Wrasse Hosting with Anemone?

[FlamingZombieMom]

Hello everyone! I am fairly new to reefing (2 years) and very new to anemones and wrasses (acquired first anemone and first wrasse less than one week ago) and was noticing the my wrasse appears to be host, or at least cohabiting with, one of my new anemones. The wrasse is very busy around the tank checking all the nooks for food, but his favorite spot is to go inside the spaceship ornament with the anemone who decided to live there. The wrasse and the anemone seem perfectly happy together. Is this normal? Should I be concerned for either animal? I have included photos (apologies for the poor quality). I would be happy for any advice, knowledge and/or identifications.

My tank is a one year old 125 gal with 30 gal sump with refugium

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! @SaltyT - any thoughts on the wrasse behavior in the post above?

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board! curious little wrasse! hopefully it doesn't get stung by the nem

 

[Just John]

Glad you decided to join!

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hello everyone! I am fairly new to reefing (2 years) and very new to anemones and wrasses (acquired first anemone and first wrasse less than one week ago) and was noticing the my wrasse appears to be host, or at least cohabiting with, one of my new anemones. The wrasse is very busy around the tank checking all the nooks for food, but his favorite spot is to go inside the spaceship ornament with the anemone who decided to live there. The wrasse and the anemone seem perfectly happy together. Is this normal? Should I be concerned for either animal? I have included photos (apologies for the poor quality). I would be happy for any advice, knowledge and/or identifications.

My tank is a one year old 125 gal with 30 gal sump with refugium

I have a Halichoeres bivittatus and a Halichoeres poeyi that were both collected by me in SE Florida.

Both of them will swim in and out of my LTA and have had no issues in the time they have been doing this.

I have also observed while diving that most of the wrasse native to FL are able to do the same thing with condy nems.

My thought on this, is that their slime coat is thick enough to allow for interaction with some anemones that do not have a very potent sting. I could be wrong on that, but it is the only thing I can think of.

In addition, if the little guy is chilling and touching the tents like that, it should no tbe an issue. If it was hurting the wrasse, it would not do it. It is also nice to see that someone else has a wrasse that fancys a nem.

 

[FlamingZombieMom]

I have a Halichoeres bivittatus and a Halichoeres poeyi that were both collected by me in SE Florida.

Both of them will swim in and out of my LTA and have had no issues in the time they have been doing this.

I have also observed while diving that most of the wrasse native to FL are able to do the same thing with condy nems.

My thought on this, is that their slime coat is thick enough to allow for interaction with some anemones that do not have a very potent sting. I could be wrong on that, but it is the only thing I can think of.

In addition, if the little guy is chilling and touching the tents like that, it should no tbe an issue. If it was hurting the wrasse, it would not do it. It is also nice to see that someone else has a wrasse that fancys a nem.

Thanks y'all!

He goes in with this anemone every few minutes and hangs out, very cute and fun to watch! But he never touches my other 2 anemones we acquired at the same time. Corckscrew is happy on a rock and this other guy (??? not sure what it is) rolling around on the bottom today after coming out from under one of the rocks this morning (included photos of both). Sadly, I don't know what kind of wrasse or anemone hosting him. The box store lfs just had generic nametags (wrasse, anemone).

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks y'all!

He goes in with this anemone every few minutes and hangs out, very cute and fun to watch! But he never touches my other 2 anemones we acquired at the same time. Corckscrew is happy on a rock and this other guy (??? not sure what it is) rolling around on the bottom today after coming out from under one of the rocks this morning (included photos of both). Sadly, I don't know what kind of wrasse or anemone hosting him. The box store lfs just had generic nametags (wrasse, anemone).

I would need to see the foot or the mouth of the nem the wrasse hangs out in to be sure, but it looks like a Condy anemone. It could be a long tentacle, but the fact it is not in the sand directly, leads me away from LTA.

The corkscrew nem, they have a mean little sting, so the wrasse may never go near it.

As for the other one, it looks like a condy as well. A little bleached (as most of them come in that way), but with stability and time, it should regain some of the normal brown/green color that they have. For the rolling around part, condy are bad about this when new and will typically settle down in a few days. You can always dig a little hole in the sand at a location with light random flow and where a rock meets the sand. That is typically their preferred location in the wild, so trying to match that may aid in getting it to settle down a little sooner. Just do not move it around a ton, as it will stress them out being moved a lot.

 

[SaltyT]

Welcome to R2R! We're glad you joined us!

Some juvenile thalasomma wrasses do associate with anemones on occasion, perfectly normal!

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,welcome to the reef...
best advice already given...

 

[vetteguy53081]

Some wrasses are resilient to sting and disease as they have a heavy slime coat
Great to hear. Cindy and curlique not as potent as sting of a BTA

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[FlamingZombieMom]

I would need to see the foot or the mouth of the nem the wrasse hangs out in to be sure, but it looks like a Condy anemone. It could be a long tentacle, but the fact it is not in the sand directly, leads me away from LTA.

