wrasse combination

[rnscross]

currently setting up a 280gallon tank and im looking at adding a bunch of wrasses for movement and colour. so a few questions i have are,

1) compatibility, in a tank this large do i have to worry about it quite so much?

2) are there any combinations that are no go? or aggressive spp i have to watch out for? should i go for harems or can i just mismash males together?

3) will competition for food limit the number i can place in a tank? i do plan to have a largish refugium to help with copepod populations.

i like almost all of these fish (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+1378) with my 2 fvourite fish atm being Cirrhilabrus laboutei and Cirrhilabrus lineatus.

 

[bradleyj]

Beware, wrasse are very addicting. Once you start, you have no control and can't stop. LOL

Seriuosly, with a tank that size you should have no problem adding quite a few wrasses.
If you want fairy and flashers, I would suggest staying away from sixline, and mystery wrasses. They become quite aggressive to newcomers.
Harems are very nice, but you don't have
to go that route, you can have many single males as long as they are different species.
Just go slow, make sure your filtration can handle many fish, because since they are very active fish, you need to feed often,2-4 times a day.
And a Must is that you have a cover over the top of your tank with holes no larger than 1/4 inch.
They are experts in carpet surfing.

 

[betamed]

I have a 285 with a lot of wrasses
yellow coris
blue sided fairy
6 line
pyles
pink margin
melanarus

The six line is the smallest and is a bit of a pain, but for the most part everyone behaves. The best thing I've done is made an acclimation box out of one of those critter carriers. It gives both new and existing wrasses a chance to meet each other and get settled in without confrontation.

As far as pods I do not have a fuge or anything like that as these are all easy to feed species. I never see pods in the tank.


I've always wanted to keep flashers and leopards in my tank, but I think they are too shy and the leopards don't always take to prepared foods.

 

[bradleyj]

Mine is a 225g , and is almost 5 years old now.

And yes, it's a very good idea to use an acclimation box when adding new fish.

 

[rnscross]

lol i know they are addicting as just reading the rare wrasse thread had me drooling. And i think that movement/colours from wrasses are better than anthias.
Im not really interested in the sixlines and the mysteries arent worth the money IMO ($250 ea here)
I will be using an acclimation box as i also plan to add some angels to my existing group so i will have that set up.
I've also seen some nice covers in the TJ using netting streatched across the tank, im thinking i might do this instead of the flyscreen route.

When QTing these fish do they need to be treated differently to normal fish because they hide in sand?