Exquisite Fairy Wrasse - Medium

The Exquisite Fairy Wrasse's body can be a variety of colours from greenish to redish but these can even differ between regions. Males are much more elaborate than females. They have a distinctive red circle around their eyes and their head also features bright luminous blue or green lightning strike lines. Their pectoral and dorsal fins are generally a reddish colour. Females on the other hand are normally red all over with a black spot on their tail fin.

They are unlikely to mate in the aquarium environment. In the wild these are a schooling fish most commonly with one or two dominant males. If the dominant male disappears from the school then the largest dominant female will change to take on the role of the male. In fact, most females will make the transition to male when in captivity especially not kept with other Exquisite Wrasse.

You can find Exquisite Fairy Wrasse as far west as the east coast of Africa all the way down to the middle of South Africa. They are found in India spanning the whole of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. In this region they can be found as far North as Southern Japan, but can also be found as far South as New South Wales in Australia

Tank Recommendations for your Exquisite Fairy Wrasse

The smallest tank size needed is at least 160 litres for these wrasses.

Wrasse can jump out of the tank when startled, so a cover on your tank is essential, otherwise you’re likely to find them on the floor.

They are most comfortable in a tank with live rock with a layer of substrate of about 7-10cm as this is where they feed naturally in the wild.

Suitable Tank Buddies

These placid wrasses are easy to match up with compatible tank mates. So long as you make sure they're not going get eaten they'll be fime. They are considered reef safe and are excellent fish for removing parasites from your tank. They will not annoy your tank cleaning shrimp, unlike other wrasses.

Usually Compatible

Exquisite Fairy Wrasse have a peaceful temperament and aren’t usually aggressive to other fish. Suitable tank buddies include Large Angelfish, Boxfish, Damselfish, Clownfish and Tangs/Surgeons.

Sometime Compatible

Putting two males together is not a good idea. One male, many females, and perhaps some juveniles may constitute a good cohabiting group.

Frogfish/Anglerfish, Eels, Groupers, Grunts/Sweetlips, Lionfish/Scorpionfish, Parrotfish, Pseudochromis, Squirrelfish, and Triggerfish should cautiously be introduced with Exquisite Fairy Wrasse.

Rarely Compatible

Avoid housing Seahorses or Pipefish with Exquisite Fairy Wrasses as they share the same food source and your Wrasse will leave them very little. Rays and Sharks are not a good idea as they’ll hunt your Wasse.

Feeding Your Exquisite Fairy Wrasse

The Exquisite Fairy Wrasse is carnivorous, they eat a variety of meaty foods, including chopped meats, live shrimp, foraminiferans, amphipods, and worms. In the wild they will eat larger prey like mollusks breaking their shells with their sharp tooth like appendage.

They can also survive on a diet of zooplankton and will also eat copepods and rottifers . Flaked foods will be accepted if you introduce it early and keep trying.