Possum Wrasse compatibility

[AGF]

I've long wanted to own a Wetmorella wrasse and finally found one from a teardown.

Currently my tank (95Lx50Wx35Hcm) is inhabited by:

1x Ctenochaetus flavicauda (White-Tail Bristletooth) - 9cm
3x Captive bred Pseudanthias squaminippinis - 5cm each
2x Captive bred Chrysiptera springeri - 3cm each
1x Captive bred Gramma brasiliensis - 5cm

Here is my hardscape, before I glued all my frags. There's a cave under the rock on the left, which is inhabited by a peppermint shrimp and porcelain crab. The rock on the right, near the pumps, in inhabited by the Gramma brasiliensis.

What are your opinions on adding a possum wrasse to this tank? Would you add another small cave? Would you not add a Possum wrasse at all?

[TheKleinReef]

my bristletooth as a complete degenerate. it harasses anything that goes into the tank for a few days. he was even bullying the clownfish and mealanrus wrasse. the tension did settle down, but i'd be hesitant about adding such a timid fish with* more semi aggressive/agressive fish.

 

 

cool tank btw. looks awesome.

[AGF]

53 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

my bristletooth as a complete degenerate. it harasses anything that goes into the tank for a few days. he was even bullying the clownfish and mealanrus wrasse. the tension did settle down, but i'd be hesitant about adding such a timid fish in more semi aggressive/agressive fish.

 

 

cool tank btw. looks awesome.

 

I agree. Mine was the first fish and was extremely aggressive as well, even toward other smaller, non-“tang like” fish. I ended up using the mirror trick and it worked out great

 

I even felt bad about my boy, because I knew he was quite angry at his own reflection during the first 48h. Then he started getting less angry and I finally removed the mirror.

 

 

[TheKleinReef]

7 minutes ago, AGF said:

 

I agree. Mine was the first fish and was extremely aggressive as well, even toward other smaller, non-“tang like” fish. I ended up using the mirror trick and it worked out great

 

I even felt bad about my boy, because I knew he was quite angry at his own reflection during the first 48h. Then he started getting less angry and I finally removed the mirror.

 

 

 

I'm glad that worked for you! I tried it and all the fish started fighting their own reflections lol

[pokerdobe]

I have two possum wrasses, one in each tank. My observation is that they will spend most of their time out of view. Where they are comfortable is in and out of rockwork and crevices - based on your tank, I personally wouldn't. 

[Jaren45]

My possum wrasse lives with a royal gramma, springeri, and tomini very similar to you. No issues so far besides the gramma being territorial and flashing at him like usual for the first couple of days.

[AGF]

1 hour ago, pokerdobe said:

I have two possum wrasses, one in each tank. My observation is that they will spend most of their time out of view. Where they are comfortable is in and out of rockwork and crevices - based on your tank, I personally wouldn't. 

Pokerdobe, would adding a few rocks to the right make a possum feel more comfortable? I'm waiting for a Porites with Christmass tree worms to arrive. Since I've added the squamipinnis, I thought that maybe the worms would benefit from my heavy feeding. Plus, I would add another cave for all fish.
 

8 minutes ago, Jaren45 said:

My possum wrasse lives with a royal gramma, springeri, and tomini very similar to you. No issues so far besides the gramma being territorial and flashing at him like usual for the first couple of days.

Are you talking about your 22g long? Would you say it's feeling comfortable?

[Jaren45]

Yup so far so good, he lived with a pair of pretty annoying clowns before I moved him in there, and has always been pretty bold.

[Tamberav]

Rock looks sparse for one and these fish will not do well with any sort of bullies. There are a few potential ones in there. 

 

I assume you tend to upgrade as these fish will only increase in aggression as they age which is amplified by smaller spaces and the shy wrasse may find the boisterous tank mates a bit stressful. 

[AGF]

6 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Rock looks sparse for one and these fish will not do well with any sort of bullies. There are a few potential ones in there. 

 

I assume you tend to upgrade as these fish will only increase in aggression as they age which is amplified by smaller spaces and the shy wrasse may find the boisterous tank mates a bit stressful. 

Yep. It's a one to one year and a half project, since I'm moving in with my fiancée. 

I chose this size and the hardscape to make it easier when moving. The tank will turn into a planted aquarium 🙂

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, AGF said:

Yep. It's a one to one year and a half project, since I'm moving in with my fiancée. 

I chose this size and the hardscape to make it easier when moving. The tank will turn into a planted aquarium 🙂

 

Like a macroalgae tank? still salt? 

[pokerdobe]

6 hours ago, AGF said:

Pokerdobe, would adding a few rocks to the right make a possum feel more comfortable?

 

Possibly. I don't ever want to say anything is impossible, but the rock work would have to be designed in a way that's easy for him to stay hidden. For reference, I have exactly 1 possum in a 200 gallon with 150+lbs of rock. 

[demonclownfish]

If it's a larger possum I think you'd be fine, maybe consider adding some extra rock to create some "safe space" for the wrasse however. 

[AGF]

18 hours ago, Tamberav said:

 

Like a macroalgae tank? still salt? 

Freshwater planted aquarium. I miss having angelfish. I bred some when I was around 10 y.o. 

That's why this tank isn't drilled: so I can just go back with my eheim canister filter
 

 

14 hours ago, pokerdobe said:

 

Possibly. I don't ever want to say anything is impossible, but the rock work would have to be designed in a way that's easy for him to stay hidden. For reference, I have exactly 1 possum in a 200 gallon with 150+lbs of rock. 

I completly understand why you're saying that. I really appreciate your input. Great tank btw!
 

 

6 hours ago, demonclownfish said:

If it's a larger possum I think you'd be fine, maybe consider adding some extra rock to create some "safe space" for the wrasse however. 

It's a mature one (6cm). I'm trying to find out how long it has been in captivity

[AGF]

Update: mirror trick worked again.

Even the Gramma doesn't mind the new addition.

Edit: since the Ctenochaetus is quite expansive, it ends up touching all fish with its body. When touched, the Possum Wrasse bites/chases the Ctenochaetus away. A lot of courage inside such a small package...

[mcarroll]

What are you planning to do with the livestock after only 1 year or so?    That's a really short time to have a tank set up....it won't even have time to stabilize.

[AGF]

4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

What are you planning to do with the livestock after only 1 year or so?    That's a really short time to have a tank set up....it won't even have time to stabilize.

Either redo using the same tank, or upgrade to a bigger one (95 to 120cm for example)

[mcarroll]

...maybe also find a new home for the Tang when he outgrows the setup?

[AGF]

4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

...maybe also find a new home for the Tang when he outgrows the setup?

Yes, no, maybe... i don't know.

I've chosen a fish from Ctenochaetus genus due to it's smaller size. 95cm IMHO isn't bad. 120cm is pretty average.

[mcarroll]

2 hours ago, AGF said:

120cm is pretty average

That's the smallest tank I'd consider for that fish....as long as it's got decently large dimensions for height and width.   120 gallons / 450 liters is about the minimum I'd suggest.