Red hooded wrasse

marinesb

New member
Hi all, i bought a red hooded wrasse male and this is the 3rd day since having him that his hiding. Is this normal? I hope he is not dying :(
 
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Ive had several fish in the past, including the Tanaka's Pygmy wrasse I added a week ago, that hide for many days before they are comfortable enough to come out. I wouldn't worry too much yet.
 
When I bought mine from the LFS they told me to expect that, but he spent less than a day hiding. All that's in there is a clown pair and a shrimp
 
He may be finding some tasty treats in the rocks. If you haven't seen him after 7 or 8 days I might start to wonder, but for now I'd say not to worry too much. Are there any other fish in the tank?
 
Hi all, i bought a red hooded wrasse male and this is the 3rd day since having him that his hiding. Is this normal? I hope he is not dying :(

Initial hiding by wrasses is normal, but it's also important that it's not being harassed by another fish... This is where an 'acclimation box' can help introduce new fish to tankmates
 
Hi all, i bought a red hooded wrasse male and this is the 3rd day since having him that his hiding. Is this normal? I hope he is not dying :(

Initial hiding is normal, but hiding for three days for a fairy wrasse is not normal. They are usually out relatively quickly if they are not harassing by existing fish.

Ive had several fish in the past, including the Tanaka's Pygmy wrasse I added a week ago, that hide for many days before they are comfortable enough to come out. I wouldn't worry too much yet.

Tanaka's wrasses by nature are a significantly more cryptic fish than a hooded fairy wrasse. While some fish are more prone to hiding fairy wrasses are usually pretty quick to come out.

Yes it takes certain fish longer.

Very true, but with fairy wrasses there is usually a reason.

When I bought mine from the LFS they told me to expect that, but he spent less than a day hiding. All that's in there is a clown pair and a shrimp

This is a much more normal instance with these fish.

I hope he doesn't starve? How long can they go without food?

They can go a surprisingly long time, A fish starving is not that common.

He may be finding some tasty treats in the rocks. If you haven't seen him after 7 or 8 days I might start to wonder, but for now I'd say not to worry too much. Are there any other fish in the tank?

Fairy wrasses generally dont pick at pods as much as other wrasses, as they are built to take their food from the water column. If you havent seen a sign of him yet I would be concerned because this is not normal for them.

Knowing what the other fish in the tank are would help figure out what exactly is going on.

Initial hiding by wrasses is normal, but it's also important that it's not being harassed by another fish... This is where an 'acclimation box' can help introduce new fish to tankmates

This is excellent advice.
 
These are the fish i have: small sailfin tang, mandarin, carpenter wrasse, red head salon wrasse, clown fish, fire goby, yellow coral goby, flame angel. I can see him move under the rocks but still had not come out :(
 
The wrasses in your tank already are the likely suspects for keeping the hooded wrasse hiding. A couple of solutions:

Try getting a mirror up against the glass as the existing wrasses will view reflections of themselves as greater competition and thus need more attention than the hooded wrasse.

Catch out the carpenters and solorensis for a couple of days or put in an acclimation box. This will give the hooded wrasse a chance to get comfortable.

Catch out the hooded and put him in an acclimation box. The aggressors will satisfy their curiosity after a day or 2.

Rearrange the aquascape creating new territories.
 
The wrasses in your tank already are the likely suspects for keeping the hooded wrasse hiding. A couple of solutions:

Try getting a mirror up against the glass as the existing wrasses will view reflections of themselves as greater competition and thus need more attention than the hooded wrasse.

Catch out the carpenters and solorensis for a couple of days or put in an acclimation box. This will give the hooded wrasse a chance to get comfortable.

Catch out the hooded and put him in an acclimation box. The aggressors will satisfy their curiosity after a day or 2.

Rearrange the aquascape creating new territories.

+1

How big is your tank (sorry if I missed it somewhere)? It can be tricky adding a new fairy/flasher wrasse to a tank with already established wrasses. Using a social acclimation box can help greatly. If you can see the wrasse under the rocks and know where he is hiding, you might try using a turkey baster to target feed him/area around him with something like mysis to make sure he's still getting some food (or at least better access to some food).
 
Sorry to hear that your wrasse did not make it. How did you acclimate it and did you quarantine the fish for any length of time? Maybe it was ill.
 
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