Well, now I'm assuming that you're not reading his other post... Which IMO, seems to advocate adding the fish without using an acclimation box...
HELP! (Wrasses)
- Thread starter Spork3245
- Start date
She escaped again, right when I was leaving for work. My girlfriend ran outside to get me just as I was getting in my car. This time catching her wasn't so easy and they were definitely biting at each other. She managed to escape and get under a rock (where I couldn't get her) and hide, my male was on the other side of the tank, he eventually found her and chased her some more while I was frantically trying to net her. The male eventually got her onto the sand bed in a corner by a rock, at first he swam away as I was taking the lid off the tank in an attempt to get her out, but he then started to resume the attack and strike at her as she lay on the sand not even trying to get away at this point. I grabbed my feeding tongs (that I use for flakes (it's fun having all my fish come over and eat off it as I hold the flakes 
)) and chased him away. She then came back out and I was finally able to trap her in the net and get her back in the box.
She seems okay, I can't really see much damage (my male definitely has some damage but it's still nothing major and barely there; just a little discoloration on the side of his body that may have already been there), but I did notice that her color was changing while she was in the corner...? Her face began to show thick bright-pink lines (head only) that I definitely didn't notice before, once I got her back in the box they started to fade away... Do wrasses have stress colors? The only fish I own that I've seen able to change colors/markings is my one spot foxface.
Anyway, this time I not only put the floating cover on the breeder box, I also put the net over top of it so there's NO friggen way she can escape again!
I'm starting to believe this may be hopeless as I've read that C. Solorensis generally will not tolerate any other fairy wrasse species (unless you have a giant tank) except for females of the same species (and neither myself or anyone in here is 100% certain that the wrasse in question is a female C. Solorensis (probably about 90-95% sure in general )). I have noticed that the newer wrasse seems to be getting more gold on it's main body, just like Live Aquaria's pictures of the female C. Solorensis so Evolved may have been correct that it was transitioning to sub-male/male, but it may now be transition back to fully female...?
Guys I need honest opinions: Should I go ahead and get a bigger box tomorrow and wait this out or should I return her? I'm leaving on an international business trip for a week at 10pm on the 11th, my gf and father will be watching/taking care of the tank while I'm gone and I doubt they will know what to do if aggression becomes an issue. This is currently day #3 of the social acclimation (it started around 7pm on Sunday, the 29th)
)) and chased him away. She then came back out and I was finally able to trap her in the net and get her back in the box.She seems okay, I can't really see much damage (my male definitely has some damage but it's still nothing major and barely there; just a little discoloration on the side of his body that may have already been there), but I did notice that her color was changing while she was in the corner...? Her face began to show thick bright-pink lines (head only) that I definitely didn't notice before, once I got her back in the box they started to fade away... Do wrasses have stress colors? The only fish I own that I've seen able to change colors/markings is my one spot foxface.
Anyway, this time I not only put the floating cover on the breeder box, I also put the net over top of it so there's NO friggen way she can escape again!
I'm starting to believe this may be hopeless as I've read that C. Solorensis generally will not tolerate any other fairy wrasse species (unless you have a giant tank) except for females of the same species (and neither myself or anyone in here is 100% certain that the wrasse in question is a female C. Solorensis (probably about 90-95% sure in general
)). I have noticed that the newer wrasse seems to be getting more gold on it's main body, just like Live Aquaria's pictures of the female C. Solorensis so Evolved may have been correct that it was transitioning to sub-male/male, but it may now be transition back to fully female...?Guys I need honest opinions: Should I go ahead and get a bigger box tomorrow and wait this out or should I return her? I'm leaving on an international business trip for a week at 10pm on the 11th, my gf and father will be watching/taking care of the tank while I'm gone and I doubt they will know what to do if aggression becomes an issue. This is currently day #3 of the social acclimation (it started around 7pm on Sunday, the 29th)
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eatbreakfast
New member
It is true that I am not an advocate of acclimation boxes. The reason being is that I used them in the past. Sometimes the resident fish would calm down after a couple of days and sometimes it wouldn't. The acclimation box really didn't have that much affect on the resident fish behavior. Because I would notice when I quit using the acclimation box sometimes the resident fish would be cool to the new fish and sometimes it wouldn't.
