Temminck’s Fairy Wrasse

Overview

Temminck's Fairy Wrasse is a delicately coloured fairy wrasse with a pale pink-to-lavender body and fine yellow highlights, males displaying more intense colouration during courtship or territorial disputes. It shares the general hardiness and peaceful temperament typical of the wider fairy wrasse group, generally settling well into a reef tank.

It adds constant colour and movement to the middle and upper water column, and its manageable adult size makes it a great fit for a wide range of reef tank sizes without adding aggression risk.

As with most fairy wrasses, males intensify their colouration during courtship or rival encounters, giving keepers an extra dimension of behaviour to observe alongside its already attractive resting colouration.

Compatibility

Temminck's Fairy Wrasses are peaceful and fully reef safe, ignoring corals and invertebrates. They can be kept singly or, in a large enough tank, as one male with several females, though two males in a smaller system may show aggressive displays toward each other.

They mix well with other peaceful to semi-aggressive community fish and are rarely bullied given their alert, quick-swimming nature.

Health & quarantine

This species is generally hardy once acclimated, though like most wrasses it's a capable jumper, so a secure, gap-free lid is essential. A minimum four-week quarantine is recommended, and this species typically settles in and feeds well without major complications.