Wrasse Mystery, but not a mystery wrasse

On Tuesday I received my order from liveaquaria of three fish, one clam, and various snails and hermits. Everything shipped fine and acclimated well, however the moment the Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse entered the tank he went straight into the rocks. He stayed hidden for the rest of Tuesday night. On Wednesday around noon or so he came out. He was staying at the surface of the water but didnt seem too bad. As soon as my Whitecheek Tang saw him he chased him around for a second and then that was that, havent seen him since. Hopefully today being Friday when I return from work this afternoon he will be out, but if not do you guys think he will be ok? Any suggestions to lure him out?

 

From what i have seen, that is normal wrasse behavior. if something spooks my yellow wrasse, he hides for days. When i first got him, i thought he was dead on several occasions but he would always show eventually. i would just give him time to get comfortable. i don't think there is anything you can do unless you think the Tang is just too agressive. Then you might have to pull the rearranging of the rock trick or put the tang in a quarantine tank for a while. of course catching the fish is easier said than done.

 

What was he doing at the surface?

Mine hid for 2 weeks one time after a move... but the hanging at the surface is not typical behavior.

 

Removing the Tang will be next to impossible and as far as rearranging rock they are epoxied and plus most have coral on them so I guess Ill just have to cross my fingers. As far as hanging at the surface Im not sure what he was doing but he was moving around and looked healthy so who knows. This is my first wrasse so hopefully everything works itself out

 

The fish is still MIA so who knows I hope hes not dead

 

wrasses are really timid... its prolly still hiding they do that for up to a month when first introduced

 

I wouldn't worry, he's just shy.

 

the tang could be hammering him i just lost a coral beauty came out like 3 times got smashed stayed in the rocks and i assume its hermit crab food now

 

Don't give up on the fish! Here's my story:

I ordered a trio of red tail flasher wrasses (close to the carpenters). The package got stuck at a Fed Ex hub and arrived to me a day late. The fish were super stressed out. The male died a few minutes after being put into the tank and the two females went into hiding. I figured they were going to die too. Weeks passed and I never saw them, so I figured they were dead.

FOUR weeks later I caught a glimpse of pink in the rocks. After a couple of days this pale, skinny as all get out, wrasse emerged from the rocks. She was still alive almost 4 1/2 weeks after being put into the tank! I was in total shock.

Anyways, moral of the story is that your fish is alone, scared and stressed and wants to stay hiding in the rocks. Give it time, he may pop out and totally surprise you one day! And they can go much longer than you think without eating, especially if you have a good pod population. Fingers crossed he pops out and surprises you one day!

 

good luck with your wrasse. i have a mystery wrasse was fine till the new tank arrived and i moved it to there....than it went into the rocks and hid. i could see eyes peeking out from time to time. recently added a green wrasse. and it seems to be loring the other out. the green wrasse is out in the open swimming around all the time. LOVE that fish. second day it was eating out of my hands. it says add with caution to a reef. they can eat ornamental shrimps and snails i believe.