Orangeback Wrasse Survival Assessment

[jdemarco]

I just recently made last/FINAL unsuccessful attempt at bringing in an orange back wrasse to my system. It was my 4th attempt in the last 4 years. Like all previous, he was eating aggressively as LFS, and seemed he was doing well & eating frozen right away(first 48hrs) in my tank and even took a few pellets then boom.....dead on day 3. Like all previous he did his usual and went down into a small cave at night to cocoon himself in "slime" and then the next day after that he was belly up on the sand bed, and a seemingly quick death. Everything I have read calls them "easy" but I am starting to dig deeper and I read of others writing of their individual and similar unsuccessful attempts. The literature and books have always marked them EASY but i am wondering if as reefers we might be experiencing something different????. I will also at this time like to share a conversation I had with one LFS owner (after i lost my first two back about 3 years ago) That LFS owner told me that their survival rate in shipping and acclimating "has gone down in his experience"

So I would love to hear other peoples experience with bringing these fish in within the last few years, and would love to hear how it has gone in your experience( RELATIVE to bringing other fish/wrasses in during the same time period).....Any and all experiences would be helpful to gauge recent success rates with this beautiful fish....PLEASE DO SHARE...thanks for reading.......

 

[Deinonych]

What are the other inhabitants of your tank?

 

[jdemarco]

at this time, and in this tank.....there has been no bullying to speak of......Red velvet fairy, Pair of leopards(biparts, m/f), midas blenny, yellow tang and blue hippo. in other attempts there have been similar stock (tangs, multiple fairies, mutilple leopards, clowns)

 

[eatbreakfast]

In one of the tanks I take care of there is an orangeback that is going on five years in the tank. It has lost it's vibrant color, but still going strong. In another customer's tank there is one that has been in the tank for 9+ months without issue.

They don't handle curiosity/aggression from established wrasses. They benefit from being introduced via acclimation box so they don't get harassed.

Red velvet wrasses do have a reputation for being pugnacious toward other fairy wrasses.

 

[albano]

I have ~40 wrasses out of ~80 fish in a 450g DT ... Have been keeping SW fish since 1973, reefs since ~1985... Have tried Orangeback wrasses multiple times over the years, never with any long term success... FWIW, I have/had success with many 'difficult' fish...

 

[Moort82]

Not kept one but considered it a while ago and the info I found kinda put me off trying. It seems a lot of people lose them even after they seem to have acclimated fine, so I don't think it can all be put down to shipping stress.

 

[jdemarco]

great feedback thus far......keep your experiences coming....thanks to all so far

 

[scooter31707]

I currently have 1 that I got from LA about 6 months ago. He is doing fine, eating like a pig. I don't know what is expected of them, but mines swimming at top a lot. He does not explore the bottom half of the tank, as I don't see any aggression. He is in with 2 other wrasses. He acclimated very well. When I get home I will try and get a picture. This is my 2nd one, first one jumped out and I found him on the floor when I got home.

 

[scooter31707]

Here is the tankmates he is in with.

Bluespotted Angel
Mimic Tang
Orange Back Wrasse
Yellow Wrasse
Melanurus Wrasse
Flame Hawkfish
Coral Beauty
Lawnmower Blenny
2x Clownfish