Wrasse Selection Question

shadow1013 · Apr 9, 2021

@evolved @saltyhog The original All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria is locked :/

I'm thinking of getting either the Red Sea Reefer XL300 (3' 65 gal display) or the XL 425 (4' 88 gal display) I'm thinking of getting the wrasse below, the first group is my for sure group, the rest would be great to get if I can, the flame is more difficult now. I'm also still debating on if I want to do sand or bare bottom, but I believe both fairy and flasher wrasse do not need sand. I wanted to make sure my notes are correct and if there are any thoughts or suggestions are also welcomed.

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus mccoskeri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus carpenteri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Red Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus rubricaudalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Yellowfin Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus flavianalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Pintail Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus isosceles - Peaceful - 40 gal
Sailfin Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus cyanogularis - Peaceful - 75 gal

Diamond-Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus attenuatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Madagascar Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus hemitaeniatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Flame Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus jordani - Peaceful - 90 gal

nereefpat · Apr 9, 2021

Evolved is gone. That's why his threads are locked.
You are correct that fairies and flashers don't need sand.

Is the sailfin the blue throat? Those are supposedly pretty aggressive.

shadow1013 · Apr 9, 2021

Really!? dang he was a bundle of knowledge.

yes blue throat I think. I saw that in his earlier chart but I thought they reclassified him to be less aggressive, a few sites that have them listed state peaceful.

nereefpat said:
Evolved is gone. That's why his threads are locked.
You are correct that fairies and flashers don't need sand.

Is the sailfin the blue throat? Those are supposedly pretty aggressive.

saltyhog · Apr 9, 2021

shadow1013 said:
@evolved @saltyhog The original All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria is locked :/

I'm thinking of getting either the Red Sea Reefer XL300 (3' 65 gal display) or the XL 425 (4' 88 gal display) I'm thinking of getting the wrasse below, the first group is my for sure group, the rest would be great to get if I can, the flame is more difficult now. I'm also still debating on if I want to do sand or bare bottom, but I believe both fairy and flasher wrasse do not need sand. I wanted to make sure my notes are correct and if there are any thoughts or suggestions are also welcomed.

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus mccoskeri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus carpenteri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Red Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus rubricaudalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Yellowfin Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus flavianalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Pintail Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus isosceles - Peaceful - 40 gal
Sailfin Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus cyanogularis - Peaceful - 75 gal

Diamond-Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus attenuatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Madagascar Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus hemitaeniatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Flame Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus jordani - Peaceful - 90 gal

I would not get the C. cyanogularis unless it would be the only wrasse in the tank.

That's a lot of flasher wrasses in a 4' tank ...definitely use an acclimation box. The Red Tail and the Yellowfin are very similar.....if you find a source for a Red Tail, PLEASE let me know. It's my favorite flasher (tie). ;Happy

The diamond tails often get very dark over time in a reef aquarium. Mine did.

I have kept or currently have all of those except the cyanogularis and P. hemitaeniatus (which is a toss up for my favorite flasher). You have great tastes in wrasses! ;Smuggrin

nereefpat · Apr 9, 2021

shadow1013 said:
Really!? dang he was a bundle of knowledge.

yes blue throat I think. I saw that in his earlier chart but I thought they reclassified him to be less aggressive, a few sites that have them listed state peaceful.

It's all relative. In general fairy wrasses are peaceful, so any website will categorize them that way. Some are more aggressive than others, and will tolerate other fairy wrasses less.

There are examples of other groups of fishes that are peaceful, but don't tolerate others of their kind: bangaii cardinals, or firefish.

Hope that helps.

I believe @OrionN has a blue throat with other wrasses in a large tank. Maube we can get him to chime in on that, and wrasses in general.

shadow1013 · Apr 9, 2021

Yeah I k ow it was a bit. Was planning on trying to go a bit heavy on the rock to have room for coral so hopefully lots of caves for homes and was hoping to get them in at the same time so they could get their own place without issues.

saltyhog said:
I would not get the C. cyanogularis unless it would be the only wrasse in the tank.

That's a lot of flasher wrasses in a 4' tank ...definitely use an acclimation box. The Red Tail and the Yellowfin are very similar.....if you find a source for a Red Tail, PLEASE let me know. It's my favorite flasher (tie). ;Happy

The diamond tails often get very dark over time in a reef aquarium. Mine did.

I have kept or currently have all of those except the cyanogularis and P. hemitaeniatus (which is a toss up for my favorite flasher). You have great tastes in wrasses! ;Smuggrin

NaturalGothic · Apr 9, 2021

Personally, I adore Pygmy wrasses. My favorites are the Pink Streaked (aka the cryptic 6 line) wrasse and the White Banded Possum Wrasse. Both max out at like 2-3 inches and can be kept in a 10 gallon tank. Both are fully reef safe and very peaceful. A little on the expensive side considering their size, however, they’re also rarer and more desirable than most other dwarf wrasses.

OrionN · Apr 9, 2021

Blue throat fairy should be keep in very large tank only. 300 gal plus. He will be the king of the tank. But he is very beautiful. He flashes other fish too not just lasher.
very beautiful wrasse. He does not loose color but become more brilliant with time

shadow1013 · Feb 6, 2022

So ended up getting a Red Sea Reefer 625 so a lot more room.

Our LFS had a Radiant wrasse and my wife fell in love with it so we picked that up. We found out after they can go after shrimp so we will have to see if we can transfer the cleaner and the peppermint shrimp down. We also picked up a Pintail this weekend.

