Fairy wrasse Photo Library - Page 19

The Beaut · #**451** 04/20/2006, 09:25 AM

Just got this Rosy Fin from another reefer, have not seen the black on the head like this before. Is this common or some kind of illness. There seems to be nothing wrong with him, eats like crazy.I also included a pic of one of my other favorites.

slobound · #**452** 04/20/2006, 11:14 AM

Hey guys,

I just picked up a male linneatus at the store that was a pretty beat up around his mouth. I figured I could care for it better than the fish store could and come out with a great looking fish as long as I can heal it. Well, it's been a couple days now and it still hasn't started eating... bad sign. It's currently in a breeder cup but is desperate to get out. I'm wondering if I should set up a completely seperate QT for it, continue to try feeding in the breeder cup until it eats, or release it in the tank and hope for the best? What do you think???

Thanks

bronco7777 · #**453** 04/20/2006, 12:24 PM

slobound,

I suggest you place this fish in its own QT and begin using a light dose of maracyn 2 (saltwater version) to help heal his wounds. He's probably very stressed out from the wounds and now also has the transfer shock of being moved around from one place to another. He may continue to rub up against his wounds and make things worse if he stays in the specimen cup all stressed out.
Keep the lights dim in the QT and provide a PVC fitting for him to hide and rest in. Give him two weeks in there and if possible give him a varied diet of Mysis, Krill, and cyclopeeze. FYI, also add a strong airstone to the QT while medicating him with Maracyn 2 and do some 20% water changes every 3 days. If you do this I think you'll have him up and running in a couple of weeks...ready for the big tank.
When you are ready to transfer him to the big tank use the specimen cup method with him and start this process at night right before you shut down the lights for the day.

bronco7777 · #**454** 04/20/2006, 12:25 PM

FYI, Maracyn 2 will also help boost his appetite back up. It may take a day for this to occur.

slobound · #**455** 04/20/2006, 12:36 PM

GREAT! Thanks for the info bronco. I'll get the QT up this afternoon and pick up some marcyn 2! I'll update his progress soon...

H.Tanaka · #**456** 04/20/2006, 03:24 PM

Bronco,
Nice to hear from you again !

The Beaut,
These two are different species, the top is Rosy0scaled (Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis; Chagos, Maldives and Sri Lanka), and the bottom is Rosy-fin (Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus). They differ in coloration of dorsal fin and that of chest. Both are nice pics.

MarvinsReef · #**457** 04/20/2006, 03:59 PM

first off.. I would like to thank everybody here that has contributed to this great thread... I've learned a lot and enjoyed looking at the pictures of different fairies and flashers.. I've been really into fairies and flashers since two months ago when I purchased a flasher out of the blue... Just out of curiosity, what is your oldest fairy or flasher? just wanted to know the average life span of these beautiful animals on a fish tank...

Thanks in advance..

Marvin

bronco7777 · #**458** 04/20/2006, 05:08 PM

Thanks Hiroyuki......work is really busy right now and it's been keeping me away from the thread.

I see your very active here. Great to have you.

bronco7777 · #**459** 04/20/2006, 05:10 PM

I have a 4 year old orangeback and a flame almost 5. In the past I've had a Lineatus for 4 1/2" years. Died in a heater accident, otherwise it would have kept on going strong.

Benny Z · #**460** 04/20/2006, 06:36 PM

Yikes! I came home from work today and there is a gaping hole on the left side of the head of the red wrasse I've posted pictures of! The flesh is torn and is hanging loosely and there is about 2cm of white flesh exposed. I'll try to get a shot of it later tonight.

What can I do to help mend the wound?

Do you think this was caused by him scraping his head on a rock, or do you think my Carpenter could have done this? The Carpenter flashes at this wrasse every now and then and they chase each other around the tank a lot, but there have never been any obvious signs of attack before.

???

The Beaut · #**461** 04/20/2006, 07:31 PM

Hiroyuki/Bronco,
Sorry for the confusion, just added the Rosy Scale for show. My question on the Rosy Fin is about the black marking on his head.
Thanks

H.Tanaka · #**462** 04/20/2006, 09:34 PM

The Beaut,

I am afraid if the lighting is too strong (?) Some aquarium specimens of fairies are said to get darker especially on the back and head when lighting is too strong, but I have never experienced that.

The Beaut · #**463** 04/20/2006, 09:39 PM

Thanks for the quick response. It makes sense, being a deep water fish, the guy got a little sun tan.

Redfish · #**464** 04/20/2006, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarvinsReef
first off.. I would like to thank everybody here that has contributed to this great thread... I've learned a lot and enjoyed looking at the pictures of different fairies and flashers.. I've been really into fairies and flashers since two months ago when I purchased a flasher out of the blue... Just out of curiosity, what is your oldest fairy or flasher? just wanted to know the average life span of these beautiful animals on a fish tank...

Thanks in advance..

Marvin

I had a pair of Lineatus wrasses for about five years. After surviving 300, 120 & 225 gallon tank moves as well as temporary tanks and three hurricanes, they perished due to the problem with my wrasses as discussed above.