The corkscrew nem, they have a mean little sting, so the wrasse may never go near it.

As for the other one, it looks like a condy as well. A little bleached (as most of them come in that way), but with stability and time, it should regain some of the normal brown/green color that they have. For the rolling around part, condy are bad about this when new and will typically settle down in a few days. You can always dig a little hole in the sand at a location with light random flow and where a rock meets the sand. That is typically their preferred location in the wild, so trying to match that may aid in getting it to settle down a little sooner. Just do not move it around a ton, as it will stress them out being moved a lot.

The anemone in the ship had a red base, like the one rolling around, but the way he is positioned I cannot get a photo of his mouth or base. The white one has in the past few minutes wedged itself between the sand and a rock, base attaching to the rock. I am sad that his white color comes from not being well, my son was so excited to get "the only white one!" Haha shows our lack of knowledge...like I said, we are new to this and learning as we go. I hope he recovers. I've been direct feeding with melted frozen food (plankton, mysis, krill mixture) and they all take it happily.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The anemone in the ship had a red base, like the one rolling around, but the way he is positioned I cannot get a photo of his mouth or base. The white one has in the past few minutes wedged itself between the sand and a rock, base attaching to the rock. I am sad that his white color comes from not being well, my son was so excited to get "the only white one!" Haha shows our lack of knowledge...like I said, we are new to this and learning as we go. I hope he recovers. I've been direct feeding with melted frozen food (plankton, mysis, krill mixture) and they all take it happily.

Them eating is a good sign. I would just make sure not to feed to large of bits to the bleached one. It causes more energy to be used to digest it than it gets. Just small bits is fine. No large pieces of shrimp or anything lol.

As for the color being white, depending on the condy and the light, they may still appear a tad white when blue light is used. Under white light, they will have a slight brown/green tint, so it still stands a chance of looking mostly white with your lights.

Also, once the nems are all healthy, there is really no need to feed, but feeding them small bits is not bad at all. They will grow quicker this way, but unlike BTA, you will not have to worry about a 1000 splits from over feeding lol.

 

[FlamingZombieMom]

Them eating is a good sign. I would just make sure not to feed to large of bits to the bleached one. It causes more energy to be used to digest it than it gets. Just small bits is fine. No large pieces of shrimp or anything lol.

As for the color being white, depending on the condy and the light, they may still appear a tad white when blue light is used. Under white light, they will have a slight brown/green tint, so it still stands a chance of looking mostly white with your lights.

Also, once the nems are all healthy, there is really no need to feed, but feeding them small bits is not bad at all. They will grow quicker this way, but unlike BTA, you will not have to worry about a 1000 splits from over feeding lol.

The food is the same I feed the fish, so it's quite small bits.

I had no idea they could multiply! I'm glad we didn't get the kind that take over everything lol.

I go into the store with the kids and we get carried away picking "that really cool critter!!" Most live, some don't. Live and learn. We were very sad that our cleaner shrimp (first critter we acquired for our first marine setup 2 years ago) perished yesterday. He had no feelers, legs or "propeller legs". Maybe he got into the wrong anemone? I never thought he would be injured.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The food is the same I feed the fish, so it's quite small bits.

I had no idea they could multiply! I'm glad we didn't get the kind that take over everything lol.

I go into the store with the kids and we get carried away picking "that really cool critter!!" Most live, some don't. Live and learn. We were very sad that our cleaner shrimp (first critter we acquired for our first marine setup 2 years ago) perished yesterday. He had no feelers, legs or "propeller legs". Maybe he got into the wrong anemone? I never thought he would be injured.

Typically cleaner shrimp live 3-5 years. Some have success with them living longer. So without you knowing the age of it, it could have just been from old age. Especially if it was a larger one when you got it.

 

[FlamingZombieMom]

Typically cleaner shrimp live 3-5 years. Some have success with them living longer. So without you knowing the age of it, it could have just been from old age. Especially if it was a larger one when you got it.

Oh, maybe it was old age natural death. He was full-size when we brought him home.

If we get a new one, should it be safe with the anemones? I thought they injured him due to the timing.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Oh, maybe it was old age natural death. He was full-size when we brought him home.

If we get a new one, should it be safe with the anemones? I thought they injured him due to the timing.

Most cleaner shrimp can tango with a nem with no issues or they know not to go near them. I have ones that walk all over my haddoni and gigs without being eaten. But I have ones that tried it and got eaten. I think it all boils down to the nem and the shrimp.

 

[FlamingZombieMom]

...and thank to ALL of you wonder people for all the warm welcomes and helpful comments! Much appreciated! Y'all done gone and made my day