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[Poseidon]

Here it is... My eighth fish in the Reef....

[scubadude]

Here it is... My eighth fish in the Reef....

Awww man cmon....give us more details :P I would guess it to be an Anthias, but no idea what kind. Did you get more than one or just one? Is it adapting ok? Getting along w/other tankmates....Pretty fish, does it look just like it does in the pic? I know my anthias would actually kind of change colors depending on how the light was shining on them.

[Ninong]

I guess I'll take a guess, too.

I don't think it is an Anthias. It looks more like a wrasse to me. Perhaps something in the genus Cirrhilabrus? Maybe C. scottorum?

[reefrunner69]

I don't think it is an Anthias. It looks more like a wrasse to me. Perhaps something in the genus Cirrhilabrus? Maybe C. scottorum?

Looks like a female Scott's fairy wrasse to me ;)

[kevinpo]

I also think it is a member of the Cirrhilabrus family of fairy wrasses. They are notorious jumpers. To get it feeding try mysis or raw shrimp from the store. Great reef safe and community fish.

Regards,
Kevin

[Ninong]

I also think it is a member of the Cirrhilabrus family of fairy wrasses. They are notorious jumpers. To get it feeding try mysis or raw shrimp from the store. Great reef safe and community fish.

Regards,
Kevin

Kevin,

Any advice on what steps to take to make your tank jumper-proof if it does NOT have a completely enclosed canopy?

My tank came with cut-to-fit eggcrate for the top just in case I wanted to use it temporarily while figuring out how to make my setup permanently safe for a pair of Cirrhilabrus wrasses but the eggcrate messes up the light too much. I tried it out yesterday just to see what it would do because I'm thinking of buying a pair of C. scottorum. I like C. lineatus a lot, too, but the prices they want for those are astronomical.

[kevinpo]

Kevin,
Any advice on what steps to take to make your tank jumper-proof if it does NOT have a completely enclosed canopy?

Eggcrate or glass are the going methods. Another way is to have a canopy that if a fish jumps it hits the sides and falls back into the tank. It can be a bit of a challege if you have plumbing entering through the back.

Sorry I couldn't give you a perfect solution,
Kevin

[Elmo18]

Here it is... My eighth fish in the Reef....

That is a definitely nice SCotts Fairy Wrasse. I've been wanting to put in some wrasses or anthias, but i've put in a firefish goby awhile back...and well....

i found it on the hardwood floor the next morning dead. Right now, i'm concerned if they are big jumpers.

How are they personality wise?

Awesome fish poseidon!

- Elmo

[Poseidon]

Thanks guys I bought it as a "Blue Fairy Wrasse" have no clue the actual latin name, guess I could find it somewhere though.

You guys have me worried now though about being a jumper, I have an OPEN top no glass no egg crate. I guess the glass tops need to go back on!!

As far as eating goes, this thing is a HOG it loves Spectrum pellets and even Formula 1 flakes!!! I also feed some frozen "green food" from Tropicorium and Cyclopeeze... I don't notice the fish eating that, but the corals sure love it!!!

Mike

[Ninong]

Thanks guys I bought it as a "Blue Fairy Wrasse" have no clue the actual latin name, guess I could find it somewhere though.

You guys have me worried now though about being a jumper, I have an OPEN top no glass no egg crate. I guess the glass tops need to go back on!!

As far as eating goes, this thing is a HOG it loves Spectrum pellets and even Formula 1 flakes!!! I also feed some frozen "green food" from Tropicorium and Cyclopeeze... I don't notice the fish eating that, but the corals sure love it!!!

Mike

Mike,

Yes, it probably is Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...me=cyanopleura




I thought it might be an inferior male or a female C. scottorum. Here is a female C. scottorum:




Yes, fairy wrasses are known as jumpers. They jump when startled or if they feel threatened. They are sometimes startled when the lights suddenly go off so it's a good idea to not turn off all the lights at once late at night.


P.S. -- This is a picture of the typical male Scott's Fairy Wrasse that is available in the hobby:













This is a picture of the Australian variant of a male Scott's Fairy Wrasse:




I had to copy the picture of the typical male from Drs. Foster & Smith's website because Fishbase didn't have a picture of the typcial male coloration with the red patch on the side. They had the above picture of a gorgeous Australian variant supermale and some pics of washed out inferior males and females but, believe it or not, no pictures of the males from Cook Island that are the most common in the trade.

[Ninong]

I just realized that I did that the hard way as far as the pictures are concerned. The Marine Center in Dallas has two very good examples of supermale Scott's Fairy Wrasses, one from Cook Islands and the other from Australia. I have to link them because you can't copy pics from The Marine Center.

