As there are over species of wrasse, there is a huge assortment of colors, patterns, and markings that they come in. The Blunthead Wrasse Thalassoma Amblycephalum is a stunning species that can be easily identified by its unique head shape , which is uncharacteristic of other wrasse varieties. Blunthead wrasses are rather dull looking as juveniles, but they transform into vibrant and colorful individuals as they mature.
Initial phase males are white in color with dark stripes along their body and dorsal region. Females also share this coloration. Adult male Blunthead wrasses have a rainbow appearance to them with a bright red body as well as blue, green, yellow on their anterior region. As juveniles, these fishes have an orange body with white tiger stripes or spots on their back. Their tails and fins have a black outline. The Lyretail or Moon Wrasse Thalassoma Lunare have a blue lower body with a black spot in the middle, as well as a black splotch on their caudal fin base.
The Humphead Wrasse is a gigantic fish that can reach 3 feet in length. In fact, they are the largest species in the family Labridae. Male humphead wrasse fish are known to be vibrant blue to green, purple-ish blue, or dull-blue green in color. Female specimens are orangey-red with spectacular facial markings. In larger males, the hump becomes extremely prominent and takes on a bright blue color. Cirrhilabrus species common name is fairy wrasse are among the most colorful varieties of wrasse.
They are a stunning palette of pastel pink, yellow, and orange. During courtship, males display even brighter color intensity. Bluestreak Cleaner wrasse are a iridescent azure color with black streaks along their body hence their name! Bluestreak Cleaner wrasse even clean the inside of mouths and gills on larger fishes, which is certainly a brave task considering they only reach 5.
There are many species in the family Labridae, all of which have different colors, sizes, and personalities. So you are spoilt for options when it comes to choosing a wrasse for your marine aquarium. They are very colorful and interesting to watch , making them a great choice for any reef aquarium.
However, these fishes can be quite aggressive towards other fish, so their tankmates need to be selected carefully. The first captive-bred wrasse was the Bluestreak Wrasse, and the second was the Melanurus Wrasse. A good number of wrasse species are an excellent choice for those new to keeping fish due to their hardiness. Marine aquariums are more challenging to run and maintain than freshwater or cold water tanks. Some wrasse species are hardy and relatively easy to take care of, while some are a little more challenging.
Leopard wrasses are prone to stress and sickness, making them a bit more demanding in terms of care. Cleaner varieties of wrasse like Bluestreak wrasses are notoriously hard to feed as they cannot eat large amounts of food.
Wrasses live anywhere from 3 to 30 years , which is quite a notable difference in lifespan! The Humphead Wrasse can live for up to 30 years, while Fairy Wrasse species usually only live for between 3 and 5 years.
Many types of wrasse are hardy and robust when given good care, but some species like Leopard Wrasses and Bluestreak Wrasses are quite sensitive and can die easily in a home aquarium. Fish from the Labridiae family need a well-balanced diet packed with meaty foods in order to thrive. A lot of smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger wrasses and other fishes, feeding on invertebrates disturbed in the process.
In captivity, wrasses should be fed bite-sized pieces of meaty foods such as frozen or fresh seafood, live or frozen mysis, and brine shrimp, live ghost and grass shrimp, and live black worms. Cleaner species of wrasse mostly eat small invertebrates and parasitic copepods in the wild. They are a bit more challenging to feed in captivity as they cannot eat a huge amount of food in one sitting. Cleaner varieties should be fed small portions of fresh, meaty foods multiple times a day.
Offer them foods like mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, fish flake food, and pellets. The best food for wrasses includes live or frozen mysis and brine shrimp, live blackworms, live ghost and grass shrimp, and fish flake food and pellets. You can feed wrasses simply by adding their food be it ghost shrimp, brine shrimp, fish flakes, etc. Smaller wrasses species will need to have their food chopped up so it can fit inside their tiny mouths.
Cleaner varieties will need to be fed 3 times a day in small quantities as they cannot eat a large amount of food at one time. The type of substrate to use in a reef tank for wrasses mostly boils down to personal preference, but sand is a particularly suitable option.
As wrasses originate from coral reefs with sandy sea bottoms, sandy substrates will make your fishes feel more at home. Make sure you select a model that has the right water flow rate for the size of your reef tank.
As a general rule of thumb, your filter should be able to clean four times the volume of your aquarium. As wrasses originate from warm waters in coral reefs, their tank needs to be at a suitable temperature. In reef tanks, good lighting is critical for growth of plants and coral and ensures a natural day and night cycle for your wrasses. In reef tanks that house wrasses, make sure you add plenty of live rock, crevices, and hiding spots to make your fish feel more at ease. Many wasses species are reef safe so you can get coral and anemones for their aquarium if you want to.
It will take me a while to save the money to get all of these, so they I couldn't add more than 1 or 2 at a time. The flames are timid and the Scott's can be a bully. My Scott's decides he is the boss about once a week and is put in his place. When I add new wrasses I put them in a small container in the tank to get the fish used to the new comer. Seems to work. Make sure you have a covering on the tank. My wrasses jump about once a week and the covering keeps them in the tank. Originally Posted by iamwrasseman.
Originally Posted by IFbettas. Which out of the list are the most aggressive? I'm guessing the mystery should be the last of them to go in. One of the 90's will have a 4 inch sand bed for the radiant and melanurus wrasses and my jawfish.
Scott's followed by Mystery in my experience. Make sure you only have one super terminal male in each of the tanks.
Having had 7 wrasse of which six were fairy's in my tank including a mystery and supermale Rhomboid I found the best way to keep aggression down was by feeding the tank very heavily.
As if I had a tank full of Anthias. Originally Posted by Urchinhead. Maybe I'll just go without the Scott's wrasse. If I do get one I'll put him in the where there are more fish to spread the aggression. Thanks for the good info guys! Any pics? I have found that getting a group of 3 or more young wrasses and letting them form their own group will allow for heavier stocking with less agression.
Be familiar with the species your buying and know the difference between a female, male, and a non dominant male coloration. Search Advanced search…. Forum list. New posts. New posts unread. Log in. Install the app. Main Reef Talk JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser.
It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Reef-Safe Wrasse for 40g Breeder? And I know possum. Are there others that would be ok? Tank dimensions are 36x18x16 45g by some sites, 50tall by others, 40 breeder by what I know.
I already checked on LiveAquaria. Just didn't know if there were any others they hadn't listed. I really like flasher wrasse so I think I may go that route.
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