Wrasse Shopping

I'm wanting to place my first order with liveaquaria and get a couple of wrasses!

I would like to add a female fairy and male flasher. Would this be an okay combination?

After seeing what is in stock and prices, I'm leaning towards a Female Red Head Solon Fairy and a male McCosker's Flasher


Now my question is, for the McCosker's Flasher they put "male" by the selection and say they do not sell females.

Buuuut on the Red head solon fairy page, they only have one selection available and it's the large size. But they do not clarify if it's a male or female you're buying..? Why is this


I'm also open to any different suggestions on other wrasses to consider that would live well together. I'm trying not to break the bank here, have a 75g DT, and probably couldn't add more than 3 or 4, but want at least 2.


PS: current fish are a black clown and coral beauty angel.

 

i think you will be fine with those two in the same tank now as far as the female or male thing with the first wrasse you can either email Dr.f&s or im sure one of the wrasse pros on here can give you a proper anwser lol

 

You can definitely do those two together. I will say however 2 things;
1.) Red Headed Solon wrasses are typically one of the more aggressive/territorial fairies. They definitely don't play very nice with other wrasses (and sometimes other fish) that are added once they have established their territory. They are also major jumpers, more so than any other wrasse I have owned.

2.) Solon wrasse females don't show up too often in the trade. Almost everyone wants the male for it's coloration. I am certain that Hunter will clarify this as I don't know too much about it the sex variance in this species. However, point is, absent a pair the Solon will lose coloration. Further, even if you found a female, if it is the only Solon wrasse in the tank it will 100% go male eventually anyways. If you are set on doing one there is little incentive to get a female only, unless there is some type of underlying circumstance that I didn't see in your OP.

As for other possibilities;
Lubbock's fairies are cool
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15 1378 376&pcatid=376 This is a Terrible example of their coloration. A Lubbock's can be mind blowing, you just have to pick the right one

Heres a better photo of one with different coloration;http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/10557-lubbocks-fairy-wrasse.html

As is the Red tail flasher wrasse.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15 1378 2892&pcatid=2892
I am also a big fan of the Orange Back Fairy
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15 1378 1398&pcatid=1398

 

Thank you so much, this is just the kind of info I was looking for!
IDK why I didn't think of the female turning into a male anyways, brain fart! So it would be reasonable to keep a male Lubbock's fairy with a male McCosker's flasher? Those are both in stock so it might be what I pull the trigger on. Both look like very cool fish!

 

They don't know the sex of the fish. Unless you buy from the Diver's Den portion of their website, they don't even see the fish. They are trans-shipped in to LAX, the bag may or may not get a waterchange, the bag is re-oxed, and then it's back on a plane to your local city. Diver's Den fish are wholesaled fish. They are fed, treated for parasites, etc. As a result, they are more expensive. The rest of Live Aquaria fish are never even handled by Live Aquaria employees. They pay other companies to handle the unpacking, repacking and transport of them. That's why people get so many dead fish.

 

Ah thank you for clearing that up for me! I never would have known

 

Those are some pretty common fish that they put up on Divers Den. If you have the patience to wait on the trigger pulling Id suggest getting them there. You can sign up for daily updates of what they are gonna post usually for the day on Divers den and they post 5-6PM CST

 

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree.

 

Thank you both, I will start checking out DD!

 

I would definitely get the McCosker's from DD as they are slightly harder to get a good one, plus you can see the exact fish you are gonna get.

I would not worry about the more common easy care level fairies needing to come through DD, unless you want to see the exact fish you are buying. If you wanted one from a stock tank, they almost all come through quality marine AFAIK and you would be fine to deal with them IMO.