Nudibranch Eating Wrasses

[mikedelgado]

I have a green coris wrasse got him tiny for 8 well spent bucks. He is constantly hunting. he has taken care of all my pests. doesnt bother my shrimp snails or other fish(except stomatellas). he used to duke it out with a big gold stripe maroon clown but she had it coming cause she was a b. and started it.he is a good 5-6" now and is pretty strong so he does flip stuff over. he also will woosh the sand REALLY hard to see what he can stirr up. I noticed the other day that he has a pretty nice set of teeth. I know I wouldnt have a nice tank without him so he is allowed to flip stuff over

 

[kypatriot]

Mine 'wooshed' the sand like that one time and cut his belly on a rock that was partially buried. His guts hung out a little, and I thought for sure he was doomed to die. Much to my surprise, the lesion slowly got smaller and finally healed all the way up & disappeared. That was probably a year ago now.

They do have a decent set of teeth. My tangs (esp the hippo) sometimes try to give him crap, and he opens his mouth real big pointed at their side & they back off. It's like he says, "you want some of this? I can eat you!" Very cool fish. He never starts anything with any fish, but also never puts up with any crap.

 

[MTH]

I'm interested in adding a 6-line wrasse to my tank but it seems they can be picky pest feeders. Do they eventually get used to the idea of feeding on whats available in the tank or is it better to stick with some of the other wrasses that are not so picky? Maybe the 6-line is getting a bad wrap? Let me know. Thanks

 

[mikedelgado]

I put a 6 line in my tank when there were visable nudis all over my zoos.He ignored them. I put the green wrasse in a week later and hes was all over them.I was at the lfs this weekend and picked up a blue line wrasse(richmonds wrasse) its a halichores species just like the green wrasse. I walked by the tank in the store and noticed him stalking the one tiny piece of lr in his tank(MINE)!!

 

[Zman7000]

The Yellow coris wrasse is one of the best by far. Will not harm corals or other fish and will devour all flat worms, nudies etc. The only problem is they will kill all shrimp including cleaners If you need a coral QT fish or you don't have any shrimp in your display and have a pest to deal with this is your fish! They are cheap, non aggressive, hardy and beautiful.

 

[kypatriot]

The Yellow coris wrasse is one of the best by far. Will not harm corals or other fish and will devour all flat worms, nudies etc. The only problem is they will kill all shrimp including cleaners If you need a coral QT fish or you don't have any shrimp in your display and have a pest to deal with this is your fish! They are cheap, non aggressive, hardy and beautiful.

Are they known to be jumpers like other wrasse?

I have a frag tank that won't be covered, so if they're jumpers it wouldn't be a good pick for me.

 

[Zman7000]

None of mine have ever jumped but that does not mean that it isn't possible. Most have no problem with jumping with a yellow coris wrasse.

 

[SPSpirate]

i had a six line jump before..he wouldnt ever stay in the tank..lol

 

[SPSpirate]

he jumped out three times in one day..

 

[jadeguppy]

I just found a nudi on one of my zoas and am not a happy camper. I want to put in a natural predator, but have a delicate balance in the tank. It is a 125g mixed reef.
Fish:
sailfin
powder brown
spawning occ. clown pair
spawning diamond goby pair
two male bangaii (anyone want to trade me a female?)
royal gramma
two firefish
bi-color blenny
pair of green mandarin
spotted manadrin (awaiting a nice boyfriend)
blue cleaner wrasse

two cleaner shrimp
peppermints
1 or 2 harlequin shrimp
several brittle stars for the harlequin
several clams
breeding snails

Right now everyone gets along and other than the mess my diamond gobies make when getting ready to spawn, I have no issues. The cleaner wrasse is a recent addition. Yesterday I found an 1/2" nudi on a zoa frag and proceeded to remove as many zoas as I can and dip them in iodine. I didn't find any more nudis on them. Is it possible that the cleaner wrasse and mandarins are eatting the young nudis and that is why I only foud one big one? If not, someone mentioned a dragonfaced pipefish. I have been thinking of getting a pair. Will they eat the nudis? If not them, then what (prefer colorful and peaceful) wrasse is best is I want to keep everything I currently have alive? Thanks!

 

[TeeJay77]

I would not live without my Radiant Wrasse and Blue Spotted Leopard Wrasse. Between them they keep my pest population at 0. :beer:

 

[jadeguppy]

The Potter's Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon geoffroy) caught my attention a long time ago. The main reason's I didn't get one is my mandarins and that I hear they have a poor survival rate. How much trouble do you have with them burying clams and corals? Are they good for nudis? As I mentioned, I am worried about how a wrasse will compete with the mandarins for food. Thankfully at least one of the mandarins is eating my diy food.

 

[kac01]

I have a six line and a radiant that do a great job.

 

[jadeguppy]

Anyone know if a blue cleaner wrasse or gobies eat the nudis?

 

[marioensf]

1. Yellow Coris ( questionable as it gets bigger ) Most coris are actually invert killers and will turn over rocks looking for them
2. 6 Line ( can be a real PITA ) will kill other wrasses
3. Lunar
4. Possum (reefsafe)
5. Orange Striped
6. Christmas ( questionable with inverts will kill starfishes )
7. Pink Striped

Did a little experiment with the 6 lines (have 3 of them) and the Yellow Wrasse, a.k.a. Yellow Coris or Canary Wrasse. None of the 6 lines had any interest in the Nudi's. But the Yellow Coris/Canary went to town. Cleared them all out.

I'm dealing with some nudis, have the six line but those things are a major pest, considered a yellow wrasse but I don't want a territorial fight to start so if I get a bit larger coris than the six line, you guys think a fight to death will not take place?

Thx

 

[mfinn]

six lines are suppose to be very territorial and tougher than snot.
I've heard of six-lines taking out much larger fish.

 

[marioensf]

That is basically what I have, a territorial 6 that drives the clowns crazy when they have laid eggs; I might trade it for a small 6 and get a coris at the same time.
BTW my zoa garden is not infected, a different tank I have is under invasion.

 

[A. Grandis]

Something else to keep in mind.... not all of these wrasses are reef safe... so anyone getting one should choose wisely if they want their inverts in the tank!

Oh yeah, I would post only the reef safe wrasses around here...

I am in a process of choosing 1 or 2 reef safe wrasses for my 75gal with zoas.
Thanks for the thread and the posts.

Too bad they eat the snails...

Keep´em coming...

 

[reefmaster3024]

I have a juvenile formosa wrasse that is an animal, It will hunt down any preditor or bug that i might miss after treatment of new corals in my tank. I am geting ready to pull him out because he grabs all the frags everyday and flips them over to get at the bottoms to make sure he isnt missing anything. it is a constant battle of flipping things over all day long. PS I started glueing everything down now so he uses his nose and trenches the entire lenght of the tank in the sand looking for anything even small snails arent safe. I have a blueside wrasse, a yellow coris and both of them together dont do half the work this formosa does, its insane. Its like he is on crack even at nite when everyone else buries themselves in the sand to sleep he is still going 24 hours a day. He is wearing me out. One more thing he has a taste for small snails so I would not say completely reef safe.

 

[phoenixstar89]

any other fish that you guys know of that will eat the nudis? The yellow coris sounds like the way to go but I'm kinda partial to my cleaner shrimp and I'm infested with zoo eating nudis.