Lineatus Fairy Wrasse Owners - Questions

nuxx

.Registered Member
Good afternoon everyone.

I bought a large male Lineatus Fairy Wrasse about a week ago from Coral Imports:
https://www.coralimports.com/fish/wrasses/lineatus-fairy-wrasse-cirrhilabrus-lineatus/

He showed up and looked great.

I had planned on doing the tank transfer method to start off quarantine, I'd never tried it before but people seemed to sing it's praises.

After two days of hiding in the first tank the wrasse seemed to be getting happier. It would hide, but come out to swim around a bit and eat.

On the third day I then transferred him to the second tank. Instantly the wrasse started to never come out and hardly move. With the lack of biological filtration in these tank transfer tanks, the last night they were left in the second tank the ammonia rose over night. Not to toxic levels, but noticeable. Even two of the five anthias I bought were looking pretty bad.

I then decided to ditch the tank transfer method and move the fish to a "permanent" 40 gallon breeder quarantine that has biological filtration running.

The first day in the 40 gallon, everyone minus two anthias looked terrible, very lethargic.

Yesterday four of the five anthias where out and about, but the wrasse was still hiding and really not coming out at all. I disturbed him a bit when I moved some PVC and he swam off.

Today all five anthias are schooling around and look perfect like they did right when I got them.

The Lineatus is in full on hiding mode. I don't want to disturb him too much, so I'm leaving him be. Haven't seem him today, but don't want to move stuff and start over his stress clock...

I'm feeding three small meals a day. CYCLOP-EEZE, Baby Brine Shrimp and Mysis with selcon and garlic. He doesn't even really come out for feeding.

Is this pretty normal behavior for Lineatus Fairy Wrasses after being moved three times in a week?

Anything I can do to help him out?

BTW:
Quarantine tank is as follows: 40 Gallon Breeder, 2 Powerheads pointed at the surface, HOB Filter with MarinePure Ceramic Media (Good for 250 gallons), HOB Skimmer, Heater, Ammonia badge, LED light (not on, but getting ambient daylight), Air Stone and lots of PVC.


Here's a pic from right after he went in the first tank transfer tank:

new_Fish10012014.jpg



Thanks for your help guys, beautiful fish... just don't want to lose him due to excessive stress...
 
Larger more mature fish have more trouble when getting caught frequently than smaller less mature fish. As far he is concerned he is escaping near deathand the threat of being eaten every time he is transferred. In the long run it wont be that bad for him but does explain his reluctance to be out in the open.
 
Mine was shy in QT. Hid most of the time and only came out to eat. I moved him to main tank as soon as I could bc he popped a lot...I mean, these guys can poop and put some tangs to shame...which can also cause ammonia poisoning.
So yeah my supermale was shy but became bold when moved to main tank.
 
Larger more mature fish have more trouble when getting caught frequently than smaller less mature fish. As far he is concerned he is escaping near deathand the threat of being eaten every time he is transferred. In the long run it wont be that bad for him but does explain his reluctance to be out in the open.

He hates life!

Always has what I'm guessing are stress colors as well... kind of faded with a few strong vertical stripes (or less coloration).
 
I think he's hiding between that T below the powerhead and the glass.

It's really the most protected area. The tank is in a closet with a window high up that never gets used... so 0 foot traffic minus me checking for him...


new_Fish10092014.jpg
 
What would be better to try?



.35 - .4 going up slowly would be too harsh?



Definitely not doing tank transfer now...



Hypo seems pretty hard on a 40 gallon...


Is he showing any signs of ich? If not I would just do prazi pro and that's it.
 
Is he showing any signs of ich? If not I would just do prazi pro and that's it.

0 signs of ich, all the fish looked very healthy and ate right away...

Just hypoed my display though... about to bring it back up in a few days...

Changing over 550 gallons was insane... I'm being as proactive as possible.

Think my wife would kill me if I introduced anything on the first batch of new fish...

BTW: Not 100% sure I had ich in the display, my YB Blue Tang showed some white bumps, didn't exactly look like ich and was gone in a few days, didn't come back for months. Just wanted to be safe. He was one of my old 3 fish I didn't QT when I put them in the new tank. Never showed anything in 3 years, but there was 0 stress as well.
 
Finally saw him... tucked under the PVC where I thought he was.

Breathing and looked like his fins were moving.

Guess that's normal? LOL

How long can fish just sit around for before it effects their healthy?
 
I'm not sure that it's a large male...I thought that yellow tails were female, red tails were male...
 
Maybe harder to tell when stressed?

I'll need to look closer, but I thought I remembered the tip of the tail being red when I got it.
 
After doing a lot of reading, I'm thinking he's a sub-male.

Guess I'll need to get a female next to get him to get to full on super male ;)
 
After doing a lot of reading, I'm thinking he's a sub-male.

Guess I'll need to get a female next to get him to get to full on super male ;)

I don't think so...IME it will happen, soon enough... Save your $
 
If you're worried, get another type of fairy wrasse, not necessary to have a F Lineatus ... (It will also turn male)
 
After doing a lot of reading, I'm thinking he's a sub-male.



Guess I'll need to get a female next to get him to get to full on super male ;)


That's a bummer if you bought it as a full grown male. Was that what they advertised it as?
 
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