Opinions from some professional Wrasselers

[RBCJay]

I have a 140 gallon tank(4'long x 29"tall X 24"deep) that has more rock than I would really prefer but it has been setup to give my fairies tons of hideouts.
I currently have:
1- 4.5"+ Lineatus supermale
1- 3"+ Roseafascia sub adult
1- ~2.5" Tongan flame
1- ~2.5" Condei
Except for a pair of mated Perculas and a yellow watchman, fairies are all I am going to keep.
I would like to try to get 2 maybe 3 more if possible. Balteatus and Laboutei would be probably my next 2 wanted fairies I would also like a large male Jordani but in a moderate sized tank would he be too similar to the Tongan? What you you guys recommend?
Thanks,
Jay

[blface]

Nice stock list!! I would think you would be fine with the jordani. If your to worried I would use an acclimation container to make sure there isn't any agression.

[SPS Addiction]

i have a hooded male and flame pair with no problems along with roseafacia submale/female, rhomboid male, labouti trio, pylei male, and a lineatus male. no real aggression until feeding time.

[snorvich]

The Roseafasica is unlikely to allow the Laboutei in; they can be pretty aggressive once established. C. Jordani might be a problem with the Tongan Flame especially if both are males.

[RBCJay]

Thanks for the info guys.
Snorvich would you have any recommendations on any other additions or would you call it done?
Any other feedback would be appreciated.
Jay

[snorvich]

Well, if it were me, I would look at a pair or trio of flasher wrasses e.g. McCoskers, Carpenters, etc. They have nice coloration, behavior, and are compatible with what you have now. Balteatus will lose coloration unless kept with at least one female.

[ssavader]

RBCJay, can you give me some details on your Lineatatus, how long have you had him, how he is doing, bold or shy, where you got him, how much he was (if you don't mind saying). I have seen them for $220 to $270.

[RBCJay]

Hey Scott, I have had him about a week. He is doing very good and is getting settled in very well. He has been out and eating well since I got him and probably by sheer size alone is the top dog in the tank. He nudges some of the others alone every once and awhile but not in an aggressive way. He came from the Divers Den at DFS and he was on the low end of the price range you listed.
Jay

[ssavader]

Thanks, Jay. These are beautiful fish and I am itching to get one!

[Philwd]

For me the condei is extremely aggressive to newcomers. He's just under 3". I just added a big 4-5"SM Rhomboid. I did the specimen cup acclimation for 2 days and no one paid him any attention. Let him out last night and the condei would not leave him alone. Had to shut off the lights early. I would think any wrasse close in color would get it worse. I agree with Snorvich if the Tongan and Jordani are roughly same size you may have a problem.

[SPS Addiction]

the tongan flames look a lot closer to the hoodeds( c.bathyphilus) than the c. jordani. do you really think there would be an issue between the tongan and hawaiian flames if they dont look similar?

[Philwd]

Every fish has a unique personality so some may be ok and some not. I generally try and stay away from fairies with similar colors and size. But then again my condei is smaller and different color than any other fairy and he is a terror(if he keeps it up this week with the rhomboid he's gone). Go figure.

[bradleyj]

I really don't see a problem with what you want. My experience with the Laboutie is he was the most aggressive of the bunch. My Lineatus supermale tends to spar with my pink marginautis su/m, every now and then, but my su/m Aus Scott's is really mild tempered, so I think all of there personalities are different and you really never know how they are going to act with one another untill you get them. If you stay with 6 or 7 fairies total, I don't see a problem.

[huskerreef]

I have kept a Jordani Super Male and the Tongan Flame Wrasse together and in the begining they spent a lot of time flashing at each other but settled down in a day or so. I have been acclimating my wrasses in a clear floating breeder container. I add the newbie when lights are on to see any major agression and to allow everyone to get used to each other and if if there is a problem I can safely move the new one out to another tank or back to the lfs. If everyone is happy, once the lights go out and all the fishes are out for the night I let the new one go and the next day they don't even recognize the new mate. Unfortunetly my flame super male got harassed by me when I accidently dropped a rock on him while setting a coral frag. But I think you should be fine

[RBCJay]

To all of you guys that responded I really appreciate your input. These are awesome in a lot of ways and are really my only focus as far as fishes go. It never hurts to get feedback from those that are doing what you would like to, especially if it can save you from loosing fish.

