offer many interesting behaviors, shifting sex to go male and then terminal male with the accompanied improvement in color and shape changes especially at the terminal male stage.
they build up critical hierarchies which can change based on the same fish behavior in different tanks or based on the order of addition. on top of this they are utility fish that help clean many pests, add character, to any tank especially when they flash and swim around with the flashing fins and changed colors. and on top of all they are not a significant addition to the bioload.
just watch videos of wrasse dominated tanks and you'll get a feel of how nice they can get.

 

[foxt]

She spends all day swimming around the rock looking for food...

Aside from being beautiful, they do spend all day swimming around in the water column, and they do control some pests by hunting all day.

 

[S2G]

Different colors like skittles I think. I do like you're mel though. They're a supporting cast like say a dottyback not the main attraction imo. Now I will never understand buying a $300 wrasse when one looks almost identical with the same behavior type for $20-30.

 

[Flippers4pups]

what is really teh definition of boring, fun or interesting fish? in what exactly is the tang more fun?
not taking away from the beauty of tangs in tanks, wrasses offer many interesting behaviors, shifting sex to go male and then terminal male with the accompanied improvement in color and shape changes especially at the terminal male stage.
they build up critical hierarchies which can change based on the same fish behavior in different tanks or based on the order of addition. on top of this they are utility fish that help clean many pests, add character, to any tank especially when they flash and swim around with the flashing fins and changed colors. and on top of all they are not a significant addition to the bioload.
just watch videos of wrasse dominated tanks and you'll get a feel of how nice they can get.

I would second and add "what makes a fish fun"?

Tangs search for food, pick at algae on rocks occasionally and swim in the water collum. They will show dominant traits with other tangs.

Wrasses search for food, pick at rocks occasionally and swim in the water collum. And some sleep in the sand bed, where some make a web of mucus when they sleep. They will show dominant traits with other wrasses.

Not meaning to be sarcastic, but am I missing something here?

 

[AZMSGT]

We have dogs.. they just sleep all day, eat and go outside so boring....LOL

They are fish, fish swim... I think most of this hobby is to be able to sit back and watch them. For me it’s very calming.. Also creating a beautiful habitat for them are other peoples goals. Everyone looks at this hobby differently and get particular fish for their own reasons.

 

[hart24601]

They have lots of movement and nice selection of colors and a big plus is can be in smaller tanks than most tangs in particular. I had only chalk bass, thought it would be neat to have only 12 chalk bass, but they all hid, added a few fairy wrasse and it brings them out. Another bonus is can mix a lot of fairy wrasse (thanks to this site for the guide) and some wrasse are good at picking off things like pyramid snails.



I mostly have fish to complement and feed the coral, add some movement. I don’t see really what more you can want in a reef fish than what wrasses bring. I guess if they ate algae, but then they might pick on my clams (had purple, kole, and white tail that developed a taste for clam mantle slime). I wouldn’t say I am a huge wrasse fan, I don’t go crazy after them, but I really don’t know what more someone would want.

 

[Jettareefer223]

I've had a small female Melanurus for a week now and she's fun to watch. But other than that she hasn't shown any interesting behaviour. She spends all day swimming around the rock looking for food... Surprisingly my Yellow Tang is more fun than her.

So I was wondering what else did I miss. What's good about Wrasses that make people like them so much? Is my Wrasse a boring fish or she's just too young to be more interesting?

I’ve been in this whole reef thing a while all my tanks had are wrasse heavy. Wrasse’s are such a vast species body structure/color/sizes. I like them since they’re great utilitarian fish in respects to pest control flatworms, bristlle worms, and etc. Most of the time as an instinct spending most day picking at the rocks and always on hunt patrolling for a snack. One of the few fish that doesn’t tend lose this quality after extended periods being fed prepared foods.

I have had a lot of them melanurus, six lines, yellow banded possums, leopards, tamarins, tremors, coris, lineautus, pink margin, lubbocks fairy, Scott’s, and various flashers. The fairy/flasher’s in comparison don’t seem possess the same strong hunting tendencies as the others. As your tank and the wrasse mature you’ll see more of this as micro fauna populations increase .

 

[maroun.c]

Different colors like skittles I think. I do like you're mel though. They're a supporting cast like say a dottyback not the main attraction imo. Now I will never understand buying a $300 wrasse when one looks almost identical with the same behavior type for $20-30.

It's the same for all other fish when a peppermint angel will cost u around 15 k and another angle wouldn't cost more tha 50. Availability or lack of it as well as demand can jump prices

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I like to ride mine around the living room... so fun! just kidding. I'm a wrasse man, and I love the variety, the colors, and mine are very inquisitive and interact with me when I come up to the tank (there's no way of even knowing, but it might be because I feed them)...

My current fave:

 

[Bob Weigant]

Everybody has their own taste but for me wrasses are by far the best looking saltwater fish. I like the colors and personality’s they have

 

[HNR]

I will never run a tank (bar a nano) without some sort of wrasse. They eat a number of pests (mainly flat worms some of which can eat corals). Look in your lfs' frag tanks. What fish do you see? Tangs (algae) and wrasses (pests).

 

[foxt]

I like to ride mine around the living room... so fun! just kidding. I'm a wrasse man, and I love the variety, the colors, and mine are very inquisitive and interact with me when I come up to the tank (there's no way of even knowing, but it might be because I feed them)...

My current fave:

Anampses femininus, bluestriped tamarin, so cool! Is that in your tank? If so, and at the risk of being a threadjacker, can you tell us how long you have had her and what she is eating?

Maybe not so much of a threadjacking. This is part of the allure of wrasses. This is a beautiful female, and it might some day morph to a beautiful male. Can be a challenge to get established, but a stunning fish in person.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Anampses femininus, bluestriped tamarin, so cool! Is that in your tank? If so, and at the risk of being a threadjacker, can you tell us how long you have had her and what she is eating?

Maybe not so much of a threadjacking. This is part of the allure of wrasses. This is a beautiful female, and it might some day morph to a beautiful male. Can be a challenge to get established, but a stunning fish in person.

Absolutely, I've had her since 4/30/2019. I purchased her from Divers Den, and she has eaten like a piggy since the day I got her. I feed a mix of frozen foods, and she seems to eat everything. She even eats Nori when I put that in the tank. She's perfectly behaved and is always on the hunt for critters to eat.

 

[foxt]

Absolutely, I've had her since 4/30/2019. I purchased her from Divers Den, and she has eaten like a piggy since the day I got her. I feed a mix of frozen foods, and she seems to eat everything. She even eats Nori when I put that in the tank. She's perfectly behaved and is always on the hunt for critters to eat.

Congratulations on that! How big is the tank? Every time I see these listed in the preview, I spend the next several hours trying to talk myself into spending the big bucks and seeing if I can beat everyone else to it when it goes live. But I chicken out before it gets to that point. Good to know she's settled in though, maybe I will go for it next time.