Reef safe wrasse questions.

[broke1]

After alot of searching on here I am more confused than when I started.

I am looking for a few more tank watchdogs. The Halichoeres look to be the best candidates, but my search has become a little conflicted. Dr. F&S have the Radiant marked as peaceful and reef safe, yet ones along the lines of the Christmas, Green and Yellows have with caution and in the FO section.

Are any of these reef safe or is this one of those things that depends on the fish itself?

Can these guys all live peacefully together? This is for a 240g, so they should have enough room.

 

[snorvich]

Watch dog like in pest eliminator?

 

[ACBlinky]

I wouldn't keep more than one wrasse from the Haliocheres family (they'll likely fight). IME they're safe when it comes to corals, but can be bullies (along the lines of a sixline) to more timid fish and will go after small inverts when they get larger. My H. ornatissimus is about 4" long now, and very well behaved, but for several months she bullied the 3" Potter's wrasse into hiding all day. No idea why she stopped, but right now she's a model citizen. That said, the only shrimp in the tank is a huge CBS that takes a swipe at the wrasse any time she passes by - she'd be nuts to even think about attacking it!

 

[ssavader]

The Halichoeros wrasses you list won't bother corals and are good pest eliminators (AEFWs and clam boring snails), but also can enjoy picking up and wacking your hermits and snails against a rock. My H. melanurus is "reef-safe" but but has been caught n the act of hermit homicide! The definition of reef safe depends on what you or other include in the definition of "reef".

 

[broke1]

Let's say invert safe then. I have just about every snail and crab you can get with a couple Cleaner Shrimp.

Watch dog like in pest eliminator?

Yes.

 

[Jagermeister]

I have a radiant, christmas, and melanarus wrasse (used to have a yellow also until he jumped) all living together in a 120 reef. They basically ignore each other. I haven't caught any of them eating snails or crabs and I also have a cleaner and fire shrimp. They don't care about the coral.

Great fish!

 

[broke1]

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately everyone seems to have different experiences with these guys to lead me to think it is more based on the fish itself than the family it belongs to.

I had what was sold to me as a Parrot Wrasse who after 9 months in my tank turned himself into wrasse jerky on the top of my tank.

I was hoping to find a good replacement or replacements for him.

Would adding them at the same time eliminate aggression toward each other? As of right now I have no wrasses in the tank so I am basically working with a clean slate.

Yellow & Purple Wrasse, Juvenile
(Halichoeres trispilus)

Yellow Wrasse
(Halichoeres chrysus)

Green Wrasse
(Halichoeres chloropterus)

These look to be the best candidates from what I have read. The Leopards and Radiants are beautiful also.

 

[Jagermeister]

Well, based on my experience you'll be just fine. I didn't add all my wrasses at once but over the period of a couple of years. I also have quite a few leopards in the tank as well. The Melanarus wrasse will harass and chase new comers for a day or two but then loses interest.

Just recently, however, I have a small juvenile meleagris leopard who is extremely agressive to another small jubenile meleagris leopard. Both these leopards spent months in a quarantine tank together and then were in the reef tank for months getting along perfectly. Now, all of a sudden, one is extremely aggressive towards the other. Hopefully it will subside....

 

[broke1]

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I was looking to have my cake and eat it too. As far as I have read, the Halichores wrasses should be fine with multiple specimens per tank, but some have said otherwise. How well do these guys mix with the completely reef safe wrasses, Paracheilinus and Cirrhilabrus?

 

[kdblove_99]

Love my Radiant!