Hoeven's wrasse sleeping habits

[running scott]

So I have a new hoeven's wrasses, great fish so far. I can't find where it sleeps at night! I know they sleep under the sand, but do they bury their whole body? He goes to bed early, at 7:00 when my lights change to actinic only, he disappears. Does anyone have any experience with a wrasse that sleeps under the sand? I don't know why but I have always checked on my fish, made sure they were tucked in at night before I go to bed, strange huh.

 

[ca1ore]

Yes, they are one species within a group of wrasses that bury themselves in the sand. Thus you need to have adequate sand depth and resist the urge to go hunting for it.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Dont go digging around for it, that only stresses them out. It should start staying out until closer to lights out, their circadian rhythm is pretty adaptable.

 

[Fragman4]

Occasionaly mine keeps his head above the sand but most of the time he buries everything. Eventually you will be able to find his spot but it will take some time.

 

[snorvich]

Dont go digging around for it, that only stresses them out. It should start staying out until closer to lights out, their circadian rhythm is pretty adaptable.

This. Sometimes they come in and are jet lagged because they came from a vastly different time zone. As eatbreakfast says, NEVER dig for them.

 

[JoelA7]

I have one and have never been able to find its bed. Couple nights ago after lights out I moved a yellow coris from QT to DT and watched it very slowly spiral down then it stopped and hovered at about 3" pirouetted a few times and buried itself in less than a second. Cool.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

And if no one else will admit to it, I will be the first to say No, you are not strange for checking on your fish before you go to bed. I do it every night too.
As for sand sleeping wrasses, it is a bit frustrating until you know where they sleep. Fun to watch them go to bed, once you have it figured out though. Even better to watch them wake up, I think. When they first wake up, they seem very groggy. Like he needs a coffee!

To answer your question, yes they bury their entire bodies usually, and stay hidden till daytime.
My Yellow Coris jumps out of bed, but I've read another type of sand sleeping wrasse, I forget which, he takes his time and gets up very slowly. Apparently sticking his head out of the sand first and looking around, before emerging completely.

 

[Nina51]

he takes his time and gets up very slowly. Apparently sticking his head out of the sand first and looking around, before emerging completely.

that's what my vrolik's wrasse does. this is him when he was still in my qt. LOL
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/TANK/haha_zps5144e179.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/TANK/haha_zps5144e179.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo haha_zps5144e179.jpg"/></a>

when i added my yellow coris wrasse to my dt, he stayed buried for 2 solid months. in that time, i caught a couple of glimpses of him. once he decided to be sociable, he's out all the time and is one of the last fish to go to bed.

 

[culater94]

mine burries itself right against the glass, so the first time i saw it, I could only see a small portion of it, I didn't know what it was.

 

[3dees]

mine is about 4" and I only have about 1.5"of sand. don't know where it sleeps.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Nina, that picture is great! That little guy is so cute peeking out of the sand. Jealous! Now I want a Vroliks.

My Yellow Coris sometimes sticks his nose in the sand and vibrates his tail. He does it to kick up a lot of sand and eat the goodies that come out I think. Sometimes he also jets into the sand in the day, turns around under the sand somehow, and races back up. Then he spits out a plume of sand. He reminds me of a little fountain as he spits out all that sand.
Damn I love these wrasses!

 

[Nina51]

really a great fish, morgan! if you ever run into a problem with flat worms, he's your guy.

my yellow coris wrasse does exactly the same thing. for the longest time, i couldn't figure out what was causing the occasional cloud of sand. it was happening every evening. not long ago, i just sat and watched the tank to see if i could figure it out and sure enough, the coris wrasse was in and out of the sand and spitting it all over my plate coral. LOL

 

[kmbyrnes]

Once he learns your tanks schedule, he will adjust his internal clock.
I have Red Coris Wrasse that also creates sandstorms.

 

[running scott]

I wonder how the fish breathes under the sand? Perhaps this a question that can never be answered.

 

[Schu Fly]

Just as I was checking the floor, skimmer, large corals and the cat looking for my Yellow Coris Wrasse, there he is. Swimming and looking groggy like a lazy fish waking up at 12:40 in the afternoon!