first fish adventures -- Lubbock's wrasse

formsix · 04/23/2014, 07:09 AM

Four days ago we bought our first fish!! She's a small female Lubbock's fairy wrasse and so far she has been extremely adaptable and forgiving

She came from a LFS and I picked her out because she was small, active, and seemed to be acting just fine in their tank w/ lots of other wrasses. Plus she's pretty -- her color is much deeper and a more vibrant pink than the photo shows, and the spot on her tail is dark purple. I know she's probably going to transition to male at some point, but I figure this way we know she was young when we got her and we can see the transition happen!

We brought her home from the LFS, put her in a bucket, and drip acclimated her for 30 minutes (probably not necessary since I had salinity matched her QT to the LFS salinity of 1.025). I moved her from the bucket to the QT with my bare hands... wasn't *too* stressful for either of us! Her QT had a powerhead and eheim heater set (or so we thought) to 78.

She didn't move much in the bucket but started swimming around in the QT. We decide to add some PVC pipe to give her a place to hide. No elbows, so we cut a bigger piece of 2" pipe into a 5" piece for her. Wash off the pipe, place it in her tank. Well, now we know why you all recommend elbows!! The pipe started rolling all over, even when we tried to wedge it in the corner. Indie -- now her name after her Indiana Jones moves with the pipe trying to roll over her -- swam around it and seemed a little confused, but not too freaked out. Then we added another small piece of pipe sitting vertically which seemed to hold the tube in place.

Fed her a few hours later -- thawed Hikari mysid -- and she was eating within a minute. We first turned the powerhead off thinking that would help, but then realized it was much more fun to watch her "hunt" the food as it floated by. Until she realized she could hover in front of the intake and wait for the food to come to her!

Check on her a little while later and realize the tank is at 83 degrees. Start to get concerned. Try to recalibrate/reset it. Use 3 thermometers to test water. Start feeling bad about almost cooking Indie. The only time we can get the heater to not turn on the second we plug it in (and once it's on it doesn't seem to turn off even if we wait 5 min) is if we set it below 72. Now I'm okay w/ the 76-80 range, but something seems wrong if the tank is reading 83 and the heater wants to turn on at 73+. Not sure if it's user error or a faulty heater, but we pulled it out and luckily the temp has been staying between 76-80 with no intervention. We do have the big tank heater we could use in a pinch and are going to play with this one some more, but now I'm really freaked out about cooking Indie.

First night adventures -- I wake up in the middle of the night to check the temperature of the tank. Indie doesn't look so good. She's pale and wedged between the pipe and side of the tank. Eyes open. So, naturally, I get concerned, and go and stick my hand in the tank to gently nudge the pipe. It's slimy, Indie wakes up (oops!!), swims right into my hand, we freak each other out a bit, and then settle down. That's right, wrasses make mucus cocoons to sleep in -- which I knew and completely forgot. And apparently they sleep with their eyes open, change colors at night, and don't wake up too easily.

Things settled down after that first night. Today was Day 4, and we're doing tank transfer while in QT, so this morning we moved her to the second tank. That went smoothly and she was happy to eat as soon as she was in the new tank. I'm REALLY glad we picked an "easy", chill, adaptable fish for our first one!

Hopefully I can get some good pics of her in the next few days, but here is a quick one I took on her first day with us.

scott3569 · 04/23/2014, 07:20 AM

Very cool!! glad your first experience is going well!! hopefully I will be right there with you soon!1

whosurcaddie · 04/23/2014, 07:35 AM

If you keep having problems with the heater I highly recommend the Ehiem Jager line of heaters. They will automatically shut off if the water line falls below the unit and they have a calibration ring so you know you are getting the perfect temp. I have two 300 watt versions in my 120's overflows one is set too 79 and the other 80 and my temp never deviates a single degree.

Good luck with indie.

Crooked Reef · 04/23/2014, 07:45 AM

Most reef fish subdue their colors at night, it's not just wrasses. Just something to remember for the future purchases too.

formsix · 04/24/2014, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott3569

Very cool!! glad your first experience is going well!! hopefully I will be right there with you soon!1

Thanks! With all the research and work you've been doing, I'm sure you'll be there soon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by whosurcaddie

If you keep having problems with the heater I highly recommend the Ehiem Jager line of heaters. They will automatically shut off if the water line falls below the unit and they have a calibration ring so you know you are getting the perfect temp. I have two 300 watt versions in my 120's overflows one is set too 79 and the other 80 and my temp never deviates a single degree.

Good luck with indie.

It is an Eheim Jager heater, and we still can't figure out if our issues are due to user error (coupled with the calibration being REALLY off) or if the unit is faulty. When we left it on the default calibration and set it to 78 the tank went up to 83 with no signs of stopping. Then we tried to calibrate it (thinking we were telling the unit it was now 83), the unit wouldn't turn off unless we set it for below 73. I'm planning to buy another to see if it works better, and either keep testing/calibrating or just return the current one. Luckily the house has been a comfy 74-76 degrees and the powerhead in the tank is generating a bit of heat, so Indie is just fine for now

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crooked Reef

Most reef fish subdue their colors at night, it's not just wrasses. Just something to remember for the future purchases too.

Good to know, thanks!! That's so interesting! One of the things I'm really looking forward to with having the tank is seeing what these creatures do at night and other times of the day -- the stuff you just don't see when popping into the LFS for an hour or two during the day.

Shaummy · 04/24/2014, 05:00 PM

By the way...most fish cannot close their eyes...so not surprised there. Sounds like you are doing all the right things....congrats.

