Blue group of fairy wrasses?

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adam57

Guest
I have a solar fairy wrasse in my 135 gal. FOWLR tank and have been seriously thinking of adding an exquisite wrasse. I was going to call my LFS and have them order me one today but decided more research is needed before committing. I am a little nervous about adding 2 males and the owner of the LFS said I probably could make it work but adding some females wouldn't hurt. The issue is I don't want any females so that isn't an option. Starting my research I found out about a so called Blue group in which these wrasses lose their brightness without females. I am looking for any info about mixing wrasses and the members of the blue group.
 
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adam57

Guest
I haven't noticed a loss of color with my solar wrasse but it may just be very gradual. Will having another male in the tank affect the colors of either or is it just a lack of a female mate to show off to.
 
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smallreef

Guest
First a question,, Why dont you want any females?
then a blurb from ANOTHER fish site...
If you want to keep more than one fairy wrasse, try maintaining a harem consisting of one male and several females. In order to avoid fighting between harem members, it is important to introduce them simultaneously or to add the females first. Then after the females have adjusted to the tank, add the more aggressive male. You are much more likely to have success in keeping groups of fairy wrasses if you place them in a larger aquarium (in small tanks even females may not get along or males may pester females to death). Males of the larger species of fairy wrasses should never be housed in the same tank, while those representing smaller species can be if the aquarium is large enough (e.g., 180 gallons or larger). In some cases, if a submissive male can avoid being beaten-up and killed by an aggressive consexual, it may reverse sex and become a functional female.
There is one drawback to keeping male Cirrhilabrus on their own. While color loss in many reef fishes can be attributed to an improper diet, in male fairy wrasses chromatic changes are more often the result of a lack of social interactions with conspecifics. If these fishes are not kept together, the males color (and possibly his gender) will begin to revert back to that of the female. For example, it is not uncommon for male Scott's Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus scottorum) to lose the bright red blotch on their sides (a chromatic feature of the male) if they are not housed with members of their own kind.
SO most of what I am seeing is that to have 2 male wrasses you need a larger tank 180+ though your 135 may work.. though it does seem that males will lose their color without females..
SO you may just want to add 2 females of the type you already have??
 
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adam57

Guest
I don't want any females because I don't really like the looks of them (wrasses I mean, haha). I was just considering the exquisite because I really liked them and they are reasonably priced. When I started to do my research I found out about this color loss and really just found it interesting and wanted to know more. I have a list of fish that I would like to put in a mile too long for my tank as it is so I would rather scrap the 2nd wrasse idea all together than add a female. I have also read that the solar wrasse is one of the more aggresive wrasse. Looks like I may go another direction, the decks kinda stacked against making this work.
 
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