Wrasses

[charmander]

I am upgrading my 15 gallon reef to a 40 gallon in a few weeks and I have been thinking a lot about the fish I want to get

in the 15g I have 2 percs and a neon goby and that is all I am really more focused on coral

in the 40g I want to add a midas blenny and I would love to have wrasses they are my favorite. The two I want most are a mystery wrasse and a labouti wrasse. I would want a flame wrasse pair too but I think my tank is too small.

my thinking was if I were to have more than two wrasses would it help cut down on aggression like in a shoal of anthias where the females get a break from the aggressive male because there are so many.
does that make sense to anybody?

I would really like to have at least 2 wrasses, I have heard of people having many more than that in 55g tanks on other forums.
But I would like your opinions

 

[charmander]

I have also heard of people keeping tangs in a 40 gallon on other forums, seemed like a good idea to come here and get some accurate information

 

[dmanatee]

No to the tangs, they need lots of space!! As for the wrasse's i'm not entirely sure. I would be afraid that they would beat each other up, but I am not entirely sure.

 

[charmander]

certainly not a tang. I was speaking to the accuracy of the information I had gotten on other forums
Seems like people are better informed on here

 

[geridoc]

You are right on the edge with a 40 gallon system. Both the Labouti and mystery wrasses do better in larger systems (over 50 gallons). So...doubling them up might just produce enough crowding that you could have some aggressiveness. They would be more peaceful if you had only females. Of those two, if you do add them, I would add the Labouti last, since it is more likely to become aggressive to newcomers. I love the reef-safe wrasses, and have 4 of them in my 220 gallon system, where they get along just fine. Whatever path you decide to take, be sure you have a good cover on the tank, these guys are jumpers.

 

[charmander]

I think I will try two, my cousin has a LFS nearby if it doesnt work out. But now my girlfriend wants an orangeback wrasse.instead of a labouti.
Does anyone have experiance with this fish? is it an agressive wrasse? are the chances of problems higher because both the orange back and the mystery are purple?

 

[seafishlover]

If you want a wrasse go with the orange back wrasse. It is a very peaceful fish. They like to be in groups one male, several female.
They are found in the wild schooling together in the reefs. Their colors will vary depending on the mood. They need at least a 50 gallon tank to be in. They definitely will not bother corals or invertebrates.

However, the mystery wrasse is not a reef safe fish. It needs to go in a fish only tank. It has spiny fins in which it will use to protect itself.
They have powerful jaws to crush it prey which consist of small invertebrates, crustaceans, and ornamental snails.

I personally would go with the orange back wrasse.