Wrasse Fight Club

Roosterjack · Jan 12, 2021

My Melanurus Wrasse, who up until now has been the most timid and cowardly fish in the tank, has decided that my new Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse is not welcome in my 180 gallon reef. He had his opportunity to express his discontent while the CFW was in the acclimation box for two days but did nothing at all.

The MW is about five inches or so long, the CFW is maybe three inches at most.

There has been no physical scrapping just yet but the MW is in hot pursuit any time he catches sight of the CFW.

Will they resolve this eventually or am I doomed to try to capture one or the other?

SaltyT · Jan 12, 2021

How long has the flasher wrasse been out of the acclimation box? Is the flasher wrasse able to eat when you feed the tank?

Roosterjack · Jan 12, 2021

SaltyT said:
How long has the flasher wrasse been out of the acclimation box? Is the flasher wrasse able to eat when you feed the tank?

Three days out. He hid the first day, but emerged to eat on second and third. He wants to be out, and given how nice he looks I want him out too.

He is fast and eats well.

SaltyT · Jan 12, 2021

Roosterjack said:
Three days out. He hid the first day, but emerged to eat on second and third. He wants to be out, and given how nice he looks I want him out too.

He is fast and eats well.

Glad to hear that he's able to eat and not taking any physical damage. Hopefully, your Mel starts to loose interest in him, but if you don't see any improvement in the harassment soon you'll need to decide who stays and who goes. Keep us posted!

Brit’s Fish · Jan 12, 2021

Oh man... I know this pain all too well. I have a terrorist Pixy Hawk who has murdered one wrasse - an Exquisite Wrasse and he goes after my CFW too. My CFW has healed incredibly fast from any damage he’s taken and they seem to have worked out their differences now. All I can suggest is if your CFW does take any damage, add some stress coat to your tank. Seemed to help a lot! If they can’t work it out, I have to agree with Salty, you’ll have to decide who stays and who goes. They’re hard to catch though!

recreative · Jan 12, 2021

Roosterjack said:
My Melanurus Wrasse, who up until now has been the most timid and cowardly fish in the tank, has decided that my new Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse is not welcome in my 180 gallon reef. He had his opportunity to express his discontent while the CFW was in the acclimation box for two days but did nothing at all.

The MW is about five inches or so long, the CFW is maybe three inches at most.

There has been no physical scrapping just yet but the MW is in hot pursuit any time he catches sight of the CFW.

Will they resolve this eventually or am I doomed to try to capture one or the other?

Got a 5" roseband that tortured my #" flame wrasse to death pretty much. Hoped they would work it out, and when I finally tried to move the flame to another tank it was pretty much too late.

They would chase and display quite a lot . . . my roseband is a jerk.