A pretty, but easy to keep wrasse.

[JohnniG]

I have some clowns, chromis, anthias and 2 small angelfish (bicolour, and soon an emperor) and I am looking into wrasses. What can I keep in my 140 reef tank? I am looking for a beautiful, but easy to keep wrasse Is it fair to keep them as 1 male and 2-3 female?

 

[maceface]

Well not sure if it beautiful ..but a 6 line is the easiest wrass i have ever had

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[JohnniG]

I dont think its the most amazing one, but still cute. Do they bury in the sand as well? Thats kinda cool. As long as its not all the time.

 

[SDguy]

Halichoeres species wrasses are nice and hardy and don't get too big, but they require sand. Several fairy and flasher wrasses are hardy, inexpensive, and don't require sand...

 

[JohnniG]

I have about 5 cm sand in my tank. Can I keep these species in a shoal? Like 1 male and 3 females?

 

[JohnniG]

I found one from the Halichoeres genus, called Hoevens Wrasse? Is that the most common name for it? That looks cool.

 

[Cubbies]

Most Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus wrasses are easy to keep and are absolutely reef safe. It all depends what you want to spend and what you actually like. Halichoeres are nice indeed but can become a bit aggresive when mature and if you get a rotten apple you might have problems with your cuc and invertebrates.

 

[Ambition]

Wrasses don't really shoal. They are harematic, meaning they form loose aggregations of one male to a group of females and sub adults. But you can keep a male and 2-3 females if you would like to. The hardest part is finding females.

I'd suggest looking into flasher or fairy wrasses. A small group of McCosker's looks stunning IMO.

 

[johnike]

I have a Halichoeres leucoxanthus that is gorgeous. Just doesn't play well with expensive shrimp.

 

[JohnniG]

Would be cool to have a few of them, but i cant keep several males from what i've heard?

 

[SDguy]

Yeah, halichoeres species aren't really wrasses that you keep in groups AFAIK.

 

[JohnniG]

so you just keep one male?

 

[johnike]

Yes, just one here.

 

[JohnniG]

I have seen tanks where they a wrasse dominant setup with lots of wrasses. But thats different species then?

 

[SDguy]

Most likely fairy wrasses... Which I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of. Generally pricey, not necessarily the easiest to keep, difficult social behaviors, and frankly they just don't live that long.

 

[JohnniG]

Do you just have a single one then? They are very gorgeous and its a shame you can only keep singles. Are they that aggressive towards each other?

 

[Ambition]

You can keep multiple fairy or flasher wrasses in a tank. Only one male per species, as the males won't tolerate each other unless in large tank (not sure, but 400g is the smallest tank that I personally know of with multiple males of a given species).

To keep a group of flasher or fairy wrasses, it should be one male and the rest females. I recommend though that you get all females and let them work it out amongst themselves who will be male. The tricky part is that after this the other females eventually turn male as well, which doesn't sit well in a smaller tank.

 

[gsiegel]

If you do not mind spending more money, to me hands down the most beautiful wrasse is a Lineatus.

 

[Rapide]

I have 4 totally different kind of wrasses, and they couldn't care less of each other. I'm still getting 1 or 2 new species. They are the coolest, most active and pretty fishes out there, and I just adore them. A Coris, Labroides, Pseudocheilinus and Gomphosus at the moment, and a Choerodon still coming and possibly a Thalassoma.

 

[runintoluck]

Solar wrasses are easy to keep and look pretty with their combination of colors.