wrasse question

[RoscoPColtrane]

I'm planning to buy a male mccosker's wrasse. This will be my first wrasse and I would like the male to keep it's coloration. Should I plan to buy a male and a female/juvi mccosker's at the same time? I'm relatively new to wrasses, but I rarely see male and female wrasses at the fish stores and will likely need to purchase online or special order. Any advice would be appreciated...

 

[moatdaddy]

Add two at the same time unless you have a very large tank. I added one then the second one about 4 months later. Bad idea because number 2 broke his back trying to get away from number 1. Good Luck

 

[EllieSuz]

I made the mistake of getting a male first, which meant that I needed a surplus male to keep the juveniles female in quarantine. Live Aquaria occasionally has a trio of two females and one male and this would be the ideal arrangement.

 

[RoscoPColtrane]

thanks for the replies, I will purchase both male and female at the same time.

One more question, will the male mccosker's be aggressive to other male wrasse species, in particular a leopard (Macropharyngodon meleagris) or yellow coris (Halichoeres chrysus)? I have been trying to find information on these fish but I am still unclear about mixing species.

 

[block head]

no hard and fast rules. mccosker's are fairly comon locally. your other option is, to mix and match males of different species. they will flash at other males and keep their color.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I had a boy and saw a nice female at the lfs. After I was home for a couple hours I decided to give her a try. I went back and bought it, and came home; it took about an hour round trip. Guess who was no where in the tank when I got home? Make sure you have a good cover.