Melanurus Wrasse

[dbartkow]

After tank transfer method and QT, I added a Melanurus Wrasse to my 110 gallon tank which currently housed two Ocellaris Clownfish. The larger clown was not too happy about sharing this tank, so it pretty quickly started showing the wrasse who is boss by nipping at him every chance she could get. The wrasse took it for a while, but after a couple hours dove into the sand.

As far as I can tell, he has pretty much spent the last couple days buried in the sand. I did see him come out once but was quickly scared back there after the clown took a chunk out of his tail.

Should I let them work this out or should I put the clown in QT for now while the Wrasse gets settled? Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[SkiFletch]

I would suggest banishing the clown for a bit if you really want to keep the melanarus wrasse. My clown turned into a rampant PITA in her older age.

 

[Holsteiner]

I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago when I added the new Scott's Fairy Wrasse. I was worried about my more aggressive tangs and it ended up being the stupid larger ocellaris clown I have. He was easy to catch since he sleeps at the overflow box at night, he chased the Scott's so bad I took him out and put him in jail in the sump. We're upgrading to a 125 in the next two weeks so i'm hoping to add him back in when everything is changed up and hopefully he's calmed down ;-) Good luck!

 

[dbartkow]

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually have a pair of these clowns, but only one of them is the antagonist. Should I move just the trouble maker or keep them both together and move both?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I vote duke it out. Wrasse is quicker. Must learn.

 

[Foody]

My clarkiis are downright nasty and possessive of my tank. I can't wait to get a larger tank. My 30 is quite limited. They killed a bi-colored angel in one day. They tried their damndest to get to my royal gramma until the gramma chomped down on the larger one's face for about a minute. End of that story. No problems after that. They tried like mad to get to my fire gobi but he was lightning fast. Clowns IMO should be the last addition to any tank. Hindsight is 20-20.

 

[Holsteiner]

I actually have 4 clowns in the tank, it was only the largest and oldest of the ocellaris that was the problem. I put him in the sump for the time being until we go from the 75 to the 125 The scott's fairy wrasse is now well acclimated, well fed and has started establishing his territory, so even if the clown is a pain when moved back in I think the wrasse will stand his ground.

 

[tent boy]

Dbartkow, What ever happened with this situation?

 

[dbartkow]

Nothing yet... had a pretty busy weekend, so I have been pushing off a decision. I saw the wrasse come out for about 20 minutes yesterday. The clowns didn't seem to bother him much. So I may give it some more time and observe them. If they do go after the wrasse, they are going to go on a little vacation in my sump. But for now, I am just hoping to see the wrasse again.

Dave