Flasher Wrasses and Firefish

Wanting to keep a "piece of the reef" and being primarily a taxonomist are two different objectives. I your object is the former, I recommend at the very least a 50 gallon tank.
 
reefjunkie42 said:
verbatim from live aquaria:

Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: Yes
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
Max. Size: 3"
Color Form: Blue, Orange, Red, Yellow
Diet: Carnivore
Compatibility: View Chart
Origin: Africa, Maldives
Family: Labridae

What do these Quick Stats mean? Click here

overview
The McCosker's Flasher Wrasse is an attractive reef-safe wrasse sure to be the star of your aquarium. This hardy wrasse species adapts well to established home aquariums, making it a beautiful and active addition. The vibrantly colored male McCosker's Flasher Wrasse is predominantly red/orange with blue, horizontal stripes that complement its yellow stomach. The orange dorsal fin is accented with red, yellow, and blue and features a single elongated ray. A gorgeous, red band across the orange anal fin creates an impressive and bold color palette. The female coloration and overall appearance is more subdued. The females also do not feature the large dorsal and anal fins.
The McCosker's Flasher Wrasse requires a 55 gallon aquarium (or larger) with a tight-fitting lid since it is a jumper. Often found along reef slopes and rubble zones, the McCosker's Flasher Wrasse will often swim near the bottom and tends to form small groups where a male swims back and forth between groups of females. The colors of an adult male intensifies during courtship and he may flare or "flash" his fins to attract females. At this time, we are only able to obtain and offer male McCosker's Flasher Wrasse. We recommend only one male per aquarium display.

The McCosker's Flasher Wrasse diet should include vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with a high quality marine flake and marine pellet food.<

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 1" to 1-3/4" Medium: 1-3/4" to 2-1/2" Large: 2-1/2" to 3"
Click to expand...
This is getting a bit off topic but to elaborate more on my thinking...
Liveaquaria isn't necessarily the *best* resource for tank sizes - do you really think a yasha goby, a common pico fish, needs 30g? Or that a two spot goby, which often starve in anything but the largest established tanks, need 10g? Or the blue-spotted jawfish being listed as fish that can do fine up to 82 degrees when they're sub-tropic species? Regardless, their tank sizes for flashers are inconsistent, with some as 55g and some as small as 30g, half of the 60g mark. I do agree that more is better - but that's true with almost any fish: tangs use up all the space they can get but don't necessarily need 1000s of gallons. People who think otherwise need to rethink reefkeeping. There *are* other factors than simply gallons to take into consideration. Some fish prefer high flow to swim in and some prefer tanks with very little live rock or a lot of live rock, so keeping a piece of the reef really is more complicated than gallons (which does not include dimensions, where length would obv. be more important here). Additionally, these fish live in big harems in the wild and, according to WWM, practically mandatorily need to be kept in groups to thrive, which many people don't even do. Perhaps I'm just more of a nano mind-set. However, if you "asked the fish," he wouldn't reply :strange:. I know it's hard to do when they have such great personality, but we shouldn't anthropomorphise our fish. They can only really feel stress or not - not "happy" or "sad," making the "how would you like to be kept in..." argument not valid. Providing an environment they feel comfortable in is as best as you can do and there are more resources that say that as low as the 10-20g mark is ok (I would be happy to share if need be). This does vary a lot, however, as I've heard as high as 100g being the minimum! As a side note, I think being a taxonomist would be more credible than being a hobbbyist in the sense that they really know how to "replicate" natural environments to observe natural behaviors...it doesn't mean they think of fish as machines. All IMO of course! :fish2: There are differing opinions everywhere on these lovely fish.
 