Oh yeah and curse you Phil :>). When I read your post about your aggressive Condei I was just about to reply about how docile mine has been. Then when I looked in on my tank the Codei and Tongan looked like some cartoon characters- the Condei would chase him for awhile and then they would go through some holes and when they came out the Tongan was chasing the Condei, but they are doing fine now. Anybody but a fish nut would think I was crazy shaking my finger at them and telling them to cut it out.
Thanks Again,
Jay

[Philwd]

Oops. Glad to hear they got things worked out. Well I hope my rhomboid turns the tables on the condei soon. He's got almost 2" on him.

[zemuron114]

i dont have any experience with condei's but here they are aggressive...

With what you have the lineatus is the least aggressive. The laboutei and balteatus will be aggressive as time goes on. Balteatus tend to keep their color if they are a full blown male. The submales will lose the colors.

Large flame males can hold their own. You will be fine with the tongan.

I would worry about the condei and the rosefascia.

I think what you have listed you will be fine. Use the specimen cup and you shouldn't have any problems.

[Fairy Wrassler]

Nice list of wrasses. My large lineatus male had no issues with the other fairies, including a rubrimarginatus, who they are rumored to have difficulties with.

We have 4 conde's in one tank atm and while there has been some chasing there was no serious aggression.

I have kept laboutei with a broad range of wrasses with no aggression problems - none of the wrasse on your list are very similar in appearance, so I would not predict problems.

The only fairy I have had to remove for aggression was a C. filamentosus - he was fairly nasty. It wasn't that his attacks were at all brutal, it was just constant - every few minutes he was chasing someone new, often much bigger fish, and he just never seemed to get over it.

Your roseafascia will bet bigger than the rest.

I have a Vanuatu flame (C. bathyphilus) in with other fairies and he seems non-aggressive. He is similar in colour but different in shape (marginally) from the jordani - I think this might provide your biggest risk. Go with the breeder box acclimation.

Many of these are a fish-by-fish proposition and your mileage may vary. They are the finest fish available, and I wish you the best :-)



Cheers,
FW

[LargeAngels]

Sometimes it just depends on the personalities of the individual fish. My laboutie can be a little #@^@% once in a while, but no damage to anyone. My Aus. Supermale Scott's must be the opposite of bradley's. So nasty I wish I never bought him. Had to do a nightime raid to get him out. Balteatus male can hold his own. No one cares about the female.

Only one I would worry about would be the jordani, but zemuron has a heck of a lot more experience so I would listen to him.

[wrasseguy2]

my laboutei can be a pain sometimes but he is not too bad...i just got rid of my scotts because he was very nasty..i have never kept a jordani so i don't know much about them but zemuron knows alot about them..i had a rosefecia once before it died and it too was pretty aggressive..my lineatus is a beast in my 90..he does not really chase down that much but lets any fish know he is the boss of the tank..but looking over what you got i think you would be fine..it is all an individual thing. some fish are good and some can be a pain..but the specimen cup should help alot

[zemuron114]

Lineatus females are biatches. They are 10x more aggressive then the male lineatus (which IME are very passive)

scotts are beautiful but the devil.. lol they have such an attitude (not as much as velvets though!!)

labouteis can get mean, but dont really do any damage. they show dominance more then any other fairy i know of but dont actually attack.

Jordani, bathiphylus, lrg lineatus and rhomboid are all very passive.

I think you will be fine

[RBCJay]

Well guys, thanks again for all of your info. I almost hate to post what I ended up doing because I value the opinions of all who posted and wouldn't want anyone to think otherwise so here is what I ended up doing- I got 2 frogfish, an undulate trigger and a little bitty napoleon wrasse to go with my fairies. I hope it all works out.






:>)
Actually I ended up with a male Jordani, male balteautus, and a large SM labouti. I am going to slowly and carefully introduce them over time with a specimen cup and if it all goes well I think it will be time to call this tank done.
Thanks again,
Jay

[tmz]

Originally posted by snorvich
Well, if it were me, I would look at a pair or trio of flasher wrasses e.g. McCoskers, Carpenters, etc. They have nice coloration, behavior, and are compatible with what you have now. Balteatus will lose coloration unless kept with at least one female.

I'm adding an (89 gollon) tank to my system and considering two or three flashers.Could I mix them with Chirilabrus without trouble?

[snorvich]

They mix with no problem. But no six lines (or cousins) and no dottybacks.

[LargeAngels]

Zemuron: You must have sent me a nice biatch, cause she is pretty mellow.