I had a Carpenter and a what I think may be a Crescent Tail wrasse come down from our smaller tank, but when I was transferring them from the acclimation bucket the Crescent Tail jumped out and hit the floor. I got him quickly picked up and in the tank and he landed on the frag rack and was on his side for the longest time breathing heavily. About 30 minutes later I saw him swim a bit around the rack and then lay back down on his side. He is breathing not as heavily anymore. I hope he recovers :/

I'm not sure what more wrasse to get. I'd still love to get a Flame wrasse pair, and would like a diamond tail if I could find one. McCosker's would most likely be the next one for sure.

i cant think · Feb 6, 2022

shadow1013 said:
@evolved @saltyhog The original All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria is locked :/

I'm thinking of getting either the Red Sea Reefer XL300 (3' 65 gal display) or the XL 425 (4' 88 gal display) I'm thinking of getting the wrasse below, the first group is my for sure group, the rest would be great to get if I can, the flame is more difficult now. I'm also still debating on if I want to do sand or bare bottom, but I believe both fairy and flasher wrasse do not need sand. I wanted to make sure my notes are correct and if there are any thoughts or suggestions are also welcomed.

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus mccoskeri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus carpenteri - Peaceful - 40 gal
Red Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus rubricaudalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Yellowfin Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus flavianalis - Peaceful - 55 gal
Pintail Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus isosceles - Peaceful - 40 gal
Sailfin Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus cyanogularis - Peaceful - 75 gal

Diamond-Tail Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus attenuatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Madagascar Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus hemitaeniatus - Peaceful - 55 gal
Flame Fairy Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus jordani - Peaceful - 90 gal

As above. That’s a lot of flashers in a 3’-4’ tank, I’d remove the Cyanogularis (Personally I’d grab a Halichoeres wrasse to help with pests) and change it to a different wrasse. A lot can change in the time of your tank being alive. I mean I had plans for just a C. melanomarginatus and H. iridis in my 4’x2’x2’ tank but have 5 different wrasse and a fish I never thought of getting (Flashing Tilefish). I wouldn’t have this as a definite list of what you want and just have it as a bendable list.

shadow1013 · Feb 6, 2022

The first tank I was looking at was a 3' but the 625 is a 5' 130 gallon display. The Radiant wrasse is a Halichoeres, Halichoeres iridis.

i cant think said:
As above. That’s a lot of flashers in a 3’-4’ tank, I’d remove the Cyanogularis (Personally I’d grab a Halichoeres wrasse to help with pests) and change it to a different wrasse. A lot can change in the time of your tank being alive. I mean I had plans for just a C. melanomarginatus and H. iridis in my 4’x2’x2’ tank but have 5 different wrasse and a fish I never thought of getting (Flashing Tilefish). I wouldn’t have this as a definite list of what you want and just have it as a bendable list.

shadow1013 · Feb 6, 2022

And after a bit on the frag rack my wife came running over because she saw it swimming just above so I put some frozen food in and it shot right off for the food and has been swimming all over the tank since so thankfully seems to be doing great.

i cant think · Feb 7, 2022

shadow1013 said:
The first tank I was looking at was a 3' but the 625 is a 5' 130 gallon display. The Radiant wrasse is a Halichoeres, Halichoeres iridis.

I know it’s a Hakichoeres, however you shouldn’t limit yourself to only a few fish. I find sandbeds are great because you can have basically every fish in the hobby available to you. Flasher wrasse and Fairy wrasse are all good for colour but do nothing against things like flatties, red bugs, nudis ect… that’s all Halichoeres, and Pseudocheilinops. PseudocheiliNUS is a bad move for pest eating and with other wrasse. on it’s own it is just fine but with other wrasses any “lined” wrasse is a bad move. H. iridis and many of the small Halichoeres will love 3’x2’x2’ tanks, yes they’d do better with 4’x2’x2’ tanks but they aren’t too active unless one is chasing the other I.E. Raidant v Jade.

damsels are not mean · Feb 7, 2022

A small tank full of flashers especially if male sounds like bloodsport to me. In the wild these fish live in a complex social group where there is a single male and a harem of females who are constantly battling for second place. Often these females are a mix of different related species and the males of those species will be quite territorial towards each other. The ocean is a big place and this is not a problem there, but in a small glass box that can get stressful on them.

i cant think · Feb 8, 2022

damsels are not mean said:
A small tank full of flashers especially if male sounds like bloodsport to me. In the wild these fish live in a complex social group where there is a single male and a harem of females who are constantly battling for second place. Often these females are a mix of different related species and the males of those species will be quite territorial towards each other. The ocean is a big place and this is not a problem there, but in a small glass box that can get stressful on them.

Flasher wrasses will do alright with eachother in a 4’ tank, you can have 2-3 in there quite easily.

As long as you keep species that aren’t similar to eachother (I.E. Mccoskeri and Carpenteri) then you will be alright. I definitely think that the OP should only try grab 2-3 flashers and have the rest of the wrasses being either Anampses, Macropharyngodon, Cirrhilabrus, Pseudojuloides, or Pseudocheilinops.

damsels are not mean · Feb 8, 2022

i cant think said:
Flasher wrasses will do alright with eachother in a 4’ tank, you can have 2-3 in there quite easily. Flashing in captivity won’t harm these fish, but also if the ocean is a big place, then surely we shouldn’t keep any of these fish?

I just mean they need space and hiding places. They can of course be kept in a tank but not too many of them.