Here is a typical supermale from Cook Islands: http://www.themarinecenter.com/wrassescotts.htm


Here is an Australian Scott's Fairy Wrasse supermale: http://www.themarinecenter.com/wrass...saustralia.htm




P.S. -- An Australian supermale usually runs about two to three times as much as a Cook Islands supermale.

[Poseidon]

WOW those are AWESOME!!!!

the LFS had another one the was a darker blue body towards the back 50%, but my wife preffered the one with the more "pastel" colors.... GEEZ!!! it does look better in my tank then it did in the LFS, especially the Dorsal fin colors. I hope "it" colors up. Should I add another 1-2 if I can find them? Or do you think I"m better of with a single??

And thanks on the Light tip, I have my halides on Timers about 30-45 minutes apart, and the blue VHO goes out 30-45 after the last halide!!!

Thanks Again....

[Ninong]

Mike,

How large is this fish that you just got? I'm trying to figure out what sex it might be. I have a suspecion that it is still a female. These guys are the exact opposite of clownfish. With clownfish the dominant sex is the female and with these guys it the male. It's the same game, just different winners -- sexual determination by social aggression.

Here's the deal. In order for a male to retain its flashy coloration, it has to have a female (or females) to display to. For that reason, most people like to get a pair. If they have a nice really large tank they might consider one male and two or three females -- a harem. This is not all that easy because a male will harrass a female in a tank to establish rank. I think that if your fish is small enough and not all that brightly colored, it is probably a female. You might try adding a male in a few weeks after the present fish has settled in a little. By all means you do not want to put two males in the same tank together unless we are talking about a 500-gal tank!

In the wild they are found in groups (harems) with a supermale (territory holding male) and several females. Sometimes there are also subordinate males at the fringes of the group that are tolerated as long as they don't challenge for alpha status. If the supermale dies, the next ranking subordinate male takes charge and becomes the new supermale. If there are no other males at all, then the ranking female becomes male and takes over. It is sometimes possible for a male to revert back to female under certain conditions (too many males, not enough females). This is not possible with clownfish where the dominant fish is a female and once a female it cannot ever change back to male.

I might get a pair of Cirrhilabrus wrasses for my tank one of these days. I will make sure that one of them is already a supermale and the other is a female and then I will add them together and hope for the best. If I had a 300-gallon or larger tank I might go for one supermale and two or three females. This would make a more natural group and you would have more interesting interactions.



P.S. -- I forgot to mention that even if you end up putting two females together all is not lost. It will just take a little longer (a few weeks) for things to sort themselves out but one of them will become male. If you put two males together, one will probably kill the other fighting over who's going to have the sex change.

[Poseidon]

LOL

Thanks for the info... "it" is about 3.5-4" long tops maybe an inch tall. My tank is a 135 ft version.

That is very cool about the whole sex change, I guess I would not want to go female myself so I would try and force someone else to do it too!!! LOL

so far she is doing very well, eating well and not taking any guff from the other tankmates. Usually my Pseudochromis Doiti harasses a new fish pretty good. This one turned the tables in a matter of minutes, now they get along fine. Maybe I have the makings of a "super male" I will try and find a subordinate in a couple weeks!!

My only concern is I Acquired a new tankmate Saturday.... I might have officially gone insane, or my meds aren't working... I added a TRIGGER!!!

granted it is a Niger but still a trigger in MY REEF???? I must be NUTS!!

I didn't have any shrimp anyway, my Pseudo took care of them, and so far so good, on the Corals, he mostly hides in the rockwork for now. Maybe I got a docile one, until it gets BIG anyway. On the plus side it sure is a cool fish!!!

Thanks Again, Mike

[Poseidon]

Could I add this guy and have them get along?


http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...atId=1400&cc=1

[Ninong]

Could I add this guy and have them get along?


http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...atId=1400&cc=1

Probably NOT in your size tank. I wouldn't add any of the Paracheilinus or Cirrhilabrus wrasses except for a female of the same species you already have. It might work out but chances are pretty good that there would be problems. I think your Cirrhilabrus would beat up the Flasher Wrasse.

[Poseidon]

Probably NOT in your size tank. I wouldn't add any of the Paracheilinus or Cirrhilabrus wrasses except for a female of the same species you already have. It might work out but chances are pretty good that there would be problems. I think your Cirrhilabrus would beat up the Flasher Wrasse.

Darn.... That guy is really cool!!!

I'll just keep my eye out then...