# Wrasses!!



## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

I am looking for a good 5th fish for my 55g FOWLR. Right now I have a Powder Blue Tang, Hippo Tang and 2 percula. I also have Inverts such as shrimp and crabs. I have been interested in getting a wrasse.
What wrasses has anyone been successful with or reccomend getting?

If you feel my 5th fish should be something else feel free to give me your input.


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## always35 (Mar 29, 2006)

HEY M8 
I have got a cleaner wrasse and he has settled in really well . he is always active and brill to watch

Always


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

Fairy wrasses make a great addition to any tank and lots of them look really cool. I wouldn't put any more fish in til you'd gotten rid of those tangs though.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

I would try but the LFS i bought the powder blue tang from will give me $20for a $80 fish and won't even buy back the Hippo. 

Do you know of somewhere i could go that isn't going to rip me off on a deal.

I would prefer not doing the "flush" method...

just kidding


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

You could try giving him to another LFS or selling it to someone in another fish club.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

I was going to chime in on this yesterday but I bit my tounge!

That tank is WAY too small for a hippo or powder blue tang! I also wanted to say not to add any others till they are gone. 

As mentioned, The Fairy wrasses are wonderful fish with the Scott's Fairy wrasse or the Exquisite being the most beautiful.

I do not recommend a "Cleaner Wrasse" for 2 reasons. #1 they don't live long in captivity and should never be taken from the reefs and #2 I had one and it killed smaller fish by ramming them till their swim bladder busted. I gave him to a friend that has nothing but larger fish and he is fine now.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

fishfingers said:


> You could try giving him to another LFS or selling it to someone in another fish club.


"Giving!"

I spent $120 on just those two fish. There is no way I am just going to give them away.

And I wouldn't know how to ship them to another fish club.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

find someone in your area that is willing to buy them from you, it would be hard to do, but if you get on the right forum, find out if your city has a local reef club, they usually have a forum too. post a thread. other wise, id like to suggest a six line wrasse. cool fish.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

Fishnewb1 said:


> "Giving!"
> 
> I spent $120 on just those two fish. There is no way I am just going to give them away.
> 
> And I wouldn't know how to ship them to another fish club.


If you spent $120 on a penguin would you keep it in improper conditions just because it cost you $120 ?

Eventually those fish will fair no better in that 55g tank than a penguin would... why hold their cost against them if you cannot provide them proper care ? Why allow them to suffer ?

I highly recommend picking up Scott Michael's guide to 500 common Reef Aquarium Fishes - it will help you determine which fish are compatable and more importantly, has useful guidelines on minimum humane tank sizes (both those fish need 100g+ IMO) 

I 2nd the statement about leaving cleaner wrasses in the ocean - something like 90% starve in captivity. There a a number of very cool wrasses - is this a reef tank ? There are reef-safe and reef-unsafe  wrasses, so I always ask that first before recommending fishes...


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

IMO??

If you go to ratemytank.com you will find many 55g tanks with a hippo tang.

And what will happen if i do keep them in there??
They havent fought at all. They are only 3'' each right now it looks like they have plenty of swimming room...
They arent stressed out at all and you can tell with a powder blue because he gets lines on his back. (only see them when i clean it)

I totaly agree when they get around 6" I would definatly sell them.
But thats in at least a year, from what i have heard they don't grow that fast.


And mabey in a year or two i will get a 125g and not have to sell them.

Do you guys want me to sell one or two of them??


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Are you kidding? I'm sorry but ratemyfishtank.com is not an educational forum... ethics and proper husbandry isn't even an issue in the members minds there. Its a snapshot in time... not the end result, which can be a full tank collapse and a waste of time, money, and irreplacible fish. Every fish site I've ever been on, and every expert I have talked to or read, has loathed hearing about tangs in a 55 gallon. I felt bad when I had a yellow tang in my 55 gallon FOWLR for under 6 months and he's one of the smaller species. 

"But thats in at least a year, from what i have heard they don't grow that fast."
this is completely false. They don't grow fast in smaller tanks because of reduced water quality, and the fact that you can't feed them as much.
My Hippo tang, was dime size when I got her. Now, just a year later, she's over 4" long.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

Alright I understand... 

I told my parents about what you guys have said so they got pissed off at the LFS and made them give me my full money back!!

Except in store credit...

I really don't want to buy anything there but it will have to do.


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## fishfingers (Apr 10, 2006)

That's what parents are for aye 

At least you know now to come here first and not to trust the LFS's information. Just make sure you run all your ideas by us first, as we are more than happy to help.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

heh, heh.. I wonder how many lfs's really hate FishForums sometimes. Oh well, if they'd quit ripping off the newbies...


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

Yea im glad i did that even though he said it would be fine when i got there but now i am just going to ask it here first. Its a shame that you cant trust the LFS that you spent so much money at:sad: 

Do you guys recomend any fish that are really neat and are approved for me.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

oh heck yeah!
And congradulations!!!! I'm very proud that you did the right thing. Now with everything you've learned here lets put some nice, reasonable, fun, and interesting fish in your tank.

As you mentioned before, wrasses
wrasses are active, and, as long as you stick to the fairy wrasses, reef safe, and for the most part peaceful. 
dwarf angels
dwarf angels are not so much reef safe, but will do nicely in a tank that size, they are active, and beautiful, but may pick on a poylp or two that they find are tastey
watchman gobies and pistol shrimp
these two in combination are interesting as in they like to pair up and become mutualistic partners in which the watchman goby likes to look for predators and the shrimp digs a burrow for the two to live in.
Royal Grammas are excellent fish as well
Firefish are very timid, but are pretty and something you don't always see in aquaria
there are so many more, right now I don't have time to list them... but you can kind of look on www.liveaquaria.com to get an idea of what would work and what wouldn't work, then post your final list of fish on here, and we can pick out problems if there are any. 
Again, way to go


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

i did exactly what ff is talking about, i sat down and read for about 3 days, looking at liveaquaria, making a list. you can check my post (the list) it has a list of easy reefsafe fish to get you started, if you dont like any of them, replace them. your tank is just a little bigger than mine, so you might even be able to get a slightly larger fish. but i wouldnt push it.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

Do you acknoledge liveaquaria's advice on the minimum tank size??

Do you buy any of your fish there??


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I do not agree with a lot of their tank sizes as they are sellers and need to move livestock. But they are close enough to give you a general idea of what a fish needs. 

Liveaquaria.com is one of the best online distributers, I have ordered fish from there with good success... however, I like to cherry pick fish at the LFS to know exactly what I'm getting.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

i did not buy any fish there, just used their compatibility charts, and how hard it is to care for the fish. i basically got a list of fish that i really liked, then posted it here, and talked about it with mala, ff, reefneck, and my other friends that chimed in to help. its a good idea, you should do it too, we can help.


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## Fishnewb1 (Mar 24, 2006)

Sounds good i will get on that...


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