Nina51 · 04/24/2014, 05:20 PM

she's a real cutie!

when you want to look into the tank after lights out, use a flashlight with a red beam. fish can't see it and it won't startle them. i love doing that, i see all kinds of critters emerging after dark and it's the ONLY time i ever see my serpent star.

04/23/2014, 07:09 AM	#1
formsix Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 341	first fish adventures -- Lubbock's wrasse Four days ago we bought our first fish!! She's a small female Lubbock's fairy wrasse and so far she has been extremely adaptable and forgiving She came from a LFS and I picked her out because she was small, active, and seemed to be acting just fine in their tank w/ lots of other wrasses. Plus she's pretty -- her color is much deeper and a more vibrant pink than the photo shows, and the spot on her tail is dark purple. I know she's probably going to transition to male at some point, but I figure this way we know she was young when we got her and we can see the transition happen! We brought her home from the LFS, put her in a bucket, and drip acclimated her for 30 minutes (probably not necessary since I had salinity matched her QT to the LFS salinity of 1.025). I moved her from the bucket to the QT with my bare hands... wasn't too stressful for either of us! Her QT had a powerhead and eheim heater set (or so we thought) to 78. She didn't move much in the bucket but started swimming around in the QT. We decide to add some PVC pipe to give her a place to hide. No elbows, so we cut a bigger piece of 2" pipe into a 5" piece for her. Wash off the pipe, place it in her tank. Well, now we know why you all recommend elbows!! The pipe started rolling all over, even when we tried to wedge it in the corner. Indie -- now her name after her Indiana Jones moves with the pipe trying to roll over her -- swam around it and seemed a little confused, but not too freaked out. Then we added another small piece of pipe sitting vertically which seemed to hold the tube in place. Fed her a few hours later -- thawed Hikari mysid -- and she was eating within a minute. We first turned the powerhead off thinking that would help, but then realized it was much more fun to watch her "hunt" the food as it floated by. Until she realized she could hover in front of the intake and wait for the food to come to her! Check on her a little while later and realize the tank is at 83 degrees. Start to get concerned. Try to recalibrate/reset it. Use 3 thermometers to test water. Start feeling bad about almost cooking Indie. The only time we can get the heater to not turn on the second we plug it in (and once it's on it doesn't seem to turn off even if we wait 5 min) is if we set it below 72. Now I'm okay w/ the 76-80 range, but something seems wrong if the tank is reading 83 and the heater wants to turn on at 73+. Not sure if it's user error or a faulty heater, but we pulled it out and luckily the temp has been staying between 76-80 with no intervention. We do have the big tank heater we could use in a pinch and are going to play with this one some more, but now I'm really freaked out about cooking Indie. First night adventures -- I wake up in the middle of the night to check the temperature of the tank. Indie doesn't look so good. She's pale and wedged between the pipe and side of the tank. Eyes open. So, naturally, I get concerned, and go and stick my hand in the tank to gently nudge the pipe. It's slimy, Indie wakes up (oops!!), swims right into my hand, we freak each other out a bit, and then settle down. That's right, wrasses make mucus cocoons to sleep in -- which I knew and completely forgot. And apparently they sleep with their eyes open, change colors at night, and don't wake up too easily. Things settled down after that first night. Today was Day 4, and we're doing tank transfer while in QT, so this morning we moved her to the second tank. That went smoothly and she was happy to eat as soon as she was in the new tank. I'm REALLY glad we picked an "easy", chill, adaptable fish for our first one! Hopefully I can get some good pics of her in the next few days, but here is a quick one I took on her first day with us.

04/23/2014, 07:20 AM	#2
scott3569 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Middletown,VA Posts: 929	Very cool!! glad your first experience is going well!! hopefully I will be right there with you soon!1 __________________ I'm in a fishy situation!!! Current Tank Info: 56 gallon 30 x 18 x 22 with a 40gal sump, SCA 302 skimmer, 10 gal QT tank, a hydror 600 power head, 2 enhiem 150 heaters, 49#'s of dry rock, 12#'s of life rock, 40#'s of sand

04/23/2014, 07:45 AM	#4
Crooked Reef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,765	Most reef fish subdue their colors at night, it's not just wrasses. Just something to remember for the future purchases too. __________________ “In wine there is wisdom; in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.” - Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef. Biocube 29 lionfish tank. Mantis tank.

04/24/2014, 05:00 PM	#6
Shaummy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Chicago burbs Posts: 857	By the way...most fish cannot close their eyes...so not surprised there. Sounds like you are doing all the right things....congrats. __________________ Shaummy Current Tank Info: Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, hermits, snails,Lyretail Anthias,Orange back Fairy Wrasse,Blue Reef Chromis,small blue tang, Flame Hawk, Royal Gramma

04/24/2014, 05:20 PM	#7
Nina51 biggliest cofveve champ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 5th floor, Illinois, gewgaw expert Posts: 3,506	she's a real cutie! when you want to look into the tank after lights out, use a flashlight with a red beam. fish can't see it and it won't startle them. i love doing that, i see all kinds of critters emerging after dark and it's the ONLY time i ever see my serpent star. __________________ of all the things i've lost, i miss my gary the most. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. Current Tank Info: i gave my reef away and i feel like a bird out of a cage!!

04/23/2014, 07:35 AM	#3
whosurcaddie Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 2,354	If you keep having problems with the heater I highly recommend the Ehiem Jager line of heaters. They will automatically shut off if the water line falls below the unit and they have a calibration ring so you know you are getting the perfect temp. I have two 300 watt versions in my 120's overflows one is set too 79 and the other 80 and my temp never deviates a single degree. Good luck with indie.