Flame wrasse in captivity?

[tangov5559]

What's the longest you guys have had your flame wrasse? from what I'v read, it seems to me they usually pass after a couple of years....

[Shoryureppa]

I'm not sure if there is enough study done on the life expectancy of this fish. Brad Syphus might have a better idea as I think his were quite a few years old

[tangov5559]

yeah, it seems like they only last about 2-3 years average...i was just wondering why..

[evolved]

Usually user error, unfortunately.

If all was well and nothing went awry, I suspect a lifespan of 8-10 years is more on par.

Also note when you purchase adults, you don't know how old they might already be.

[38bill]

Usually user error, unfortunately.

If all was well and nothing went awry, I suspect a lifespan of 8-10 years is more on par.

Also note when you purchase adults, you don't know how old they might already be.

Plus 1, and you have to feed them and I dont mean once every three or so days.

[Ambition]

Usually user error, unfortunately.

If all was well and nothing went awry, I suspect a lifespan of 8-10 years is more on par.

Also note when you purchase adults, you don't know how old they might already be.

Plus 1, and you have to feed them and I dont mean once every three or so days.

Agreed with the above. I have found with wrasses in general, feeding upwards of three times per day kept them healthy and looking good.

I'd venture to say that some may die prematurely because I see them offered as pairs, trios, etc. and the females often turn male resulting in one of the males dieing.

[SDguy]

So any non user error actual experiences?

[yalpal]

Agreed with the above. I have found with wrasses in general, feeding upwards of three times per day kept them healthy and looking good.

I'd venture to say that some may die prematurely because I see them offered as pairs, trios, etc. and the females often turn male resulting in one of the males dieing.

Completely agree with this. When I bought my first "pair" of Flame Wrasses, they were doing well in quarantine, and then all of the sudden the "female" turned on the male. If I remember correctly I was treating them for flukes, and the female must have known the male was vulnerable.

[MrTuskfish]

Plus 1, and you have to feed them and I dont mean once every three or so days.

Yeah, I think there has been so much written about over-feeding that many (maybe more than many) tanks are under-fed. Many fish can live on what they get, but never thrive. There is a big difference and shorter lifespan is often the result. IMO & IME, of course.

On the subject: I had a pair of these beautiful fish pre-Katrina and I don't have my notes. I remember both croaked within the 1st year and had no idea why. We're thinking of another pair soon, my wife loves them. I knew the diver and just wrote it off to "one of those things". Probably not enough garlic.

[Shoryureppa]

I feed mine twice a day sometimes 3 times wit a mixture of mysis, blackworms and omega brine. The males display more when are well fed I noticed. The males though are a bit tougher to adapt IME.

[SDguy]

So any non user error actual experiences?

Just thought I'd repeat... :)

I ask because I had miserable success with these fish... and believe me feeding was not the issue.

The best I did with a fairy wrasse (pretty much the only other species I kept... once I tried a "sunset" pylei that jumped through a hole) was a lubbocks for a bit over 5 years.

So I'd really like to hear about the longevity of these wrasses in captivity....

[indyjaco]

I had 2 female flames for about a month. Ordered them from PIA and both started eating on day 1. They would always eat Mysis and pellets like my two other wrasses. One lasted about 3 weeks then stopped eating then disappeared the next day the 2nd did the same thing about 2 weeks later.

[tangov5559]

I had my flame for about 1 year. Just stopped eating one day and it eventually passed. No reason at all.

[emoore]

I have 3 flame wrasses for about a year now. I had a Lubboks wrasse for about 3 years before he disappeared. They seem harder to keep alive long. You don't hear many stories about long lived wrasses.

[emoore]

Double post

[Joe0813]

do you guys think the same for mystery wrasse

[tangov5559]

do you guys think the same for mystery wrasse

No experience with these.... Sorry

[rssjsb]

do you guys think the same for mystery wrasseMysteries are not fairy wrasses. They're in the same family as sixlines, so they don't have the same issues. They will jump like most wrasses, but I've never heard reports that they just stop eating and disappear.

The main issue with them is that they tend to get mean as they age, and often start eating inverts.

[CIGARSC351W]

I purchased 2 small female Flames 4 months ago. The larger of the two has started to change to a male. There both eating like pigs and seem to get alone well. I feed small amounts of mysis, bloodworms and omega brine 3 times a day.

[albano]

Out of the 30 wrasses in my DT, 20 are fairy or flashers. Some are over 2 yrs in my care, 2 are over 3yrs.
I have lost 2 out of 4 Flames... Both times it was the biggest/oldest male.