I do not currently own them, but I had a four fish harem of McCoskers wrasses purchased at about one year after the Lineatus wrasses. These wrasses were given a temporary home with a friend during one of my tank moves. He liked them so much he permanently adopted them. One of the females died, but the male and two females are still alive. One of the females and the male appear to be slowing down and not looking as good as they used to. I would suspect that they are nearing the limits of their life span (at least in an aquarium setting).

achillesheel · #**465** 04/20/2006, 10:38 PM

what is the typical life span of these guys? ocean/ aquarium?

Benny Z · #**466** 04/20/2006, 11:18 PM

Here is a movie of my injured wrasse.

Quality is downgraded for file size (1MB), but you can still see how big the gash is.

http://home.insightbb.com/~ben.zimme...asseinjury.wmv

danieljames · #**467** 04/21/2006, 02:45 AM

Cirrhilabrus?

tang_man_montreal · #**468** 04/21/2006, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by danieljames
Cirrhilabrus?

Blackhat Pencil wrasse, (Pseudojuliodes sp)
It's not a fairy wrasse, doesn't tend to ship well, and can be reluctant to feed.

Bronco can offer more information as he has one.

tang_man_montreal · #**469** 04/21/2006, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Benny Z
Here is a movie of my injured wrasse.

Quality is downgraded for file size (1MB), but you can still see how big the gash is.

http://home.insightbb.com/~ben.zimme...asseinjury.wmv

Benny,
judging by your video, your wrasse seems quite active. From what I could make out of the injury, it doesn't look too bad. He may have gotten spooked and attempted to jump, or dart into a rock. If your water quality is good, he should be fine.

Benny Z · #**470** 04/21/2006, 07:14 AM

Phew... Thanks!

Yes, he is indeed quite active.

bronco7777 · #**471** 04/21/2006, 08:10 AM

Benny Z,

Fairy wrasses are very nervous fish. They are like firecrackers, they can go off at any time. Sometimes if I walk in front of my tank suddenly or make a quick unexpected move I'll have a couple of them dart straight up and hit the lid on the tank. Judging by the body language in that video the fish looks like he's okay and he has just a big scrape on his head. He probably got startled for a moment and bumped into a rock or something as he jumped around.
Just watch the area to make sure it doesn't get worse. If so, go ahead and take him out and place him in the QT. Use the Maracyn 2 as I explained earlier.

Otherwise I think he'll be fine.

snorvich · #**472** 04/21/2006, 08:17 AM

Hiroyuki/Bronco and the other experts on this thread,
I have two tanks: a 200 gallon LPS tank and a 320 gallon SPS (primarily) tank. I am devoting the 200 gallon primarily to fairy/flasher wrasses. The 200 gallon has four percula clowns and one helfrichi firefish and a couple of shrimp/goby pairs. The question is how many fairy/flasher wrasses I can put in the 200 gallon. Currently purchased and arriving are pairs of Cirrhilabrus earlei, Cirrhilabrus johnsoni, Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis for this tank. That seems like it should be no problem. I also have purchased a small harem of Cirrhilabrus jordani (5) which I would like to put in the 200 as well if it would not be too much. Alternatively I could put them in the 320 which has a lineatus and a rubrimarginatus plus anthias and gobies. What is the consensus advice on this choice? TIA.

bronco7777 · #**473** 04/21/2006, 08:26 AM

Danieljames & Tang Man

Yeah that's a picure of my Black Hat Pencil Wrasse.

This fish is not a Cirrhilabrus. It comes from the Pseudojuloides wrasse family.Pseudojuloides severnsi is the correct scientific name for this fish.

One unmistakeable sign that this is not a fairy wrasse is the fact that it is a sand sleeper. It Needs a bed of sand to bury itself when it goes to sleep. Fairy wrasses do not bury themselves. They spin mucus cocoons to protect themselves at night.

This pencil wrasse can be kept well with fairy wrasses. They don't get very big and they are for the most part reef safe. I keep mine with adult blood shrimps, cleaner shrimps and peppermints and he has never gone after them. I do see them go after worms or pods when they can find them. He's never touched my small cerith snails.
One more note here...the Yellowfin fairy wrasse seems to always be chasing the pencil. It never amounts to any real aggression but it still occurs constantly. Interesting as both these fish can be found in Indonesia, so you would think they know each other well. Anyway, nothing to be concerned about. My pencil has never been aggressive toward any fish so I recommend them from that standpoint.

One thing to keep in mind is that the males are (pictured above) completely colored differently from the female. The female is just all orange from head to tail. However, if the male is kept alone some of his coloration will fade. So consider getting a harem for these guys. They can live well alone, but look better with females.

These wrasses.....like most wrasses......don't ship very well. So they need to be treated delicately when transfering. QT in a dark room for two weeks, and then specimen cup the fish for a day or two. Start him off on fresh Mysis and he should take to that well. Once they are established in your system they become almost bulletproof.....just like a fairy.

Oh by the way, if you guys think fairy wrasses are good jumpers, these are the olympic champions of jumping. So cover your tanks!