Hey guys I got bit by the wrasse bug. I just got in a pair of flame wrasses the other week and want more! My supplier only has males in at the time being and says that they will be fine together. I don't want to go and purchase such rare and expensive wrasses if the males will fight to the death. What are the chances of that happening or one of the males turning back to female?!? Any advice or insight would be great!
Multiple Male Wrasses?!?
- Thread starter Vac7369
- Start date
ok. the one person i talked said that having multiple males of the same species in a tank wouldn't be an issue. i knew that sounded odd and explained to him i wanted pairs of them vs just males. guess i will have to wait and see if i can find pairs. is buying the males and adding the females later not advised?
jcdeng
New member
usually not advised. you either get them at the same time or get 2 females and let the dominant one turn male. And a lot of time even the female of the pair will turn into a male and then u have 2 fighting males.
eatbreakfast
New member
An established male is usually quite intolerant of another conspecific, ranging from pretty intolerant for a new female to downright attempted murder for another male. And frequently enough a fish may be an initial phase male, which may look enough like a female to be sold as such.
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So basically don't try to get pairs of fairy wrasses because chances are the females will turn into a male? Also I have a mystery wrasse. Would he be of any concern for being a bully of newer wrasses coming into the tank. I hear different stories of them being an issue and not.
eatbreakfast
New member
A mystery wrasse is almost always a problem with new wrasses, any instances where they are not is a rare exception.
evolved
Wrasse Nut
If the new additions are small enough juvi's and therefore certainly still female, then you'll be okay. Problems arise when they're nearing an adult stage and it "looks" like it might be still female.
Yes; to my point above.
That's my mantra most of the time. I typically don't bother with more than one specimen of any given species these days.
Yup...
Wrasses of the Psuedocheilinus genus are not to be mixed with other wrasses.
Ok. I already have made plans to sell my Mystery. Just need to get catch him because I love wrasses now and want to get the following wrasses. Any advice on them?
Rhombids Wrasse
Lineatus Wrasse
Flame Wrasses
African Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
Potters Leopard Wrasse
Laboutei Wrasse
Naokae’s Wrasse
Scott's Fairy Wrasse
Rhombids Wrasse
Lineatus Wrasse
Flame Wrasses
African Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
Potters Leopard Wrasse
Laboutei Wrasse
Naokae’s Wrasse
Scott's Fairy Wrasse
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eatbreakfast
New member
Rhomboids are probably one of the most docile fish on your list, I would add them first and let them get established before adding the last 3 on your list as these (Labouti, Naokae, and Scott) can be a bit assertive toward other fairy wrasses.
Potters wrasses are one of the more difficult leopards to keep, but well worth the effort.
Lineatus, Flame, and Exquiste wrasses are pretty hardy. I would add them after the rhomboids were established.
Potters wrasses are one of the more difficult leopards to keep, but well worth the effort.
Lineatus, Flame, and Exquiste wrasses are pretty hardy. I would add them after the rhomboids were established.
Rilelen
New member
I got two male McCosker's flasher wrasses (accidentally) and would not recommend getting two male wrasses of the same species on purpose. My understanding is that McCoskers are supposed to be one of the more easy-going peaceful wrasses even, but boy, my two males did NOT like each other and came very close to killing each other. I wouldn't risk it.
evolved
Wrasse Nut
The latter three have some aggression potential, especially the Scott's. I'd skip that one if I were you. Also as noted, Potter's are not an easy species.
You might find this a useful read: http://www.3reef.com/forums/tropical-fish/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-122261.html
That one would be fine too.
eatbreakfast
New member
These are a more peaceful species. This is one species that it actually is better to buy this one as a pair for the male to keep that bright belt.
also evolved, people on another thread titled "Lets see your rare wrasses" have said that they Mystery wrasse wouldn't be an issue but my Pylei Fairy would be instead. I just read on the thread you posted that they can be aggressive and it depends on the fish. It seemed like the mystery caused more harm and chasing then the Pylei when I got my first par of flames. the female survived and swims around unbothered. if you think keeping both the mystery and pylei in the separate 10g tank is best please due tell. also would readding them once the new wrasses get acclimated be a possibility or should i still find them a new home?
redlion1968
New member
All fish are individuals and there are other factors that will impact their behaviour too (such as tank size, order of addition etc) so in some cases you can only gather opinion from experience, weight up the evidence, make your decision and then hope it all works out.
(social acclimatization is important as is the willingness to remove a troublesome fish even if its not the fish you have just added).
I have hands on experience of mystery wrasse bahaviours and can cite the example of when i got it, i was moving tanks around and happened to come across "the" most perfect mystery wrasse, at a time i had candy cane hogfish, these are known to be "incompatible" but i questioned if i was going to accept conventional wisdom of challenge it, i was moving a tank at the time so thought i would take the opportunity to try something, i introduced these 2 in a separate tank set up just for them for a week with close monitoring and they didn't have any issues so after a week of no aggression i put them both in the display at the same time (they lived happily together until the hogfish jumped through the egg crate cover)
This mystery wrasses was a model citizen for ~ 3 years but once it got bigger (3"+) i decided it was time it had a bigger home as it was showing signs of getting slightly more aggressive, a friend of mine wanted it and against my advice and put it in a smaller tank, a few months later he added a shoal of anthias and WW3 broke out - this scenario was very predictable but serves as an example of factors that need to be considered in making a decision.
Everyones experience will be different so you just have to balance things up and go with what you feel.
Regards
Ian
(social acclimatization is important as is the willingness to remove a troublesome fish even if its not the fish you have just added).
I have hands on experience of mystery wrasse bahaviours and can cite the example of when i got it, i was moving tanks around and happened to come across "the" most perfect mystery wrasse, at a time i had candy cane hogfish, these are known to be "incompatible" but i questioned if i was going to accept conventional wisdom of challenge it, i was moving a tank at the time so thought i would take the opportunity to try something, i introduced these 2 in a separate tank set up just for them for a week with close monitoring and they didn't have any issues so after a week of no aggression i put them both in the display at the same time (they lived happily together until the hogfish jumped through the egg crate cover)
This mystery wrasses was a model citizen for ~ 3 years but once it got bigger (3"+) i decided it was time it had a bigger home as it was showing signs of getting slightly more aggressive, a friend of mine wanted it and against my advice and put it in a smaller tank, a few months later he added a shoal of anthias and WW3 broke out - this scenario was very predictable but serves as an example of factors that need to be considered in making a decision.
Everyones experience will be different so you just have to balance things up and go with what you feel.
Regards
Ian
r-balljunkie
Registered Reefer
yep. i just collected one this past weekend and added him to the tank, with another male.
FYI not over the top colorful like a supermale rhomboid, but a nice wrasse nonetheless.
immediately picked on him, even though he was bigger in size, but the other one had been in the tank for awhile. i caught him in fairly shallow waters (30'), as they have a range that extends pretty deep down the slope.
i think it will work itself out, but the smaller balteatus started to peacock early on.
i also caught a rhomboid, smaller juvenile that no one seems to mind in the tank.
i find if you add a group of a single species at one time, your chances are better at minimizing the in fighting.
one more trick you can try is a clear container to house the new guys in....everyone can get a visual on them, but they are in protective custody. soon the newness wears off and they may transfer without the same levels of harassment they would get by just putting them straight into the tank.
GL
C
