Wrasse options for a 120

[Yates273]

Looking for options for a wrasse for my 120 mixed reef. Any suggestions that would give me a little color. I like the red Coris wrasse but not sure it would work out. Tank currently has a yellow tang blue throat trigger Fox Face flame angel amd 2 clowns. There are also three larger shrimp in tank(fire shrimp 2 cleaner shrimp)

 

[JCM]

Halichoeres, Cirrhilabrus, paracheilinus, Macropharyngodon. Lots of options for that size tank.

 

[Yates273]

I do like the leopard wrasse. Some of the others I’m not a big fan of since they resemble mollies.

 

[JCM]

... Some of the others I’m not a big fan of since they resemble mollies.

 

[Yates273]

If that’s Molly I hope I didn’t offend her

 

[blaxsun]

Any wrasses you want really.

 

[JCM]

If that’s Molly I hope I didn’t offend her

Leopards are great! Getting one that you see eating frozen food in person is the best move in my experience.

 

[i cant think]

I do like the leopard wrasse. Some of the others I’m not a big fan of since they resemble mollies.

Interesting you say they resemble mollies… here’s just one of my 8 wrasses (Cirrhilabrus naokoae), more of a personal than a showpiece as of now. Whilst he is a newer species in the hobby (Only described in 2008) he’s more a personal favourite due to the size he will go into my main display once bigger. One big reason why I will have him as a showpiece is due to him being not very well heard of.

Then you have some of my showpiece 6. The first one is my newest, a paracheilinus species that is thought to be a hybrid. This is a showpiece and one of my favourites along side my two Halichoeres.

The second is my Halichoeres iridis. This guy is definitely going to be a constant fish to be part of my show pieces as they’re so hard to get past the shipping stage. Also due to the colours on him making him a showpiece fish and possibly being one of the biggest staples in the Wrasse side of this hobby.

My third and final wrasse I’ll mention is my Halichoeres chloropterus. These as juveniles are stunning and some may say it’s a trap as they get ugly as adults but I personally have never seen an adult and it seems many people in this hobby are in the same boat. I’d love to grow this guy out as a mature male to see if they truly are aggressive and ugly.

A couple of other wrasses I’d personally hunt for in your size tank are:

- Cirrhilabrus roseafascia or Rose band Fairy *
- Cirrhilabrus isosceles or Pintail Fairy
- Cirrhilabrus finifinenmaa or Rose Veil Fairy
- Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus or Hooded Fairy *
- Cirrhilabrus aquamarinus or Red Head Solon Fairy
- Halichoeres biocellatus or Redstripe *
- Halichoeres rubricephalus or Ruby Head *
- Halichoeres leucoxanthus or Silver Belly
- Paracheilinus lineopunctatus or Line Spot/Dot Dash Flasher *
- Paracheilinus attenuatus or Diamond Tail Flasher *
- Paracheilinus cyaneus or Blue Flasher *

And then for later down the line with a mature tank:
- Pseudojuloides atavai or Atavai Pencil *^
- Pseudojuloides severnsi or Royal Pencil *^
- Pseudojuloides splendens or Splendid Pencil *^
- Macropharyngodon bipartitus or Blue Star Leopard ^
- Macropharyngodon vivienae or Vivienne’s Leopard *^
- Macropharyngodon kuiteri or Kuiter’s Leopard *^
- Macropharyngodon lapillus or Jewelled Leopard *^
- Macropharyngodon negrosensis or Black Leopard ^
- Macropharyngodon meleagris or Meleagris Leopard ^
- Anampses neoguinaicus or New Guinea Tamarin ^
- Anampses meleagrides or Yellow Tail Tamarin ^
- Anampses melanurus or White Spotted Tamarin ^
- Anampses twistii or Twistii Tamarin *^
- Anampses femininus or Femininus Tamarin *^
- Xenojulis margaritaceus *^

Key:
* means that these wrasses are either extremely finicky or stress prone.
^ means these wrasses are prone to internal parasites.


Obviously these aren’t ALL the wrasses you are limited to. They’re just some of the ones I personally enjoy due to colour or personality (Or even both). If you have any questions on compatibility issues then feel free to DM me or ask

 

[adittam]

Be careful with the larger Halichoeres like melanurus, as they may eat your shrimp. Should be safe if you stick with a smaller Halichoeres species like biocellatus.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Lots of cool fairy and flasher wrasses like rhomboid, lineatus, pintail, exquisite, etc.

You can also go with the pod hunting varieties like leopard, melanarus, etc.

You aren't really limited with wrasses in a 120g other than making sure you don't get multiple species with similar body shape.

 

[i cant think]

Lots of cool fairy and flasher wrasses like rhomboid, lineatus, pintail, exquisite, etc.

You can also go with the pod hunting varieties like leopard, melanarus, etc.

You aren't really limited with wrasses in a 120g other than making sure you don't get multiple species with similar body shape.

Even then, multiple species with similar body shapes doesn’t actually change anything in wrasses unless you get the aggressive species from these genera:
Thalassoma
Larger Halichoeres
Coris
Gomphosus
Bodianus
Cheilinus
Choerodon
Pseudocheilinus

 

[btackerman]

So I have a similar situation but how many wrasses can we have in a 120 before the aggression is out of control?

 

[i cant think]

So I have a similar situation but how many wrasses can we have in a 120 before the aggression is out of control?

In my 4’x2’x2’ tank I have 6 wrasses and could actually have 9-10, possibly more if I had no other fish in there. In total I have 11 fish in there currently.
So in a 6-5’ tank I’d say 7-10 wrasses.

 

[Remy123]

Any of the fairy or flasher wrasses. May even be able to do a group of them as long as you only have one dominant male. Love watching my male swim around to each female in his harem

 

[i cant think]

Any of the fairy or flasher wrasses. May even be able to do a group of them as long as you only have one dominant male. Love watching my male swim around to each female in his harem

They’ll all become males… it’s just a matter of time. If they’re all the same species or similar species, it’s most likely a ticking time bomb. If they’re different species it should work out.