Any wrasse experts? Hawaiian Flame Wrasse Question.

[Jgoal55]

I recently bought a pair of Hawaiian Flame wrasses. Unfortunately, I lost the female. The male is super healthy and eating everything including pellets. He's a hog. Amazing colors. However, his colors were brighter when the female was in the tank with him.

The LFS near me has a "female" that they have had in their display by herself for 2yrs. However, I've heard that this species changes their sex and being alone for two years, I think it's possible that she may have turned male (her colors make it seem so). Am I right about this?

I was thinking about buying her but I am not sure if that's a good idea. If it is a male fish, I worry that it will be aggressive towards my current male.

On the other hand, the fish is significantly smaller than mine and I wonder if they are similar to clowns in that one will become dominant and the other will go back to being female?

Any help or links to Flame Wrasse info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[cwoods8]

She/he is perhaps in the transition of becoming a male. I wouldn't be concerned with this one dominating your current guy, it would more than likely be the other way around. Depending on the size of your tank you can get away with two males, one being the bigger of the two. Do be prepared for much more flashing which will bring out the colors that you seek..............and most importantly keep that tank covered!!!

 

[Jgoal55]

Thanks....it's a 160 so I think size wise I should be ok.

But when you say dominating, I was definitely thinking my current male would hurt the new fish, not vice versa.

So, are you saying that it would be ok to get the new fish even though it may already be male? If it's male, will she transition to female over time?

Thanks.

PS - Tank is covered.

 

[eho72]

I would wait and get a flame wrasse that you know is definitely female. I have a pair in my tank and the male flame wrasse flashes all the time around the female. This would be more ideal than having your 2 male flame wrasses chasing each other.

 

[Recty]

I've only had a couple wrasses in my time but I've never had one go back to female after changing to a male. Male to female I saw with every single wrasse over 2 years but not the other way around. I'd agree with what the other guy said and try to just get a wrasse you're sure is a female.

 

[snorvich]

The only fairy wrasse that I have seen regress is C. bathyphilus. Female to male to female in the presence of a male.

 

[Jgoal55]

Thanks guys....I'm just going to wait till a female comes along. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Jgoal55]

Found a female at my LFS today!! When it comes to putting her in the tank should I use an acclimation container or just go ahead and drop her in....The male has been alone for 3 weeks now.

 

[Bret61081]

Put her in the container and see how he reacts when he sees her...if theres aggression then you know you need to leave her a few days....if not let her go get used to the tank

 

[Jgoal55]

Easy enough. It's a 160 so they should be fine but that's what I'll do. Thx.

 

[Jgoal55]

Put her in a while ago....left her in the container for a couple of hours and the male stared her down a couple of times then never looked at her again......I let her go once the lights went off and he went to bed.

We'll see in the morning but I think they'll get along just fine.

 

[SoLiD]

Update? Do you still have your Flame Wrasse Pair?

 

[Jgoal55]

Nope. But I did for about a year or a bit longer and they were great. Two of my favorite fish. I broke down the tank and before I did I had a major controller malfunction and an alk overdose resulted. Some of the fish survived but no wrasses did. They are more sensitive than other species to alk fluctuations it seems.