All About Reef Safe Wrasses

Updated: a few small revisions and the species list has been extended to those available in the states without much headache. If it's not on the list, it's very rarely available or not at all.

 

You missed C. Blateus.

 

That's an upcoming article in the series.

 

let go rent a boat!

 

Hey hunter, my lineatus is becoming more and more cryptic over time. There is zero aggression in the tank and I believe she may be transitioning, but this doesn't seem like expected behavior for the species. What are your thoughts bud? Also the cf lancelotus is doing awesome.

 

Hey evolved!

Just wanted to say thank you for this awesome guide, and for helping me earlier with my sixline wrasse You sure do know alot about these fish! Good job!

 

I've never had one start hiding without a reason. It's always been aggression that I'd have to sit there and watch for, and eventually it would come out. Short of that, I've had ones which are "spooky" and dart into hiding at any rapid movement (from outside the tank or from inside with larger fish), but this type of thing tends to go away with adjusting to captivity after a while.

I bet there's something going on you haven't seen yet.

Good to hear on the Pintail.

 

Hey Hunter, looking for some advice. I have had my C. earlie, C. jordani, and C. lineatus in my 55 HT now for 5 weeks. Tank is bare bottom with a 30 gallon sump (empty except for a skimmer which is off, sponge filter and the heater). Ammonia has not been detectable (Seachem Ammonia Alert badge in the tank). The C. jordani showed signs of Ich a day or two after introducing, but never more than a couple of spots. However after about a week, the Earl's was covered. At the time, all fish were eating well (including the Earl's). I started Cupramine treatment, which took 1 week to get to 0.5PPM. Since the level has been at 0.5, I haven't noticed any signs of Ich on any of the fish. Shortly after copper was at 0.5, the Earl's basically lost its appetite. We are now 3 weeks into treatment, and still the same. He barely eats anything now. Last thing he ate was some frozen brine. I have tried Mysis, Reef Plankton, NLS pellets, Cyclops, shrimp eggs, and probably a couple others I am forgetting. The other two eat everything just fine (except the reef plankton for some reason).

I dosed Prazi-pro last Sunday as well to give you more info. I wanted to rule out any intestinal worm issue. I was going to do another dose this weekend. Also there is no aggression at all between him and the others (he is 3 times as large, so no surprise there).

So, do you have any thoughts/ideas on the best course of action? I could try live brine shrimp next. I have tried garlic and selcon on most of the above foods, but didn't change the response. I appreciate any help!

 

It's probably the copper.

I'm not a big fan of copper with wrasses for reasons just like this; some don't do well with it. I'd rather use a formalin product over copper (and did with my attenuatus). Chloroquine Phosphate is a good alternative, or running hyposalinity on the QT is preferable over copper IMO (and the best overall option).

You can try more/other foods, but it might not make much difference until you remove the copper.

 

About what I figured then. I have been 3 weeks at 0.5. Thoughts on lowering it now instead of after 4 weeks?