Flame wrasse in captivity?
- Thread starter tangov5559
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evolved
Wrasse Nut
I have kept flames in the past; I had one which almost made it 2 years, then he contracted a bacterial infection which was his demise. I'm not sure how that happened either; there had been no new fish additions in quite sometime; nothing else was affected.
I have some wrasses now which I've kept around 3 years.
I have some wrasses now which I've kept around 3 years.
I mean this with all sincerity, and please don't take offense, but why would you throw out a comment about expecting 8-10 years out of one of these fish, when you yourself haven't had that experience... nor have others, judging by the replies in this thread. A post like that makes me (and possibly others reading this thread) immediately feel like I have done something wrong to lose my fish in the time I did.... not sure it's appropriate or deserved without any basis.
evolved
Wrasse Nut
But were they adults when you purchased them?
Sure, the terminal males are the prettiest (and also the most expensive), but there's no way to tell how old they might already be. These days I prefer young males or even juvi's just for this very reason.
My thoughts are an 8-10 year lifetime is possible. But it's tough to subtract the unknown from that number when you purchase something.
I'm not intending to indicate something always goes awry; 5 years old to you and looking old sounds pretty darn good to me.
I know you know how it goes when people try to pin a life expectancy to any species; it's not so simple. Stress, diet, and tank temperature dictate a whole lot in this matter.
Sure, the terminal males are the prettiest (and also the most expensive), but there's no way to tell how old they might already be. These days I prefer young males or even juvi's just for this very reason.
My thoughts are an 8-10 year lifetime is possible. But it's tough to subtract the unknown from that number when you purchase something.
I'm not intending to indicate something always goes awry; 5 years old to you and looking old sounds pretty darn good to me.
I know you know how it goes when people try to pin a life expectancy to any species; it's not so simple. Stress, diet, and tank temperature dictate a whole lot in this matter.
Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but I just lost my male and 1 week prior I lost my female flame wrasse. I had them for slightly over 2 years, both were super healthy, ate aggressively, and were so bold that every time I had to stick my hand in the tank they always nipped at my hand looking for food. Literally overnight for the male, and maybe two days for the female they started swimming differently, hid like they do when sleeping, and then died. Never had any healthy fish do this before in 20+ years of keeping saltwater fish. Has any reefers out there kept this fish long term (5+ years)? If the norm max is 2 years, then this pair was probably my last.
In the past few months I lost another flame supermale... I don't want to call them 'supermales' anymore, the better term is TERMINAL phase male! IME, once they turn SM, it's just a matter of time.
I did replace it with a juv/F, but only because it was available for less than $50, not gonna pay more than that for flames, anymore !...I also added 2 more juvi/F hooded wrasses, when LA had them on sale for ~$50 a month ago
nonstopfishies
Member
I had a flame I got small for just over two years before it jumped the only day I forgot to put the top back on a few months back. Kicking myself hard for that. I too replaced it with a small hooded. Males just don't seem to acclimate as well or last as long from my experiences and seeing the number of them that die or look bad at LFS's.
Chad Vossen
New member
How low on the food chain are fairy wrasses? That seems to be relative to how long they'll live. With the exception to damselfish/clownfish
eatbreakfast
New member
I would tend to think 2 to 3 yrs in the wild would be a really good life span for fairy wrasses in the wild.
When you see specimens older than that in captivity they often look a little weird. What I mean by that is they start to get elongated snouts and rounder foreheads.
When you see pics of large fish in the wild they dont have some of these exaggerated features.
Fish lifespans can definitely be longer in captivity because there should be no predator pressure. But if you have a fairy wrasse going on 5yrs thats really good.
When you see specimens older than that in captivity they often look a little weird. What I mean by that is they start to get elongated snouts and rounder foreheads.
When you see pics of large fish in the wild they dont have some of these exaggerated features.
Fish lifespans can definitely be longer in captivity because there should be no predator pressure. But if you have a fairy wrasse going on 5yrs thats really good.
the808state
New member
Wrasses are not angels or tangs. There are reports of tangs and angels living for 15+ years. Wrasses (especially smaller ones) will not. From the research I gathered from personal experience and others are fairies and flashers live 2-3 years tops. Everyone has the same experience after this mark "they disappear". I would not expect to get much life expectancy from fairies and definitely flashers.
Gobies live even shorter, longer in captivity due to predation in the wild, but average is less than 2 years. If you want a longevity fish, buy a big angel
Gobies live even shorter, longer in captivity due to predation in the wild, but average is less than 2 years. If you want a longevity fish, buy a big angel
Yeah I think I'm done with fairy and flasher wrasses. If 2-3 years is tops then it's not worth the effort considering the time in qt and their cost(I like the expensive ones). I've had angels that lived over 10 years and actually prefer these fish, but their appetite for corals is a big time risk.
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