Whats a good first fairy/flasher wrasse?

boilermaker1

boilermaker1

New member
Open to suggestions... I had wanted a 4 line, but hear they can be kind of feisty like 6 lines are, not sure if I want to deal with it right now since I still have a lot of fish adding to do to the tank.
I have a 220, which currently only has a pair of black saddleback clowns in it. I also have a blue tang, but he's been in QT for a while trying to kick the ich. He'll eventually go back in there as well (the tank was fallowed for 12 weeks, so the DT is clean now).
I'd like to at some point get some anthias too, so I need compatibility there.
I have 1/4" net screens (from Bulk Reef Supply) over the top of the tank.
Can you buy more than one and form groups?
Also... is there anything I should know about QTing them? are they ok with copper/prazi? do they need sand in QT?
Thanks
 
Wrasses tend to be ok in my experience QTing them. Im not sure on specific wrasses, but I have had luck with my exquisite and ruby head. And usually one per tank which sucks for me cause its my favorite
 
They dont need sand as they sleep in a mucus coccon. Or wedged in rock. You can qt them with cuprimine(copper) as well as prizipro. A cover is a must. Anthias IMO arent the best companions as they complete for food in the water colum. IN the wild things often work different than in a controlled environment. As for selection, Id stay away from scotts they tend to be very aggressive. I personally have a Lineatus pair, Johnsoni trio, pylei pair, hooded pair, adornus pair, loubouti, naoko all fairies and a royal, red tail and mccroski flasher, all males. Any questions just ask! they are IMO the best fish to keep. their personality is second to none. IMO of course!
 
reefjunkie42 said:
They dont need sand as they sleep in a mucus coccon. Or wedged in rock. You can qt them with cuprimine(copper) as well as prizipro. A cover is a must. Anthias IMO arent the best companions as they complete for food in the water colum. IN the wild things often work different than in a controlled environment. As for selection, Id stay away from scotts they tend to be very aggressive. I personally have a Lineatus pair, Johnsoni trio, pylei pair, hooded pair, adornus pair, loubouti, naoko all fairies and a royal, red tail and mccroski flasher, all males. Any questions just ask! they are IMO the best fish to keep. their personality is second to none. IMO of course!
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I agree. They are my favorite too!!!
 
sponger0 said:
They do tend to be a little shy at first...
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Id say this is relevent to the tank mates. Mine never hide, but then again are surrounded by other wrasses. If you add 1 there is a good chance you wont see it a ton. If you add 2 or 3 or 4..youll see them all the time.
 
So you're saying to keep them out in the open, to add more than one species? Or multiples of the same species?
Was looking at red head solons (Cirrhilabrus solorensis), some sites say they do better in groups, was thinking maybe a male and 2 or 3 females?
 
boilermaker1 said:
So you're saying to keep them out in the open, to add more than one species? Or multiples of the same species?
Was looking at red head solons (Cirrhilabrus solorensis), some sites say they do better in groups, was thinking maybe a male and 2 or 3 females?
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some male wrasses will lose some of their color if kept as singles... IMO, Solar is one of them.
On the other hand, out of my 20+ wrasses most of them have become males
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I really like Lubbocks fairy wrasse. Gorgeous, inexpensive, mild mannered, and stays relatively small.
 
SDguy said:
I really like Lubbocks fairy wrasse. Gorgeous, inexpensive, mild mannered, and stays relatively small.
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Ive heard they can be agggressive, no? If I could only pick 1"inexpensive" wrasse Id pick cirrhilabrus bathyphilus. I love mine. However inexpensive is in the eye of the beholder. I also love my pylei. And if your going to go lone male cant go wrong with a cirrhilabrus naokae
 
reefjunkie42 said:
They dont need sand as they sleep in a mucus coccon. Or wedged in rock. You can qt them with cuprimine(copper) as well as prizipro. A cover is a must. Anthias IMO arent the best companions as they complete for food in the water colum. IN the wild things often work different than in a controlled environment. As for selection, Id stay away from scotts they tend to be very aggressive. I personally have a Lineatus pair, Johnsoni trio, pylei pair, hooded pair, adornus pair, loubouti, naoko all fairies and a royal, red tail and mccroski flasher, all males. Any questions just ask! they are IMO the best fish to keep. their personality is second to none. IMO of course!
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I agree with all of this, except I've had no problem keeping them with anthias. My anthias and fairy wrasses get along fine, they don't really interact at all.
 
Fairy and even more so flasher wrasses are superb. They will not do well with Pseudochromis (except P. fridmani) or lined wrasses such as a sixline. C. solorensis is slightly on the aggressive side and the "blue group" tend to lose the most coloration without a female or two. cirrhilabrus bathyphilus, a member of the "red group" is excellent, interesting, and not aggressive.
 
cirrhilabrus bathyphilus, a member of the "red group" is excellent, interesting, and not aggressive.
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...and several hundred dollars for one.
Dont get me wrong, its a beautiful fish, but I can just see the wife's reaction now... She can understand that an angel or something could be $100+ because it gets big, but would go nuts over something like this because it stays the size of a fish stick.
Whats good and under $100, better yet, under $75 a piece?
 
Fairy wrasses are expensive. If you want less expensive, go with flasher wrasses. Of course this hobby is not a cheap one.
 
Id go with a Pylei or a pink margin. never had any exp with pinks though. And I started out like you, but when you realize how these fish got to this country...and the sturggle they endured is amazing. deep collection, proper decompression methods, diver fees,shipping 2 or 3 times. It isnt a cheap thing to be looking into deep water fish that have never been known to breed in captivity.(atleast i wasnt aware)These are considered the highest in price to size ratio in the marine fish trade. And IMHO Id pay more if needed. these fish are amazing, wrasses are just something else. And most are hardy to boot!
 
snorvich said:
Fairy wrasses are expensive. If you want less expensive, go with flasher wrasses. Of course this hobby is not a cheap one.
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My lubbocks was 24.99, and they still cost about that nowadays.

Lubbockswithgorgonian.jpg


Even many of the ones listed on LiveAquaria start at reasonable prices. I think we often get too caught up in the rare and expensive fish, overlooking the incredibly beautiful common, less expensive fish often available ;)
 
I wasnt trying to come off like a cheapskate... I know this isnt a cheap hobby or I'd have a goldfish bowl :) I just dont think its a wise idea to spend $200+ on the first of any kind of new fish when there's equally attractive, less expensive options out there.
So far I'm still looking at C. solorensis, and also the exquisite (c. exquisitus) and red fin (c. rubripinnis), all of which are about $50. Not looking to get all species, but if I got some, I'm sure i'd get a small group.
 
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