Wrasses: Stocking a 220

[HaleMoana]

I'm stocking my 220 and have a few questions about wrasses and hoping someone smarter than me will chime in.

I am looking to add a Lineatus male. If I get a Super Male, will he maintain coloration without a female? Can I just get a lone male (not super) and wait for him to mature into a Super Male? Even without a female?

So far, tank already has:
Trio of Hawaiian Flames (Jordani's)
Pair of Carpenter Flashers
Trio of Helfrichi's

On my list after the Lineatus:
Rhomboid


Thanks for any help. I'm looking for the best options of maintaining superior coloration of these beautiful wrasses.

 

[justjosh012]

im not sure about the lineatus, and i know they arent exactly the colsest related wrasse, but my Banana wrasse started out as a female, went male, and has incredible coloration without a lady around. I would love to see some picture of your fish... helfrichi trio sounds awesome.

 

[HaleMoana]

Check out my build thread in the Large Tank (180+) forum. I've got a pic of the trio of Helfrichi's there. I'll add some pics of the Flames later this week.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[nonstopfish]

I don't see any reason to get a super male. I have a for sure male if not super male in a 210 with only a female flame and a blue side as far as wrasses go and he flashes daily and has great coloration. Pretty sure he has been keeping my flame female for over 6 months now, I've had the flame almost a year and it's still female.

You may end up with 1 flame wrasse long term. I know a number of people that started with a trio, had a 2nd turn male and then the males fighting and one having to be removed so they didn't kill each other. The same thing then happened with 2 in there.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Here is a pic of our terminal male lineatus. We acquired him as a young initial phase male and there are no females in our tank:

 

[Whippetguy]

Beautiful fish!

 

[HaleMoana]

I don't see any reason to get a super male. I have a for sure male if not super male in a 210 with only a female flame and a blue side as far as wrasses go and he flashes daily and has great coloration. Pretty sure he has been keeping my flame female for over 6 months now, I've had the flame almost a year and it's still female.

You may end up with 1 flame wrasse long term. I know a number of people that started with a trio, had a 2nd turn male and then the males fighting and one having to be removed so they didn't kill each other. The same thing then happened with 2 in there.

Yeah, I'm familiar with the many reports of a Flame trio and am willing to try my chances. If one starts to become a sub male, then I'll have to get one out and I will deal with that then. I kinda know what I am getting into. Already one of the females is chasing the other female around which is already starting to mark their pecking order.

Sorta interesting though that you say that the male Lineatus is keeping your female Flame from morphing. That kinda contradicts the previous statement. But 6 months to a year might be too early to determine that. Good luck with her... hopefully she'll transition for you.

thanks for the feedback.

 

[HaleMoana]

Gorgeous fish Mike&Terry... and that was what I was hoping to hear. I will probably just go with a regular male and hope he transitions into a terminal or super male even without a female. Looks like several have had success with this, so thanks again for the feedback.

 

[lsingh]

i hve just about same size display tank and got few nice wrasse including flame lilnateous romboid mystery nachaky naoky ruby .....and yet to acquire few more...i tend to buy females if i can bc eventualy they will turn males with bright colors in period of 8months to a year....also sometimes if tank is large enough and u hve two females of same kind they end up turning to 2 males.....i hve seen this at my lfs....
females r lot cheaper than males..if u hve patience females r the best buy money wise