The fighting described earlier with the solorensis wrasses certainly sounds like the new fish was indeed a transitioning male. But fights like these do not have to lead to death.
A 90g tank is by no means a mimic of what these fish in the wild would experience, they don't know that they are not dealing with situations as they would in the wild.
Cirrhilabrus wrasses are capable of reverting back to females. The energy cost of doing so is high, so the transitioning fish is trying to fight to gain dominance so that it does not have to revert. However, if losing is evident he will hide and revert back giving the dominant fish plenty of space afterwards.
It also serves the resident fish no purpose in spending the extra energy to kill the subordinant fish as that fishes behavior would be not to lose any ground socially so it would serve as a buffer between the resident fish and any hypothetical new fairy wrasse.
Considering that "she" wasn't even fighting back and he was still attacking her, I honestly believe he would've kept at it until "she" was dead.
evolved
Wrasse Nut
The fight is exactly what I would have expected at this point... and yes, that was going to end up with a dead fish, IMO.
The coloration you had described confused me a bit, but when wrasses are stressed they get vertical white bars all along the body. Such as this female jordani in the foreground:
Nothing further from what I've already offered. If the established male doesn't cease his open mouth attacks at the box, re-home the new guy.
The coloration you had described confused me a bit, but when wrasses are stressed they get vertical white bars all along the body. Such as this female jordani in the foreground:
Reefkeeping.com said:
Nothing further from what I've already offered. If the established male doesn't cease his open mouth attacks at the box, re-home the new guy.
There was some of what your picture is showing on "her" main body (and is likely what I presumed was "damage" from the fight on either wrasse), but there were also horizontal lines that appeared on the head, they were a much brighter pink than the already-pink head. My gf saw it too so I know I'm not crazy lol
The lines shapes/markings on the head were similar to head of this wrasse:
But instead of being blue/turquoise they were a very bright pink. The lines disappeared after approximately 5-10 minutes and began to fade as soon as I caught her and got her back in the box (they dimmed so quickly that taking a picture was pointless as I knew it wouldn't have shown since I only have crappy cellphone cameras available)... So... Could this maybe not be C. Solorensis as we've been assuming and a different species all together? Or is what I'm describing normal?
In all honesty, IF I return "her" and for some crazy reason wanted to attempt a different wrasse, would/could there be success with a flasher wrasse since it's a different species with different characteristics? Or should I just not bother?
The lines shapes/markings on the head were similar to head of this wrasse:
But instead of being blue/turquoise they were a very bright pink. The lines disappeared after approximately 5-10 minutes and began to fade as soon as I caught her and got her back in the box (they dimmed so quickly that taking a picture was pointless as I knew it wouldn't have shown since I only have crappy cellphone cameras available)... So... Could this maybe not be C. Solorensis as we've been assuming and a different species all together? Or is what I'm describing normal?
In all honesty, IF I return "her" and for some crazy reason wanted to attempt a different wrasse, would/could there be success with a flasher wrasse since it's a different species with different characteristics? Or should I just not bother?
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Just wanted to give you guys an update and thank you again for all your help:
After 7 days the aggression was still not down from my male wrasse, so I brought "her" back to the store, they did, in fact, give me a full refund (store credit based though, which I'm happy with). I'm glad that they'll find her a new home, hopefully quickly. It's amazing that "she" didn't seem stressed the whole time in that small breeder and was eating during the attempted social acclimation time.
Again, thank you all for your help, I've come to the conclusion that having multiple wrasses just must not be "in the cards" for me.
After 7 days the aggression was still not down from my male wrasse, so I brought "her" back to the store, they did, in fact, give me a full refund (store credit based though, which I'm happy with). I'm glad that they'll find her a new home, hopefully quickly. It's amazing that "she" didn't seem stressed the whole time in that small breeder and was eating during the attempted social acclimation time.
Again, thank you all for your help, I've come to the conclusion that having multiple wrasses just must not be "in the cards" for me.
