Broomtail Wrasse

[alfon76]

Hello all:
I purchased a Broomtail Wrasse from my local fish store and I have a few commenst and questions to ask as this is my first experience with a Broomtail this big. The fish is about 6 inches long (maybe a tad smaller) and has all the colors of the adult form except for the long, purple tail.
When the fish was introduced into the tank, I was expecting trouble from the Clown Trigger but trouble came from the least expected fish, the Scribbled Angel. He viciously attacked the wrasse's tail and fins. The faster the wrasse would swim to try and get away, the more vicious the attcks got. I plced the Scribbled in the sump for 24 hours and rearranged the tank decor a little hoping this will diminish or eliminate the aggression. No such luck. On the advise of the store I bought the Broomtail, I placed the Scribbled into a small plastic tank (critter carrier) and put that little tank into the big tank. The theory is for the Scribbles to get used to the Wrasse in the tank and thus leave it alone after a few days of "living together" yet not being able to attack the wrasse.
Today the Broomtail ate like a champ an assortment of frozen foods that included clam, sea worm delight and mussel. However, it decided to spend the rest of his time in a slight diagonal position with the head facing the water surface. He would do that especially on the side where the Diatom filter is connected.
My questions are:
1- Is there a better way to make the Scribbled accept the Broomtail?
2- Is it possible that the harrassment endured by the wrasse could be leading to the rather unusual behavior of just finding a spot near the surface and stay there?
3- If not due to harrasment, is this what can be expected of a larger Broomtail as far as behavior?
I had a brief experience with a small Brootail about 1 year ago but that one, as well as many other wrasses I have seen, was constantly on the move or hiding on the rocks. I never saw it hanging out close to the surface but rather close to the bottom.
Any idead, thoughts, comments?
Thank you very much in advance,
Ivan

 

[jawfishray]

Broomtails are great! I had a problem with my triplefin and my broomtail, so I made a choice...kept the broomie.
Ray

 

[bullshark]

My thoughts are:
The Broomtail is hanging near the surface because he is used to more oxygen in the water than is in your tank. A large water change may be needed.
The angel is threatened by the broomtail, which makes sense because the broomtail is a voracious eater and the comptition for food has just increased dramatically in your tank.
Leave the angel in the penalty box for a while. It should help...
Good Luck, great fish the Broomtail is....

 

[fishy88]

How big is your tank?when i first put mine she ate all my damsels(chasing them around for a while). Now more than a year later she is only aggressive at feeding time. btw she is around 10''

 

[alfon76]

My tank is 225 gallons. Tomorrow will be the release of the Scribbled into the tank and I rearranged the rocks as well. I did a water change because it was scheduled anyway but I also discovered that the Harlequin Tusk was chasing and attacking the Broomtail so he went into the sump and will stay there for a few days.
We'll see if the Scribbled behaves now after I release him tomorrow. If he doesn't behave and continues to chase the Broomtail, what options do I have? Is it going to boil down to getting rid of either one of them?
Well, I'll keep everyone posted.
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[fishy88]

you can not keep a tusk with a broomtail.

 

[alfon76]

Please do not think I am doubting you as I can use as much info as I can get but I have seen many tanks where at least 3 or 4 different wrasses are being kept. Any book I have read says that Tusks should be kept with more aggressive tankmates including other wrasses. Now, I understand if the Tusk becomes aggressive because of territory and something needs to be done about it but I would like to know why exactly is it that you say that a Broomtail can't be kept with a Tusk. If nothing else I want to know for my personal benefit and also to not put any fish in unnecessary danger.
Like I said, this is the first I have heard of a Broomtail and a Tusk not being compatible and I am really intrigued.
Thank you,
Ivan

 

[bullshark]

Dude, you have a tusk with the broomtail? Big mistake.
They WILL fight to the death. They will.
And you say you have seen plenty of tanks where there were different wrasses together in the same tank. Where? The pet shop? They keep them there until they sell. Yes, this can work(wrasses of different kinds) but NOT a tusk and a broomtail.
I would return your broomtail. Has he not brought complete disarray to your tank? Scribbled in the box, tusk in the sump, re-arranged the rockwork, etc.....
Take it back to avoid the death of either the tusk or broomtail. I dont wanna have to say I told you so.
Good luck man. Good luck.