JaneG said:
This is getting a bit off topic but to elaborate more on my thinking...
Liveaquaria isn't necessarily the *best* resource for tank sizes - do you really think a yasha goby, a common pico fish, needs 30g? Or that a two spot goby, which often starve in anything but the largest established tanks, need 10g? Or the blue-spotted jawfish being listed as fish that can do fine up to 82 degrees when they're sub-tropic species? Regardless, their tank sizes for flashers are inconsistent, with some as 55g and some as small as 30g, half of the 60g mark. I do agree that more is better - but that's true with almost any fish: tangs use up all the space they can get but don't necessarily need 1000s of gallons. People who think otherwise need to rethink reefkeeping. There *are* other factors than simply gallons to take into consideration. Some fish prefer high flow to swim in and some prefer tanks with very little live rock or a lot of live rock, so keeping a piece of the reef really is more complicated than gallons (which does not include dimensions, where length would obv. be more important here). Additionally, these fish live in big harems in the wild and, according to WWM, practically mandatorily need to be kept in groups to thrive, which many people don't even do. Perhaps I'm just more of a nano mind-set. However, if you "asked the fish," he wouldn't reply :strange:. I know it's hard to do when they have such great personality, but we shouldn't anthropomorphise our fish. They can only really feel stress or not - not "happy" or "sad," making the "how would you like to be kept in..." argument not valid. Providing an environment they feel comfortable in is as best as you can do and there are more resources that say that as low as the 10-20g mark is ok (I would be happy to share if need be). This does vary a lot, however, as I've heard as high as 100g being the minimum! As a side note, I think being a taxonomist would be more credible than being a hobbbyist in the sense that they really know how to "replicate" natural environments to observe natural behaviors...it doesn't mean they think of fish as machines. All IMO of course! :fish2: There are differing opinions everywhere on these lovely fish.
Click to expand...


I didnt even read all of this, breaking bad is on sorry.:deadhorse1:
 
Dr. Tanaka, according to my reading of his initial posts here is not really trying to replicate natural behavior IMO. For best results, flashers should be kept in harems, and in my opinion, having kept them for multiple years (go back and check my posts on them) would do best as a MFF harem in at least a 60 gallon tank.
 
snorvich said:
Dr. Tanaka, according to my reading of his initial posts here is not really trying to replicate natural behavior IMO. For best results, flashers should be kept in harems, and in my opinion, having kept them for multiple years (go back and check my posts on them) would do best as a MFF harem in at least a 60 gallon tank.
Click to expand...
Exactly how long were you able to keep a MFF harem? Every time I (or two others I know) have tried they always end up with a MMM harem which doesn't go so well. If it was longer than a couple years, what were your secrets? From what I have read here and in discussions with my fish store, that is pretty standard. It's a big part of the reason females are pretty hard to find.
 
All I was trying to say was does it really matter who thinks what, we all have our own opinions and are entitled to them, I never said LA was the source for information, just that a well known site that most of us frequent suggest a bit more gallonage for a flasher. sorry jane.. And if you look she tries to belittle me about "higher authority" contradicting 50 or 60 gallons being a minimum for this active fish. Im not saying anybody was wrong or right, all i was trying to do was help the OP keep this fish long term. OH and sorry to be disruptive, I was under the impression this was a public forum.
 
im really not sure what I said that was inappropriate. but im also not going to get in a fight over the internet. sorry if i offended anyone, that was never my intentions.
 
I think great, informative threads that are debates turn into fights quite easily, which is a shame because usually that's not the intention at all :twitch: I was simply stating my opinion in response to yours, in no way belittling you as I very much respect your differing opinion. On the other hand, I responded to basically say that it's not *necessarily* true that they "diserves atleast 60 gallons to swim MIN" (which the poster didn't warrant, although I understand it was well-meant advice that probably came off as a little bold): even well-known marine biologists (the folks who do this for a living) disagree on that viewpoint (whether they think they need less or even more). I would say that LiveAquaria is a place we frequent and so it is a good source for some "basic" information on fish, but other "famous" sites like AquaticCommunity even says as small as 10g for a single male and 20g for a small harem! Bluezooaquatics suggested to me in an email a long time ago that it would be fine for my 20g tank (I passed on it a long time ago, as I like giving my fish buffering zone). I will admit again - I think the more gallons, the better - especially because they are active.

I'm really confused by this:
"sorry jane.. And if you look she tries to belittle me about "higher authority" contradicting 50 or 60 gallons being a minimum for this active fish."
There is nothing to apologize about in the first place, but why do you seem to then pass blame on me for something I never tried to do? :uhoh2: No hard feelings :wave:

Jane
 
You will be fine I know someone who has rhomboids, flame wrasse, leopard wrasse, and he added a helfrichi firefish absoloutly fine and is out all the time.I think you should be fine.
 
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