Looking for Red fish

[mattsilvester]

Hi All,

I am looking for some fish that are reliably red - in whole or part, as long as they are mainly / strongly red. Short list thus far:

- Flame angel (a red one..... as distinct from the more typical orange coloured ones)
- Flame (scarlet) hawkfish

Many of the pictures of fish online portrait certain species as vibrant red, where as in reality they are more orange or pink..... so I was hoping to get some direction on reliably red species.

Thanks

 

[SDguy]

linespot flasher wrasse, flame wrasse.

 

[33yrplus]

The Flame Hawk will stay red.

The Red Flame Angel will most likely fade to the orangish/red colour.

Marj's Wrasse(Cirrhilabrus marjorie) are a nice solid red.

A Longnose Hawk is Red/white but could be problematic with a Flame Hawk.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[aleonn]

I have a pair of McCosker's Flasher wrasses that are a nice bright red. The Carpenter flasher wrasses are red as well.

 

[Monkeyfish]

This may be bigger than you're interested in but;

louti grouper (variola louti)
Big-eye/pop-eye catalufa (Pristigenys serrula) - some can be more orange than red
striped squirrelfish (Sargocentron xantherythrum)

smaller fish:
line spot flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus lineopunctatus)
male lyretail anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) the ones from the Maldives are half-red; the other commonly collected type are all red with orange and yellow highlights.

 

[jluz1106]

pygmy or possum wrasse. I would get the flame hawk though

 

[taphil]

Red fin flasher wrasse
Long fin fairy wrasse
Condei fairy wrasse

 

[mattsilvester]

Double post

 

[mattsilvester]

Thanks for all the replies.

Should have mentioned its a reef tank.

Its clear there are lots of red wrasse to choose from. Is it fair to say that they colour up quite a lot once out of the dealers tanks and into the reef?

I haven't kept fairy / flasher wrasse before - am I correct that they need a sand bed? How deep? I clearly need to do some more research on these little guys!

Meanwhile both flame angel and flame hawk remain at the top of the short list but I have space in my 150, so there's room for others

 

[rssjsb]

Fairy and flasher wrasses don't need a sand bed. They wedge themselves in the rocks at night. Do you have shrimp? If not, the flame hawk is a great little fish. Brightly colored, inquisitive, and tough but not aggressive. Don't know if you could source a pair where you are, but they can be kept that way. Very cool.

Flame angels are pretty too, but I don't have any experience with them.

 

[mattsilvester]

Fairy and flasher wrasses don't need a sand bed. They wedge themselves in the rocks at night. Do you have shrimp? If not, the flame hawk is a great little fish. Brightly colored, inquisitive, and tough but not aggressive. Don't know if you could source a pair where you are, but they can be kept that way. Very cool.

Flame angels are pretty too, but I don't have any experience with them.

Wrasse - SOLD!!! :beer:

Hawkfish - yes, an LFS have a pair a few weeks back, but the time wasn't right for me. She can get another pair though - a little pricey, but worth it for the novelty of a readily paired fish.

Flame angel - had one before. Pretty easy fish all round - can be a little testy / agressive / territorial ...... but that comes with the territory for angels; both large and small.

 

[38bill]

There are really not that many red colored wrasse that I know about. The two I would recommend are the Linespot and the Blue flasher wrasse. Both are a great red/magenta color and very sim looking. They are active and reef safe. Either one would be a great addition to any reef tank.