Dragon wrasse in a 55 gallon?

[Torno]

With a good protein skimmer, regular water changes, and an over-all moderately stocked tank, can a dragon wrasse (rock mover) happily live in a 48" tank?

 

[Patchy]

gets to big and needs more room IMO. they swim alot like most wrasse

 

[zemuron114]

have you ever seen a full grown one?? gigantic...
i vote No, but he would be fine for a few years

 

[Torno]

Oh, I thought they were like eels in the way that they hide in the rocks and don't swim in the water column. You guys know best though.......

 

[LRS078]

He will be okay if you buy him as a juv that is only a couple inches long. It will take him a couple years to outgrow the 55. These things get chunky and are known for being rock movers so think of a bull dozer with near puffer chunkiness/mass for his length. If you have a larger tank to upgrade him into I'd say yes, if you don't...no.

 

[Bghost]

I'm with these guys. If you get your Dragon Wrasse as a Juv. it should be fine for a few years, but after that I would upgrade to a bigger tank. So I guess my vote would be yes and no.

 

[RGBMatt]

Waikiki Aquarium has a display with a small dragon wrasse that can't be more than 15g. The fish seems quite happy.

He'll be fine for long time, but if he survives to adulthood you'll need a bigger tank. Dragon wrasses can be more than a foot long when full sized.

 

[Torno]

I had actually already purchased one thats 2", but after reading this it will be going back today. Maybe I'll learn to research before i buy?

 

[RGBMatt]

As others have said, it will take a few years before the wrasse outgrows the tank. If you think you can find a new home for your fish when that happens, there's no reason not to keep it for now.

 

[Bghost]

Yeah I would just keep it for now and upgrade later If I was you, but if you don't want to upgrade, than taking it back is the best thing to do.