Will a female McCoskers flasher wrasse, help the color of a male?

Will getting a female McCoskers flasher wrasse help bring back the color to my male McCosckers? All the fish in my tank have a very healthy diet and ate very colorful. The wrasse used to be out all the time, but for the past few months he hides (sometimes for a month) and only comes his rock to feed. His color has really dulled though. Not that bright fish I see in other people's tank.

 

The theoretical answer to your question is "yes", but finding a "female" for sale that's truly female is a tall task. A small juvi would be a better approach, or alternatively, a male of a different Paracheilinus species.

However, the behavior and lack of color you describe is quite characteristic of a wrasse which is being bullied into hiding. In which case, adding another Paracheilinus wrasse likely will result in two fish in the same dire situation.

I would closely observe the interaction of all tank mates before I progressed much further.

 

Thank you. When he does come out to feed, the other fish ignore him. And when they swim by his "house" they'll swim up to him like, "hey, who's the new guy? Oh wait, it's just you."

He was hiding for a month, up til 2 weeks ago. I was just about to buy a new McCoskers or a carpenters wrasse when he came out of hiding.