Anyone had a pencil wrasse in their reef?

[pbetito]

I am pondering adding a 4 inch pencil wrasse to my mixed reef and was wondering how successful others had been with the species? Are they bothersome to the corals? Are they hardy, and do they come out of hiding? Would love some feedback here...

 

[wombat2]

Don't buy it. Don't buy it. Don't buy it.

They're real pretty, they stay out all the time, they don't bother corals, they usually take to frozen mysids pretty quickly, but they just die after about 6 months. It's apparently a dietary issue, but no one really knows why for sure. Many advanced aquarists have tried and failed. It's one of those fish best left in the ocean until some public aquarium figures out how to keep them successfully.

The most common one that you're probably considering is Pseudojuloides cerasinus. They're heartbreakingly beautiful, unfortunately.

A much better genus for the reef aquarium are the fairy wrasses, Cirrhilabrus spp. Pretty much near perfect reef fish, and they're all beautiful.
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/articles/2002/cirrhilabrus1.html

 

[Sparkss]

Here's a couple of pictures of our fairy wrasses

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=961787

They are great fish, and as wombat2 said, they are just about reef perfect

 

[Elite]

I had one before.. It lasted a little bit more than 3 months then it decided to go carpet surfing .. I love the fish..

 

[pbetito]

Yep, the one I want looks exactly like that one. Sounds like its more than I can handle however. Thanks for the heads up guys. I will do a scotts fairy I think instead, or maybe an exquisite fairy wrasse.

 

[wombat2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8516170#post8516170 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Elite
I had one before.. It lasted a little bit more than 3 months then it decided to go carpet surfing .. I love the fish..

That's P. severnsi.

There's also P. atavai...

...and P. elongatus.

It's a real shame they're so touchy.