Carpenter's Fasher Wrasse questions

[salt newbie01]

I have been looking at the diff wrasses for some time now and have decided to add a pair of carpenter's flasher wrasses to my goby dominated 58. I hope their peaceful despostion will get along with my gobies - It is an lps dominated tank with mainly acans and micros. It has approx a 2 1/2 inch sand bed and is not jam packed with rock. but there is enough rockwork to give ample hiding places.

My question is how to tell if the 2 wrasses my lfs gets in for me are male or female? If they morph from female to male how can I tell if one or both have changed already? I do not want to get 2 males and have them fight and kill each other. ANy tips you could give would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Conesus_Kid]

I have a trio of Carpenter's wrasses that I've had since August. I got them online and asked for juveniles. It's my understanding that males are usually collected as they're more attractive, colorful, etc.

Regardless, two of my three seem to be competing to see who will be in charge. One is a bit smaller, but has more yellow coloration in his tail and flashes more frequently. The other is a bit larger, doesn't have the amount of coloration the aforementioned fish does, but tends to "throw his weight around". I don't think I've ever seen the third flash.

One thing that should put you at ease is that there is no serious aggression between my fishes. When I say they're competing, it's just a lot of flashing and chasing: no nipping/biting at all. No torn/frayed fins to speak of.

I've read that they can change back to female, but it's too early to tell with my group. Having three of them (as opposed to two) seems to "spread out" the chasing. You may want to consider this, especially since male wrasses will often have a harem of females. (This was my original plan.)

As far as your other inhabitants go:
Since adding the trio, my shy gobies (Yellow watchman and Rainford) are out and about much more and hide a lot less than they used to. The wrasses are so active, they seem to act as dither fish for the gobies.

I'm not sure of the dimensions of your 58, but my wrasses use all four feet of my 75 gallon aquarium.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have. These are awesome fish that add a lot of life to a reef aquarium!

[salt newbie01]

Glad to hear you like them so much! My 58 is only 3' wide instead of 4'. That's why I thought maybe 2 would be better than3. Didn't want to over crowd. Glad to hear they helped bring out the gobies. Do they spend more time in the upper or lower half of your tank? Were they good eaters from the start?

[wrasseguy2]

i do not have any pics of the females but i am pretty sure the do not have any filamants on the dorsal fins..check out H.Tanakas gallery i think he has pics of females in there

[Conesus_Kid]

Originally posted by salt newbie01
Glad to hear you like them so much! My 58 is only 3' wide instead of 4'. That's why I thought maybe 2 would be better than3. Didn't want to over crowd. Glad to hear they helped bring out the gobies. Do they spend more time in the upper or lower half of your tank? Were they good eaters from the start?

They're usually in the upper third of the tank. I got them from Reefhotspot.com (RC sponsor).

They've been great eaters from day one. They eat my homemade frozen mix, cyclopeeze, mysis, pellets, and even have a crack at the nori clip every so often!

[salt newbie01]

Thanks again for the info Scott! Sounds like you have some happy fish - any pics??

Wrasse guy - do you know if they can indeed change back from male to female? Do you think I would do better to get 3 or 2 with my tank size? I figure with your name you must be an expert of sorts right??

Thanks to both of you for the help

[Conesus_Kid]

Originally posted by wrasseguy2
i do not have any pics of the females but i am pretty sure the do not have any filamants on the dorsal fins..check out H.Tanakas gallery i think he has pics of females in there

Geez, after checking out that thread, I believe I may have P. mccoskeri or P. flavianalis, since I'm only seeing a single dorsal filament upon flashing??? (wrasseguy2: Any input is appreciated!)

I don't have any pics of flashing, but I've got some pics where they're in the background:

[salt newbie01]

Very pretty fish - but I don't think it is a carpenters - I think the filaminted flasher has a white belly?? I will try to look it up to confirm - I have looked at so many lately they are all starting to run together.

[wrasseguy2]

i am by no means an expert but i have never had a male flasher change back into a female..if you can get a couple females and a male newbie that would be good..i only keep males of different types of flashers and fairys
consesus..i am not sure if it is a mccoskers or flavianalis..if it is the later it will have a yellow anal fin...if it is a mccoskers there will be some red in the anal fin and a single filament..not sure i would need to see a pic with its fins spread out while displaying

[Conesus_Kid]

Of course my wife has the camera in Spain for the next two weeks!

Does the flavianalis have a single filament as well? Does the McCoskers have any yellow in the anal fin?

Thanks!

[wrasseguy2]

if you want some really nice pics of flashers look at H. Tanaka's gallery..he has some really nice pics of flashers and is the person to talk to about fairy and flasher wrasses..i have seen flavianalis with 1-4 filaments

[Conesus_Kid]

Based on H. Tanaka's gallery, I'm 90% certain I've got P. flavianalis. Mine have the yellow anal fin, but there's also a thin red line the entire length of the fin near the bottom.

I've got to get my camera back and solve this mystery!

Thanks, wrasseguy!

[wrasseguy2]

anytime scott can't wait to see the new pics