Wrasse Advice

[Luke Schnabel]

Hey guys I'm hooking my display tank (120g) back up to my main system after taking it down and restarting due to pest coral and going no sand bed. I have a few questions for my wrasse selection since there is no sand and I would like to have multiple wrasses in this tank.

I was thinking about putting in 1 flasher wrasse, 1 fairy wrasse and 1 cleaner wrasse.
1)Will that selection work in a 120 gallon?
2)Will they be ok without a sand bed? (I can make a little area behind the rock with about an inch or two of sand for a bed... Maybe a 3"x10" area..)


Unfortunately I can only get two wrasses at a time due to my quarantine tank being only 20 gallons.
3)What two should I start QT with?

 

[Jesterrace]

Personally I would skip the cleaner wrasse. They can struggle in captivity and can make pests of themselves to other fish. The other two are solid choices. If you don't mind sacrificing the occasional smaller invert you could go with one of the easier to care for Halichoeres Wrasses (ie Yellow, Christmas, Melanurus and Red Lined). They tend to do much better in captivity and are easier to care for.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree on foregoing the cleaner wrasse.

Flasher and fairy wrasses don't need sand.

The Halichoeres species suggested above DO need sand.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Thanks guys, I already have a Melanurus in my one frag tank, He came from my display when I broke it down. Unfortunately he ate all my shrimp in the tank so im going to stay with the reef safe wrasses because i defiantly want to be able to have shrimp. Also, how many wrasses do you think I could keep in my 120??

So your saying if i stick with a fairy and flasher wrasse combo I wont need any sand at all? Will putting both in my 20g QT tank at the same time cause problems?

 

[Jesterrace]

Fairy and Flasher don't need sand beds. I had a solar fairy wrasse for a short period of time and he would actually nestle up on his side in a cave to sleep at night, kind of freaked me out when I first saw it. As for the 120, you could probably do 4-5 wrasses without much difficulty as long as you mix it up with the species. They might get a bit lost in a tank of that size but a Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse could make cool additions and don't need sand. Although it might help to know what your other tank mates are, if you plan on putting in some larger or more assertive non-wrasse fish of other varieties it could be a problem.

 

[Fishnut]

No sand needed. Two wrasses in a 20 gallon is fine if introduced at the same. I would use a few pvc elbows and have a way of dividing the tank in two sections if needed. In a 120 you could easily keep 4