Which Wrasse ?

Six line: cheaper, tougher, less prone to jump, more often hiding, pretty but not gorgeous
Fairy wrasses: tend to be very expensive, marginally more fragile, VERY prone to jumping, spend more time in the open, knockout beautiful

Either would fit fine in the tank and should have no problems with the clowns.
 
My favorite of the cheap fairy wrasses is the Red Fin Fairy (Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis). They generally cost about 24-29 where I live. You could also do the Yellow "Coris" Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus). This is what they are called but they actually are not a coris. Some other good choices are the Carpenters Wrasse and the Filament Wrasse even though they run a bit more. Hope this helps and good luck with them. Wrasses in general are one of those fish that you could run over with a Semi and it wouldn't kill them (this is the way my boyfriend puts it and I agree).
 
Thanks for the suggestions! The particular Fairy I had in mind was labeled as "redhead solon fairy" One LFS can order me one for $50-$60, that sounded reasonable to me. My real worry is the jumping I have been told by a couple people that they are jumpers but is it really that big of a problem? I can install a tighter fitting lid, but I lost an Oscar that I was holding for someone that kept hitting the lids KO'd himsef several times before he finally died. Once bitten twice shy ya know. Thanks for all the input!
 
Fortunately, there isn't much momentum behind their jumps - these are pretty small fish - so they can't injure themselves like a big oscar can when it gets moving. As long as you understand the need for a tight-fitting lid, you should be fine.

Just as an FYI, that's a good price for a Redheaded/Solon/Solar wrasse (C. solorensis). If you're getting a male, don't get too addicted to the psychedelic coloration as it tends to fade in captivity without a harem of females to defend. See if your LFS offers a price difference between males and females - they often do as the females are less flashy than the supermales, taking advantage of the fact that most people don't realize that the supermales will fade to a submale or female's coloration outside of a massive school. Might save you a little money, unless you want to hold out for the occasional supermale that keeps his colors.
 
Thanks for that info. I have been told of a difference between sexes but I didn't know they would fade w/o a group. Would it be a viable option to get a female w/ him? I only have the one ocellaris and could not get the 2nd if one girlie would make a difference, two females I think would be to much for my small tank.
 
A single female wouldn't work. It's a complicated social hierarchy made by hermaphroditic fish - the few most dominant fish become brightly colored supermales, followed by a handful of duller regular males, and then a whole slew of females. The fish in the school are constantly fighting to get to the top of this social order and change gender accordingly. So, you would have to replicate this dilluted aggression in a large group to guarantee that a supermale would keep his coloration without killing off any other fish. With only two wrasses, the more dominant supermale would just constantly whoop the weaker fish to assure its dominance. As you don't have room for a sufficiently large group, just stick with one and see what happens.
 
I prefer the six line myself. I have a friend who has kept one in marginal quality water (high nitrates) with no problems for close to 8 months now. It is 4 or 5 inches long in a 55 gallon tank with a lot of LR. The wrasse is quite the engineer with the LR, too, moving rocks around and playing with the sand.

I don't have any direct experience with the fairy wrasse, but there is one in my LFS which enjoys beating up on a school of green chromis twice its size :rolleyes:
 
Great stuff, the wrasse info. :) LOL about the dragon wrasse. Definitely not a big enough tank for a DW. I'm a fan, as well.

Just wanted to chime in because there's talk of jumping. Fish can be in the same tank for years and all of a sudden hit that angle that you always thought would be "impossible." If you have jumpers, but also need an open top, one of the neatest things I've done was to staple black plastic poultry netting to a wood frame we made for one system. It was totally effective, didn't block the light - and there are a couple of different sizes.

This poultry netting can be found at any good hardware store; I got mine at Home Depot. The tinier fish can still get out, but with a good "rim" around the edge of the tank the poultry netting makes a good "cover" for the middle. Again keep in mind that it's not for every size fish (really small fish can escape if the netting is too large) but it can be the perfect remedy for many systems. HTH.
 
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