I, personally, prefer to buy the cheaper female wrasses...they always turn male, and most of the males seem to display for any type of female (they get that from me), so pairs/harems don't seem to be required

[SDguy]

FWIW my experience was with 1 supermale and 3 small females. All turned male, and all eventually died. Oct. '09 - Apr. '12

[evolved]

I have kept flames in the past; I had one which almost made it 2 years, then he contracted a bacterial infection which was his demise. I'm not sure how that happened either; there had been no new fish additions in quite sometime; nothing else was affected.

I have some wrasses now which I've kept around 3 years.

[SDguy]

I have kept flames in the past; I had one which almost made it 2 years, then he contracted a bacterial infection which was his demise. I'm not sure how that happened either; there had been no new fish additions in quite sometime; nothing else was affected.

I have some wrasses now which I've kept around 3 years.

I mean this with all sincerity, and please don't take offense, but why would you throw out a comment about expecting 8-10 years out of one of these fish, when you yourself haven't had that experience... nor have others, judging by the replies in this thread. A post like that makes me (and possibly others reading this thread) immediately feel like I have done something wrong to lose my fish in the time I did.... not sure it's appropriate or deserved without any basis.

[evolved]

No offense taken. But I did say "usually user error" and "if nothing goes awry..."

I completely believe the potential for 8-10 years of life is there. Now how obtainable that number is, I'm not sure.

[SDguy]

Well my last flame died just looking old.... and the lubbocks did as well, so if that is something going awry, I don't know what to say....

[evolved]

But were they adults when you purchased them?

Sure, the terminal males are the prettiest (and also the most expensive), but there's no way to tell how old they might already be. These days I prefer young males or even juvi's just for this very reason.

My thoughts are an 8-10 year lifetime is possible. But it's tough to subtract the unknown from that number when you purchase something.

I'm not intending to indicate something always goes awry; 5 years old to you and looking old sounds pretty darn good to me.

I know you know how it goes when people try to pin a life expectancy to any species; it's not so simple. Stress, diet, and tank temperature dictate a whole lot in this matter.

[maikoa02]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but I just lost my male and 1 week prior I lost my female flame wrasse. I had them for slightly over 2 years, both were super healthy, ate aggressively, and were so bold that every time I had to stick my hand in the tank they always nipped at my hand looking for food. Literally overnight for the male, and maybe two days for the female they started swimming differently, hid like they do when sleeping, and then died. Never had any healthy fish do this before in 20+ years of keeping saltwater fish. Has any reefers out there kept this fish long term (5+ years)? If the norm max is 2 years, then this pair was probably my last.

[albano]

Out of the 30 wrasses in my DT, 20 are fairy or flashers. Some are over 2 yrs in my care, 2 are over 3yrs.
I have lost 2 out of 4 Flames... Both times it was the biggest/oldest male.

I, personally, prefer to buy the cheaper female wrasses...they always turn male, and most of the males seem to display for any type of female (they get that from me), so pairs/harems don't seem to be required

In the past few months I lost another flame supermale... I don't want to call them 'supermales' anymore, the better term is TERMINAL phase male! IME, once they turn SM, it's just a matter of time.
I did replace it with a juv/F, but only because it was available for less than $50, not gonna pay more than that for flames, anymore !...I also added 2 more juvi/F hooded wrasses, when LA had them on sale for ~$50 a month ago

[nonstopfishies]

I had a flame I got small for just over two years before it jumped the only day I forgot to put the top back on a few months back. Kicking myself hard for that. I too replaced it with a small hooded. Males just don't seem to acclimate as well or last as long from my experiences and seeing the number of them that die or look bad at LFS's.

[Chad Vossen]

How low on the food chain are fairy wrasses? That seems to be relative to how long they'll live. With the exception to damselfish/clownfish

[eatbreakfast]

I would tend to think 2 to 3 yrs in the wild would be a really good life span for fairy wrasses in the wild.

When you see specimens older than that in captivity they often look a little weird. What I mean by that is they start to get elongated snouts and rounder foreheads.

When you see pics of large fish in the wild they dont have some of these exaggerated features.

Fish lifespans can definitely be longer in captivity because there should be no predator pressure. But if you have a fairy wrasse going on 5yrs thats really good.

[the808state]

Wrasses are not angels or tangs. There are reports of tangs and angels living for 15+ years. Wrasses (especially smaller ones) will not. From the research I gathered from personal experience and others are fairies and flashers live 2-3 years tops. Everyone has the same experience after this mark "they disappear". I would not expect to get much life expectancy from fairies and definitely flashers.

Gobies live even shorter, longer in captivity due to predation in the wild, but average is less than 2 years. If you want a longevity fish, buy a big angel :)

[maikoa02]

Yeah I think I'm done with fairy and flasher wrasses. If 2-3 years is tops then it's not worth the effort considering the time in qt and their cost(I like the expensive ones). I've had angels that lived over 10 years and actually prefer these fish, but their appetite for corals is a big time risk.