Silly Wrasse question

[Mare100]

Does anybody know.......can the fish see their reflections in the tank glass?

I have a Moon Wrasse in my 55 gal. tank along with a clownfish. I recently noticed the Wrasse seemed to be changing color a bit. He was mostly green....but now I see a definite blue coloration appearing. Lately....he's been hanging out in this spot in the back of the tank behind a rock. He swims out....and quickly swims back there. When he rests....he kind of "lays" down in a little nook in the rock and looks as if he's looking at his reflection in the glass.

Would seeing his reflection in the glass cause any kind of mating behavior?

He looks great and is eating just fine otherwise.

Mare

[FragMadness]

Yes if light is right they can see themselves I had a Trigger once that would puff up and bite at glass when nothing was even near tank and I mean a room away so I beleive they can

[Scuba Oz]

Dont know about mating behavior, but what you describe is normal for a wrasse. If they can see their own reflection, well none of mine have ever said Once he/she gets to know the surroundings it will most likely come out and "play" more. They tend to be hiders at times.

As far as color changes, this is somewhat normal for Moon wrasses, but has anything changed in the tank? Water Params the same, no new additions, lights, filtration, fish, ect... More info would help, let us know!!

[Thomas Berk]

my lunar wrassse does that all day he has a favorite place to rest and sleep, that is when he holds still, next to the glass wedged in between the rocks its normal for them.

[Mare100]

The only recent change in the tank has been the addition AND removal of a Scooter Blenny. (We had to find him a new home because he wasn't doing too well in our Fish Only tank).

Everything else is pretty much the same. I test the water pretty much every day and we just went through a brief period of a slight rise in ammonia then nitrite. We're getting alot of algae now though.....and the ammonia and nitrite levels seem to have gone back down. Almost seems like the tank is having another nitrogen cycle. Does that happen?

The only other thing we are having slight "issues" with is water temp. Its' been hovering around 78.9. We've been trying to get it down a bit....but it seems like the lights really warm up the water.

Is it true that the Moon Wrasses can actually change sexes?

Mare

[Thomas Berk]

how long has the tank been set up and what water source are you using. wrasses do ok in temps around 75-80 I live in Fl. and the tank is near 80 most of the summer with no change in my wrasse.

[Thomas Berk]

sorry and I read in one of my marine books that some wrasses can change sex, I'm not at home so I cant look up the ones that do.

[Mare100]

Thanks!

The tank has been set up since early November. The Wrasse and the Clownfish have both been in there the whole time.....the LFS said they would both be hardy enough to make it through the initial cycle....and they were right. They have both just about doubled in size since bringing them home. They really have been doing great!

I do believe I read somewhere on-line that the Thalassoma Wrasses are able to change sexes. But I'd be eager to hear what your books say. Boy....wait till I tell my husband that his "favorite little guy" might just possibly be a trans-sexual!! LOL!

Mare

[Scuba Oz]

Originally posted by Mare100

The only other thing we are having slight "issues" with is water temp. Its' been hovering around 78.9. We've been trying to get it down a bit....but it seems like the lights really warm up the water.

Is it true that the Moon Wrasses can actually change sexes?

Mare

Um, getting it down to where? I would hope you are trying to get it stable at 80-81*. Most reefs are at that temp if not higher, but 80-81 seems to work for the best. If you are having temps swings, I would try to fix that before anything. The chemistry swings need to get in order FAST also, you should not swing there at all, how new is this tank and what are the readings?

[Mare100]

80 - 81 is okay? Our tank isn't a reef tank....it's fish only. Does that make a difference in what the temp should be?

Tank has been set up since beginning of November. After the initial cycle....the readings were 0 for ammonia and nitrites until just recently. As I said...I've been taking readings daily...and the highest nitrite test we have gotten recently is 0.3 mg/l. That is now back down to <0.3 mg/l. As for the ammonia....that was showing between 0 and 0.25 mg/l. I couldn't test that tonight, as I ran out of the stuff to test the ammonia.

We also noticed that every time we do a little water change, the algae seems to get a little worse.

M

[zigrat88]

FO tanks are fine at 78, I actually run mine around 75. But once you start adding stuff you have to bring that temp up

[Mare100]

OK....thanks. That sounds like the temp range our LFS has been telling us. I just worry about fluctuations in temp. Not big ones...but I guess even small fluctuations can bother the fish, no?

M