anybody keep a red coris wrasse?

[walkerbrody]

Im considering one for my reef tank. I've read they are kept with caution in a reef. Anybody have experience with one?

 

[iamwrasseman]

when they are small and cute they are usually great in a reef but once they get to be 2 1/2"to 3" they will create havoc on your CUC and also will flip corals looking for food . if you have large corals and a small CUC then you may want one but if you have hermits and small snails they will quickly become food . the only CUC that i can have are large nassarius snails ,everything else is food to them . they will slowly get the nassarius snails also but its slower cause they stay under until the tank gets fed then the wrasses are busy eating the PE mysis shrimp .

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I had one in a mixed reef for years. Beautiful colors, espically after changing to their adult colors. They do get big though. As long as you can keep them well fed, you have less of a chance of them eating onter inverts in your tank. But you have to start with a junivile and start feeding him from the begning. Get him to learn that YOU are his food source.

But they can and do move things. Mainly they are just looking for food. But I've seen mine moe rocks bigger than he was. As long as you have everything securly mounted, you should be ok.

Also remember they they like to burry in the sand. Mostly at night whne they sleep.

I'm thinking of adding another one to my reef as I miss the one I had. He disappered one day after about 5 years. I haven't found a trace of him yet after several years of looking.

 

[ChuckLawson]

I've got one; he doesn't bother the corals much (although he taught me to glue everything down solid), but the only cleanup crew that's survived him (so far) has been a cleaner shrimp and some good-sized turbo snails. Small snails and hermits are favorite treats.

I added a small (fist sized) rock with zoas on it a few weeks ago, and he literally rolled it across the bottom looking for treats. After about a half-hour, I was able to put it back into place and he's left it alone... He's about 4.5 inches.

 

[89Foxbody]

I had one at my old job. I rescued him from the mouth of a Snowflake Eel (he was swimming around in the tank with the wrasse in his mouth like a dog with a rawhide bone...) and he was a pretty cool fish. I loved watching him burrow into the sand. Like the others have said, they will rearrange your tank and munch your CUC though.

 

[ja4207]

I had one for while, like stated above he was a model citizen for about a year, then all hell broke loose. If he could flip it he would, if he couldn't flip it he would tunnel under it until it fell over.