 

[polarpooch]

If you like, I will email you the address of a GREAT expert Q and A site, with lots of info about Broomtail Wrasse behavior...out of respect for SWF.com, though, I don't want to post a competitor's site on the board.
My email address is: polarpooch@yahoo.com

 

[alfon76]

Thanks for your input bullshark. I believe I mentioned that I had a Tusk when I first posted but it was another post that I typed before I bought the broomtail.
To answer your question though, the places I have seen many wrasses kept together are actually private tanks and yes, some pet stores but not the for sale tanks. The pet stores where I have seen a BroomTail with a Tusk has them as display. I have to say that all the other tanks do have more rock than I do but I never read or heard any objection before the purchase so I guess I jumped on it thinking it was the right thing. I will still take my chances as I have seen it done but if it doesn't work after 1 try then it will be time to give up.
Again, thanks for your input,
Ivan

 

[bullshark]

OK, good luck! Both fish are beautiful. I have had both in the past(once I tried them together and the tusk killed the broomtail in the first night, I would have returned it right away, as soon as I put it in, but the lfs was closed by the time I got the fish home). I really do wish you the best of luck and hope it all works out.....
never saw a tusk act that way before or after.....

 

[alfon76]

Hi Bullshark.
The Scribbled behaved and now gets along with the Broomtail. the Tusk is now in the plastic container for the moment while I decide what to do. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to one of the people I know has the two fish together and he told me that he has had them together for a year. His tank is 180 gallons and he has a lot of live rock. He also houses a Broomtail, Tusk, Twinspot and a Hardwicki (spelling?).
They all get along and they are all about 5-6 inches long. He also said the Broomtail was the last one added. He might have been lucky though.
Ivan

 

[alfon76]

Just an update. When I placed the Tusk in the plastic container for him to get accustomed to the Broomtail, I noticed that it was now the Broomtail the one that was trying to attack the Tusk through the plastic. I was about ready to take the Broomtail out and send him back to the LFS when I decided to let the Tusk out and see what would happen. My theory was that maybe the Tusk would try to go after the Broomtail and that would be the definitive sign that the Broomtail had to go. Well, the Tusk got out and the Broomtail went into its cave. The Tusk went after the Broomtail and both squared off with the Broomtail trying to nip at the Tusk. After a few minutes, they settled in and decided to leave each other alone. I put some feeder fish in and both ate side by side.
Seems so far that as long as the Tusk stays on his cave on one side of the tank and the Broomtail stays on his cave on the other side of the tank they will be bale to tolerate each other.
I am being extra careful and observing them every 5 minutes to see what happens but so far so good.

 

[fishy88]

not to seem like an a$$, but if the feeder fish are fw they are very bad to feed to your fish. they can cause your fish to die if feed a lot.

 

[cincyreefer]

Glad to hear things seem to be going ok... based on your last post. I thought the tusk might be some problems, but as I stated in the other thread, once the broomtail gets accustomed to the tank he will fight back and they will leave him alone. The scribbled does surprise me, but angels do like to take advantage of different situations, which it seems like it did. So you didn't quarantine the Broomtail then? I think that would have drastically cut down the aggression from the other fish, but glad to hear that they are doing better.
Yes, I have seen many broomtails kept with tusks and other wrasses. Aggressive fish are just always so unpredictable though.

 

[alfon76]

I have been checking everyday to make sure they are doing ok and today I found the Broomtail and the Tusk withing inches of one another with no signs of aggression. The Broomtail seems to get a little jealous when the Tusk gets too close to his favorite cave but there is not even an ounce of squaring off as the Tusk swims away as soon as the Brootail starts moving towards the cave.
I fed lightly this AM and they both ate side by side with no interest in chasing each other. Now, if I could only say the same about the Scribbled I would be a happy person. I am in the process of obtaining a 500 gallong tank or bigger to replace the 225 gallon and move all the fish to a bigger space. What would be a good size tank to house them so that they can live there for the rest of their lives?
Thanks,
Ivan

 

[cincyreefer]

There is not really a specific size... Just get as big of a tank as you possibly can. I have a feeling that the scribbled wont mess with the broomtail much now that the broomtail seems like it is adjusted to the tank and will fight back.

 

[conogre]

The information you've recieved on your wrasses is both right and wrong.
You CAN keep more than one species of wrasse per tank, particularly in larger aquariums (bigger is always better).
The wrong part is that you can't usually keep two closely related wrasses together.
Long term, don't try to keep razorfish or dragon wrasses with the Tusk without problems.
Likewise, expect major problems with the broomtail if you add a hogfish, again, a wrasse with a similar body shape.
Angelfish, by the way, often to usually become the dominant fish in a large species tank and are often the most aggressive fish in the tank, small mouth or not.

 

[alfon76]

Thanks for your information. The similar body shape "rule" was mentioned before here and I was under the impression a Tusk would be of similar shape as a Broomtail. To me they seem more alike than a Dragon Wrasse and a Tusk yet I have no intentions of adding any fish in the tank until I upgrade it to a much bigger one.
The good thing is that both the Broomtail and the Tusk are doing excellent and they seem to get along quite well. They used to run from each other but now they basically swim very close to each other with no problems.
Once again, thanks for all the input.

 

[tuskfish06]

I have a Lunare wrasse and a Tuskfish, the tusk the dominat of the two , both around 7", you think a broomtail would be pushing my wrasse luck?