Two Flasher Wrasse or One Fairy and One Flasher? (90 gallon DT)

[Spork3245]

Hi everyone,

Just getting back into my tank after I had a brook outbreak that took out most of my fish (from literally nowhere, no additions to the tank in at least 3 months, then boom, brook - I think my flame angel was a carrier but never "released" it for two years...? Is that possible...? Whatever, it's over now). I had just three survivors that never showed signs and were transferred to, held in and monitored in a 40 gallon QT for 3 months while I let my tank go fishless. They are a One Spot Foxface, a Diamond Goby and a Neon Cleaner Goby.

After the brook I got hit with aiptasia that wouldn't go away no matter what I did and it killed a handful of my corals, it made me lose interest in my tank but I still did water changes and would hunt aiptasia once per week regardless for the past year. I finally broke down and got some berghia nudibranches, after just 3 weeks I haven't spotted any aiptasia! :bounce2:

I recently added two clownfish to the tank and it seems to have "cheered up" my other fish as they are all way more active now (during the time I nearly stopped caring they seemed to barely come out from hiding and were fairly inactive. I know fish don't have emotions but the clownfish seems to have made the other fish more active for whatever reason ). I now want to add two wrasses and then probably a royal gramma or something in the future. I was wondering if two flasher wrasses would be okay or if I'm better off going with a single flasher and a fairy wrasse?

The wrasses I'm looking at are a Royal Flasher and a McCoskers OR Carpenter wrasse. If I go with a flasher + fairy it will be one of those three (most likely the Royal, I really like the way they look ) and likely a Pink Margin Fairy. Which do you guys think would be most compatible and have the least aggression? They will be TTM'd and QT'd in separate tanks before being added to the DT. When I add them to the DT I plan on adding one directly and putting the other in a small acclimation box I have for 2-3 days to monitor aggression, after which I'll then release him a couple of minutes before lights out. ... Good?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Get all of the wrasses and get males, they will be flashing at each other all day. There are members here with literally dozens of male wrasses. Just don't get two of the same species.

When fish see an empty tank they think danger because all of the other fish are hiding. When they see others out and about they come out too.

 

[Spork3245]

Get all of the wrasses and get males, they will be flashing at each other all day. There are members here with literally dozens of male wrasses. Just don't get two of the same species.

When fish see an empty tank they think danger because all of the other fish are hiding. When they see others out and about they come out too.

Thank you! Aren't some species of wrasse more aggressive towards other wrasses regardless of species? I know Red Headed Solon Fairy Wrasses can be very difficult with any other species of Fairy Wrasse if the RHS was in the tank first, for instance. I'm mostly checking to see which combo would be least aggressive, I would certainly love the combo of all three but I worry that the footprint would be too large with three and that my tank is too small to house three wrasses properly.

 

[ilikefish34]

Best I've come across.

http://www.3reef.com/threads/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses.122261/#.UuksOZFRrwI

 

[d-man]

Flashers tend to be more aggress towards other flashers.

Yes some fairies are aggressive to but I have found most are very tolerable towards other faires.
Common exceptions being pylei, Scott's, solorensis and often times rosefascia.

I'd go with royal and the pink margin. The royal will add the deep blue and purple whereas the Mccoskers and carpenters are more orange and red, which there tends to be a lot of in reef fish

 

[Spork3245]

Thanks guys, I think I may actually go with C. Roseafascia instead of the Pink Margin... Still good with the Royal Flasher? I know C. Roseafascia tends to be aggressive with other Fairy Wrasse, but would a male be good with a male flasher?

NOTE: The C. Roseafascia is a male BUT is in it's juvenile male stage so it's coloring is much different from an adult; it would currently be red with some white markings (it's only around 3" currently)

 

[eatbreakfast]

Roseafascia wrasses are on the moe aggressive sideof fairy wrasses. So there may be some issues there. The more fairy and flasher wrasses in a tank the more the aggression is spread out. Using a social acclimation box to introduce new wrasses to established wrasses also helps.

 

[Spork3245]

Roseafascia wrasses are on the moe aggressive sideof fairy wrasses. So there may be some issues there. The more fairy and flasher wrasses in a tank the more the aggression is spread out. Using a social acclimation box to introduce new wrasses to established wrasses also helps.

They'd be purchased and introduced at the same time, one in an acclimation box for a couple of days. I know Roseafascia is more aggressive, but is that with other fairy wrasse or with flashers too?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Fairy and flasher wrasses are closely related planktivores, aggression towards them will be comparable to aggression toward other fairies.

 

[Spork3245]

Fairy and flasher wrasses are closely related planktivores, aggression towards them will be comparable to aggression toward other fairies.

So should I only purchase the Roseafascia or would there be success in keeping both the Roseafascia and Royal Flasher since the Roseafascia is in it's initial male phasing (transitioning out of juvenile to male) and they would be introduced at the same time? I'd likely put the flasher in the tank "free" and the Roseafascia in the acclimation box for 3 or so days.

Sorry, I just need a direct answer before I do a $300-ish purchase
If my 90 gallon is too small for the roseafascia and the flasher then it's too small, if the roseafascia is too aggressive for it to be peaceful with the Royal Flasher then that's fine too. I don't want to buy both and have the roseafascia kill the royal, or vice versa. From what I've been reading, if they are introduced at the same time or if the flasher was "there first" it seems success is very likely, if this is inaccurate I desperately need to know in an non-vague fashion.

 

[d-man]

My rosefascias have always been great with current tank mates but a lil standoffish towards new editions when they got bigger. Albeit, they were never the dominant wrasse in the tank. My first rosefascia was housed with many wrasses and 11' of tank length to utilize. But my pintail wrasse was king.
My current rosefascia is in my DT now with the same pintail, so he is still boss even though they are same size 3" or so.
But again, I also have 145"x32x43" of space for 30 wrasse

 

[Spork3245]

My rosefascias have always been great with current tank mates but a lil standoffish towards new editions when they got bigger. Albeit, they were never the dominant wrasse in the tank. My first rosefascia was housed with many wrasses and 11' of tank length to utilize. But my pintail wrasse was king.
My current rosefascia is in my DT now with the same pintail, so he is still boss even though they are same size 3" or so.
But again, I also have 145"x32x43" of space for 30 wrasse

Haha! Well I will only have two in a 90 and I don't plan on adding anything else in the future except probably a Royal Gramma or something else that the wrasses won't care about (maybe a Coral Beauty but doubtful as I want to start keeping some Acans and that was a no-no with my previous Flame Angel... Who was a jerk in general ). This more-or-less confirms what I was reading about C. Roseafascia; it generally will be peaceful with wrasses who already had/have established territory or were added at the same time, new additions could/will get tons of aggression though.

Thank you!!!
I ordered the Roseafascia and Royal Flasher both from Diver's Den, they will be here Saturday (figured it was worth the extra $15 so I don't need to wait till Tuesday )