Wrasse Lovers suggestions

[J Rog]

Hi everyone,
My tank is at the tale end of its cycle and most of the fish I want to put in will be wrasses. My tank is a 70 gallon 36’x 22’x 20’. So far I’m planning on a potters wrasse, Yellow Cromis, Hawaiian flame, and possibly a melanurus wrasse. But would love to hear some suggestions! Aaaand go!

 

[Maritimer]

My number one suggestion ... When you're tooling around the reefing sites, keep watch on your own reactions. If you click a link and the fish in the photo that comes up makes your heart beat faster, your breath catch in your throat and you can feel the pupils of your eyes dilating ... it's time for some research, because that is the fish you want to come home to every night.

That having been said, I'm very partial to fairy wrasses, flashers, and blue-star leopards. Currently in my QT (and which I think would do well in your display) are a splendid / pintail fairy (C. isosceles) and an orange-back fairy wrasse (C. aurantidorsalis). Lubbock's fairy (C. lubbocki) is another smaller fairy wrasse that ought to do well in your tank. Almost any of the flasher wrasses should do well for you - my faves are the blue flasher (P. cyaneus) and the royal / angulated flasher (P. angulatus). You might want to avoid the eight-line . . .

Couple of other smaller wrasses that'll spend time down inside your rockwork - but can be pretty shy - would be possum wrasses of the genus Wetmorella and the pink-streaked wrasse Pseudocheilinops ataenia. Smaller Halichoeres would probably also do well - take a look at H. biocellatus, which grows a little smaller than melanurus. I think they have a fascinating look, as though their back half was in deep shadow, with their head glowing in a sunbeam. (Or a spotlight ... maybe they're rock stars . . . )

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

I love lineatus fairy, labouts fairy, greyhead (halichoeres), ornate leopard, any male leopard wrasse, male earmuff wrasse (halichoeres), radiant (halichoeres), and pintail fairy. A supermale exquisite fairy is also a beauty!

 

[Radman73]

Orange back, pintail fairy, labouts, lineatus, leapords, I like the Mccosker's/Carpenter's type flashers too, radiant wrasse. Good grief, there's a ton that I like and I'd have them all if I could. Sadly, we have to pick and choose lol! Red-lined, anampses twistii, rhomboid...

 

[Salty1962]

I love the Cirrhilabrus, Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses. Just make sure to have a tight lid and >3" sand bed!

 

[J Rog]

I love the Cirrhilabrus, Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses. Just make sure to have a tight lid and >3" sand bed!

Awesome! I have a couple of spots in the sand bed that get close to 3 inches for those sand bed sleepers [emoji12]

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

o far I’m planning on a potters wrasse, Yellow Cromis, Hawaiian flame, and possibly a melanurus wrasse.

My melanurus wrasse is super cool and very inquisitive! Just make sure you have a 3" or so sand bed for it and the yellow coris and potters wrasses because that's where they sleep at night. They also have a bedtime and a wake-up time that is fairly consistent every day which I think is super neat

 

[J Rog]

My melanurus wrasse is super cool and very inquisitive! Just make sure you have a 3" or so sand bed for it and the yellow coris and potters wrasses because that's where they sleep at night. They also have a bedtime and a wake-up time that is fairly consistent every day which I think is super neat

That’s awesome [emoji106]

 

[Abhishek]

Ok I might be an odd man out but I love Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses way more than Cirrhilabrus. Problem is they are more difficult to keep too and can be picky to eat especially Macropharyngodon and Anampses.
My past experience with Melanurus hasn't been great as after a couple of years, it really became a jerk terrorizing everyone in my tank. I would try and stay away from it.

Also, among the Macropharyngodon species - I would go for blue stars as they are a little comparataively easier to get eating than potter's and try and stay away from Choatis . Once you have enough experience , you can try Choatis or other Macropharyngodon species.

When it comes to Anampses and Halichoeres , the biggest issue is shipping. They do not ship well at all. It took me 3 attempts and finally I got 1 female Anampses chrysocephalus successfully shipped and qted. If planning for Anampses , I would start with chrysocephalus and move to the holy grail of Feminis and Lennardi later.

As far as Halichoeres, Iridis is my first preference although my dream Halichoeres will be H. Rubricephalus. But they are quite hard to find now a days.

One key note - You definitely need a 1.5 -2 inch minimum sand bed for these wrasses and once you release them in the tank after qt , please do not go about digging sand in search of them. They can take time to settle down and no need to worry if they are healthy. Doing so will freak them out.

And tank cover is a must - NO EXCEPTIONS !! They will jump today or tomorrow or in a year or 2.

There's lots more to consider if you go for Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses. They need to be handled delicately in qt and need to fed atleast 4-5 times to keep up their weight and plum and fat . Fairies and flashers are way hardier and can do just fine with 2 feedings.

Also , biodiversoity in teh tank matters. I always get atleast 10,000 pods with teh introduction of each of these species in teh tank. If your tank is new, bio diversity will take its time .

You can start with fairies and flashers and later on move to Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses once you are comfortable around wrasses. There's way better and knowledgable people on fairies and flasher wrasses here and can give you better suggestions but for me the only fairies I keep are C. Solorensis and C.Exquisite.

There's so much to talk on wrases that it could go for pages. But would like to keep it short. If you decide for fairies , make sure you read up on Hunter's compatibility chart :-

http://www.reefedition.com/cirrhilabrus-complexes-inferiority-need-not-apply/

Wish some day I can get my 300 gallon going to make a similar assessment on Halichoeres, Macropharyngodon and Anampses wrasses lol!!!!!!!!

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[J Rog]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I need to go though and look up all these guys you listed. I’m not brand new to wrasses. In my old set up I sold just over a year ago I had a male lineatus and a male Hawaiian flame for a couple of years. The lineatus jumped out after I forgot to put the screen top back on the tank after a feeding [emoji849].. The flame was with me and went with the sale of the tank. I also had an orange flank but he only lasted a couple of months. I’m pretty sure it was a parasite of some sort because he was eating and seemed happy and the next day he was crab food.. But I will be looking up all these others you listed. Thanks for the input. Keep them coming folks!