How much did you pay for your Rhomboid Wrasse?

[sugartooth]

I would like to know what the price range is for this beautiful fish. I would like to get one or a pair, but not sure what is considered "reasonable".

I found a pair w/supermale for about $600. This seems kind of high do you agree?

Also, is a pair a good idea or do people just get the males?
What exactly is a supermale?

Thanks in advance.

[heartbreak7]

Locally, there was a pair with supermale for 400. 600 seems high however, themarinecenter charges 500 for the supermale alone...

Hope this helps

[copps]

Retail prices of these guys vary, but generally for a pair $400 is excellent, $500 reasonable, and $600 high... reasonable prices for a supermale now are $250 to $300 and a female or smaller male about $200... but again it depends on the quality of the fish and also how "male" the male is... The Marine Center's price of $500 for one is out of line, along with it's designation as "nearly impossible to obtain". These are fairly regularly available coming from the Marshalls through Hawaii nowadays. Cirrhilabrus are protogynous hermaphrodites, switching from female to male under the right circumstances. As males mature they generally show more color, and "supermale" is a term given to those that are generally larger with more color.

I have a trio with a supermale and two females, one smaller than the other... You could get just a male, just a female, a pair or a trio... it's entirely up to you... Supermales will show a bright blue back like mine shown below... It's one of my favorite fairies along with the C. jordani...
http://xs413.xs.to/xs413/07121/rhomboid_male3.jpg (http://xs.to)

http://xs413.xs.to/xs413/07121/rhomboid_male2.jpg (http://xs.to)

http://xs413.xs.to/xs413/07121/rhomboid_male.jpg (http://xs.to)

The two females are shown below...

http://xs413.xs.to/xs413/07121/rhomboid_females.jpg (http://xs.to)

[edwing206]

Great fish. Got a pic of the C. jordani? thanks

[triggerfish1976]

Copps pretty much said it all except one thing. I would recommend getting a pair if you are looking to keep Rhomboids especially supermales because they tend to lose that intense coloration when a female is not present. This is actually common with many of the fairy wrasses.

[sugartooth]

Thanks for the great info and stunning picture!

Would it make sense to buy 3-4 females and have one turn into a supermale? That would cut down on $$ correct?

Or, is it not guaranteed what they will look like when they turn into a male?

Also, how many do you think I can safely put into a 170 gallon reef?

I have a scopas, clarkii and skunk clown, firefish in there.

I want Rhomboids, and either Linneatus or Exquisite added to this as well.

How many total and what would be the proper # for each type?

Thanks for the info.

[triggerfish1976]

One will more than likely turn into a male but not neccisarily a terminal male (supermale). I have kept fairies for a few years now and have tried harems of Lineatus, Pylei and Rhomboids and there was one Lineatus that was larger than all of the other fairies in the tank and it went terminal but it took almost two years for it to do so. I also think that it was already a male since it was considerably bigger than the rest of the fish but it didn't start showing the supermale colors for a couple of years.
Word of caution, you stand the risk of having multiple fish turn male at the same time when you keep harems of different wrasse species. If this happens they will generally duke it out in order to determine a pecking order. The fighting can lead to the death of one of the fish or the male that loses will remain a sub adult. I had this happen with a Pink Margin Fairy and a Labouti's Fairy. They fought for about 2 weeks straight and the Pink Margin ended up winning and the Labouti took on a very drab coloration from that point on.

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10240615#post10240615 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by edwing206
Great fish. Got a pic of the C. jordani? thanks

I have a trio of these also in a separate system... a beautiful fish in the rarest color in reef fish... The Marine Center lists
this as "probably the most popular and least available Cirrhilabrus"... huh!? :wildone: Again fairly regularly available from the only place they're found (Hawaii!):)
The male...
http://xs414.xs.to/xs414/07155/Cirrhilabrus_jordani_male.jpg (http://xs.to)

The larger female...
http://xs216.xs.to/xs216/07265/jordani_female.jpg (http://xs.to)

The smaller female...
http://xs216.xs.to/xs216/07265/jordani_female2.jpg (http://xs.to)

A shot of the male and female together...
http://xs216.xs.to/xs216/07265/jordani_pair.jpg (http://xs.to)

[triggerfish1976]

I love the Marine Center jabs. They are basically out of business from what I understand.

[copps]

Really? I just got their most recent "specials and availability list" last weekend...

I have no experience with them, but I just find it funny how they tout every other fish saying "act immediately when available" or "next to impossible to obtain"...:D They have a pretty website though... :)

[triggerfish1976]

There have been several threads on RC where people are not getting ANY feedback via phone or email from them so I am assuming that they are not doing very well. These people are trying to place orders but not getting any response.
Their website looks nice but the info is out dated. Most of those fish were rare a few years ago but they are now fairly easy to come by. They cannot get the rarer fish shown on the site like Joculators, Conspics, Latz but they did have Interruptus earlier in the year but those are also becoming more readily avail.

Sorry to run off topic.

[sugartooth]

Thank you for all of the advice triggerfish.

So, do you think I should just pick one type of wrasse and that's it?
Or, would it be okay to get a group w/ supermale(ie. Rhomboid) and then single of the others?

Would that keep the pecking order stable?

Absolutely beautiful pictures!

[copps]

With fish like these I like to get multiples of the same species... to me Whatever interaction you see, be it good or bad, makes the hobby interesting and adds to the body of knowledge... having a mishmosh of 10 supermales of different species may work in larger systems, but that was never for me... in my fraternity college days we had a term for that that we gave to a few bars...:D ...

But really, to each their own, with the most important thing being that the fish are well cared for...

[benf]

I happened upon a female Rhomboid a week ago locally for $120.