Melanurus Wrasse Really Reef-Safe?

Reef-safe means they don't pick at coral, whether they eat CUC is separate, and any fish can jump given a good spook. Plus, the tendencies we assign to species are generalizations, fish def have their own personalities.

That said, my melanurus is def more prone to picking at snails when I am not feeding my usual heavy schedule. I've never seen her go for coral or nori, but she will pick around them for little worms and hydroids and stuff that congregate there.

I think they are among the easier wrasses to keep, and really a beautiful fish.
 
I like mine & she doesn't bother any corals but she does go after most of my inverts. She usually goes after the smaller snails but I do catch her flipping over a conch every once in a while. She did bite a leg off of one of my brittle stars that is about 4 or 5" but that only happened once & I have had her for about 2 years. I've heard of them going after clams but I have a 6" maxima that she has never bothered. Like I said, in my case I just can't keep any ceriths or nassarris snails.
 
Mine's never bothered any corals and he gets along fine with my cleaner shrimp. He does very occasionally pick on snails or hermits a little, but no big deal. He cleaned up all the flatworms and makes short work of any pods I put in.
 
Plus 1 on them being jumpers. Better have a lid or net of some kind. Beautiful fish though. Mine never bothered anything coral or fish.
 
Thanks all for the replies!! Think this is a fish I will roll the dice on when the time comes to add him!! Feel free to keep the advice coming though!
 
I got my melanurus with his tank, and he is a model citizen. He's currently 6" long, and one of the biggest, if not the biggest Melanurus Wrasse I've ever seen. If I add Peppermint Shrimp to the tank, he will generally leave them alone for a couple months, then one day I'll find a corpse, but he doesn't go after them immediately. When I had a filefish in the tank, the wrasse would nip at the breathing tubes of nassarius snails, because the filefish showed him they were tasty treats. Since removing the filefish to my predator tank, the wrasse hasn't bothered any of the shelled animals in my tank.

The only things I would mention that are necessities are a deeper than shallow sand bed, and a tight fitting lid because he often rockets to the surface to grab the food I've just added to the tank. He's also the biggest fish in the tank, and absolutely the tank boss. We call him "Wrasse ***" because he won't let any bullshit happen in "his" tank.
 
I got my melanurus with his tank, and he is a model citizen. He's currently 6" long, and one of the biggest, if not the biggest Melanurus Wrasse I've ever seen. If I add Peppermint Shrimp to the tank, he will generally leave them alone for a couple months, then one day I'll find a corpse, but he doesn't go after them immediately. When I had a filefish in the tank, the wrasse would nip at the breathing tubes of nassarius snails, because the filefish showed him they were tasty treats. Since removing the filefish to my predator tank, the wrasse hasn't bothered any of the shelled animals in my tank.

The only things I would mention that are necessities are a deeper than shallow sand bed, and a tight fitting lid because he often rockets to the surface to grab the food I've just added to the tank. He's also the biggest fish in the tank, and absolutely the tank boss. We call him "Wrasse ***" because he won't let any bullshit happen in "his" tank.

Lol this made me laugh. Well I want a pretty chill tank... with the exception of a purple tang (what I am pretty set on) I will not have many aggressive fish and want to keep it that way I will have a copperband butterfly which I will be getting this coming weekend and he will be the first fish to go into the tank. I may look around for other wrasses that are truly peaceful and shrimp/snail safe.

Any other smaller schooling fish for a 120g? I plan to have a trio of dispar anthias... anything else good? No chromis..
 
Lol this made me laugh. Well I want a pretty chill tank... with the exception of a purple tang (what I am pretty set on) I will not have many aggressive fish and want to keep it that way I will have a copperband butterfly which I will be getting this coming weekend and he will be the first fish to go into the tank. I may look around for other wrasses that are truly peaceful and shrimp/snail safe.

Any other smaller schooling fish for a 120g? I plan to have a trio of dispar anthias... anything else good? No chromis..

He isn't necessarily aggressive... he's just the boss. If he sees the Chromis or Talbots Damsels messing with each other, he will put a stop to it by chasing the offender away. He isn't quite hand tame like my cleaner wrasse, but he is very curious and friendly. Like all Halocheres wrasses though, he is very early to bed, and very late to rise...
 
Ive had mine for almost 2 years, he will investigate new snails but so far hasnt gone after shrimp, coral or my brittle star.
 
My Melanurus is a model citizen. He doesn't pick at any of my CUC which consists of Conch, Turbos, Nassarius snails, Fire and Cleaner shrimp. He did eat some Peppermint I bought to take care of some Aptasia, but they were very small so I think the size was a factor.
Spends all day swimming around picking pods and pests off the rocks, very active fish.
 
Mine first one absolutely decimated my peppermint shrimp. But I loved the fish so much, I have another one (no shrimp this time). But Ive never seen them do harm to anything else (snails, crabs, corals, etc.)
 
I want to have one in my tank, but after a lot of reading I concluded that this fish is unpredictable. It will not harm corals, but there is high probability that it will eat shrimps, crabs, and snails.
 
mine eats from my hand. He is about 5' long and is a stunning fish. Doesn't bother any inverts or corals. Loves nori.
 
I've had mine for 6 months in a mixed reef tank with clams sps LPS and softies. No issues. Never touched my cleaner or peppermint shrimp. My only issue with him was I had an ich issue and I couldn't get him out of the tank even after removing all the rock and water. Buried himself in the sand. Wouldn't go near fish traps and was an expert at get shrimp off a fish hook without getting caught.
 
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