Fairy wrasses going terminal

[illumnae]

Hi all, I'm interested in keeping several individual fairy wrasses in my 180 gallon reef. I'd of course like to have them all as terminal phase males.

I've heard from some sources that fairy wrasses mostly remain in the same phase as they were caught in and will not morh further (this was told to me by a local importer in relation to a sub-male lineatus wrasse) while others say that fairy wrasses morph to terminal phase easily (I've read several accounts of morphing flame wrasses).

Am I safe to buy female or sub-male specimens of the species I want, or do I need to source for terminal males only? Or is it species dependent?

 

[twon8]

Fairy wrasses going terminal

Some fairy wrasses you can only get males. Females will eventually go terminal male ime

 

[snorvich]

Fairy wrasses may or may not transition.

 

[albano]

Fairy wrasses may or may not transition.

IMO, this may be because of other tank mates...
IME, females almost always transition to males, but it may be because I have a lot of wrasses (30-40 in tank of 70-80 fish)... It also appears that if I lose a wrasse, it is usually the 'super/ terminal' males that are the first to go... I try to never buy 'terminal' males because they will be terminated!

 

[snorvich]

IMO, this may be because of other tank mates...
IME, females almost always transition to males, but it may be because I have a lot of wrasses (30-40 in tank of 70-80 fish)... It also appears that if I lose a wrasse, it is usually the 'super/ terminal' males that are the first to go... I try to never buy 'terminal' males because they will be terminated!

I agree. Other wrasses will expedite the transition process.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Kept singly or with other wrasses, it is a rarity that a Cirrhilabrus will not transition.

 

[m0nkie]

I'll take this chance to ask. will the following wrasse turn male by themselves?

rhomboidalis wrasse
lineatus wrasse
feminus wrasse

thanks

 

[hogfanreefer]

I'll take this chance to ask. will the following wrasse turn male by themselves?

rhomboidalis wrasse
lineatus wrasse
feminus wrasse

thanks

I understand why you asked that question. I'm sure the answer is yes but the feminus will cost a ton no matter the sex! I want one but just can't justify >$1000 for a single fish.

 

[snorvich]

Kept singly or with other wrasses, it is a rarity that a Cirrhilabrus will not transition.

Transition to male, usually. Become terminal male? Not so much.

 

[m0nkie]

I understand why you asked that question. I'm sure the answer is yes but the feminus will cost a ton no matter the sex! I want one but just can't justify >$1000 for a single fish.

Yaa but for feminus i actually prefer the female color more. The others ill try my chances waiting for a male.

Price tags.. phew.. it gives you sometime to look forward to. DD sells for $850. Great price for 14 day guarantee. Ill be able to make it thru TTM and into the tank

 

[illumnae]

Thanks all, some wrasses you just want the terminal males due to the gorgeous colours - like the pintail or lineatus wrasse for example. I too intend to keep a fair number of fairy wrasses in my tank (maybe 10+ individual males). I guess I can't really take my chances with a female or sub male and need to wait fr healthy terminal males to show up at my lfs.

 

[albano]

I too intend to keep a fair number of fairy wrasses in my tank (maybe 10+ individual males). I guess I can't really take my chances with a female or sub male and need to wait fr healthy terminal males to show up at my lfs.

IMO, a 'tank full' of terminal males only, could be a problem...You'll be losing expensive fish, one at a time!

 

[hogfanreefer]

Yaa but for feminus i actually prefer the female color more. The others ill try my chances waiting for a male.

Price tags.. phew.. it gives you sometime to look forward to. DD sells for $850. Great price for 14 day guarantee. Ill be able to make it thru TTM and into the tank

I agree the female coloration on feminus is the best. $850? Hmmm, maybe I can save up for that and make her the last fish in the tank! I just didn't remember ever seeing one that "cheap".

 

[eatbreakfast]

If fairy wrasses of different species are kept together they will create their own hierarchy. The ones at the top of the hierarchy will go terminal, the other ones will still be nicely colored males.

 

[m0nkie]

I agree the female coloration on feminus is the best. $850? Hmmm, maybe I can save up for that and make her the last fish in the tank! I just didn't remember ever seeing one that "cheap".

here's one. not as great of a shipping guarantee as DD. The DD feminus was about a month ago.

http://reefwisesales.com/collections/fish

 

[illumnae]

IMO, a 'tank full' of terminal males only, could be a problem...You'll be losing expensive fish, one at a time!

I just saw this happen =\ I got a very nice terminal Rhomboid added to the holding QT tank joining the queue to undergo TTM. It's a 90 gallon 3x2x2 tank with another sub-male Pintail and a terminal Lineatus also in the queue. The Pintail is doing fine, but I just lost the Lineatus, likely to aggression from the Rhomboid

Can I only have 1 terminal male per tank? Their final tank is a 180 gallon 6ft tank. I'm hoping to at least get 2-3 terminal male fairy wrasses, and I can live with the rest being leopard/tamarin/flasher wrasses

 

[albano]

I just saw this happen =\ I got a very nice terminal Rhomboid added to the holding QT tank joining the queue to undergo TTM. It's a 90 gallon 3x2x2 tank with another sub-male Pintail and a terminal Lineatus also in the queue. The Pintail is doing fine, but I just lost the Lineatus, likely to aggression from the Rhomboid

Can I only have 1 terminal male per tank? Their final tank is a 180 gallon 6ft tank. I'm hoping to at least get 2-3 terminal male fairy wrasses, and I can live with the rest being leopard/tamarin/flasher wrasses

Lineatus can be tough to acclimate after their long trip from Australia, but it certainly could have been the Rhomboid.

I usually try to buy females whenever I see them available...they all seem to turn male anyway and IME once they turn 'super/terminal' I try to get some nice pics...cause there's a good chance that the next male to turn 'super' will 'terminate' the first 'terminal' male.

 

[illumnae]

It was almost definitely the rhomboid - the lineatus has been around for a few months already so it was already acclimated (plus I'm in Singapore, so it's not that long a trip from Australia)

So 2-3 terminal male fairy wrasses is a no go for me even in a 180 gallon 6 foot tank?

 

[hogfanreefer]

I have two terminal males (C. rubrimarginatus and C. lyukyuensis) along with a near terminal male (C. jordani) and a male (C. cf. lanceolatus) with zero problems. In fact it's pretty cool because the two dominant guys are constantly displaying.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

So what's the difference between a "terminal" male and a mature male? How do you tell the difference?