One of the main fish I know that I absolutely have to have is a Solerensis fairy wrasse. However, a couple days ago we purchased a Lubbocks fairy wrasse. The Lubbocks is male and the Solorensis will have to be a male to have the beautiful coloring I want. I’ve had one fish store owner tell me that it won’t be a problem keeping a Lubbocks and a Solorensis, but I’ve also had people tell me you can’t keep 2 males, that you need to keep them in harems. If I get some females, do they have to be Lubbocks for him to accept them? I remember reading somewhere that there are over 200 kinds of fairy wrasses and that they’re all closely related so its not uncommon for different varieties to shoal with others. If not, is there a way to tell the males from the females? Ideally, I would like to have just the male Lubbocks and Solorensis, but I have read if they don’t have females to display for that they lose they’re beautiful coloring and revert to female coloring. So then I thought the best thing would be to add in 2 or 3 females to help keep them happy and colored nicely, although I really didn’t plan for 5 wrasses. I’m also worried that the females might just cause problems between the males. Does anyone else have multiple different fairy wrasses, or have any ideas on the best way to handle the situation? verdict_in
Thats a hard question to answer and all I can say is I have a pretty large tank but have a male fairy and a male flasher wrasse that get along but that doesnt mean thats normal or may just mean theres enough room for the 2 of them to get along.
I believe you’ll find that the solerensis are babies for the most part. i have two (in separate tanks) and are easily bullied by the other fish.If given alot of room and rock to hide, you can probally do it.my first one has been with me 4+ years in a 70 gallon tank with 5 other fish. he gets chased and bullied by fish smaller ( a damsel and a flame angle) even though he is much bigger than the two on them together. the other one is in a smaller tank and shares it with another fairy wrasse and a alge blenny.they only been together about 3 months, but i see no major aggression from the other wrasse, just an now and then fight over space. I think you’ll be alright if the solerensis is the same size or bigger than the lubbocks.
Well, the updated situation is I haven’t gotten the Solerensis yet (haven’t been able to find one locally). However, I did pick up a female Lubbocks to go with the male. At first the male acted reealllllly aggressive towards her and kept nipping at her and chasing her up into the corner and not letting her down into the tank. She took to hiding behind the overflow box in the tank. The only time she comes down into the tank is when I turn the lights out at night and he goes into his cave home, then she’ll come down and sleep in the rock work. Now that its been 3 days, he doesn’t really nip at her a lot anymore, but he still circles all around her and when she goes to eat and he’s around, he’ll cut her off and eat what she’s going after first as if he’s saying “Everything is mine first!.” He’s making it very clear that this is HIS tank. He does let her eat though. She is eating good. She still doesn’t come down into the rock work except at night, but she has been swimming around over top of it a little bit. The male still chases her up to the top in the corner though when he sees her and sometimes she still goes behind the overflow. I’m hoping the situation gets better with a little more time because it has improved a little bit. I tried to get them as close together as I could. I had the lights all off late at night and rearranged a bunch of the rock work because I had just bought new rock and corals. She went in the next morning about 11 a.m. I would have put him in the quarantine tank for a few days and then brought him back over after she was adjusted but I have a sick Chromis over there right now so I’m kind of limited in my options for now.
when you’re ready, i saw one at PA , very reasonable. that’s where i bought my last one…
Premium Aquatics has one? When did you see it there? Bought my Lubbocks from there a few days ago but didn’t see a solorensis. Did they just get some in?