Favorite Reef Safe Wrasse UNDER $50????

Peanut · Feb 27, 2018

crabs and snails I could be ok with having to replace every so often, but what about Shrimp and/or Reef Lobsters? I have a pair of ruby red shrimp, a pair of cleaners, some peppermint, and a purple lobster that I have had for 5+ years... I think that's also part of the reason I have never had any wrasse other than the six line which is relatively small.

eatbreakfast · Feb 27, 2018

Peanut said:
crabs and snails I could be ok with having to replace every so often, but what about Shrimp and/or Reef Lobsters? I have a pair of ruby red shrimp, a pair of cleaners, some peppermint, and a purple lobster that I have had for 5+ years... I think that's also part of the reason I have never had any wrasse other than the six line which is relatively small.

A sixline is more of a risk to those inverts than fairy, flasher, possum, and pink streak wrasses.

deedubz · Feb 27, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
A sixline is more of a risk to those inverts than fairy, flasher, possum, and pink streak wrasses.

Are purple lobsters a threat to wrasses? I saw one like a year ago at my lfs but live aquaria lists them as not reef safe or with caution

Peanut · Feb 27, 2018

dwwataz said:
Are purple lobsters a threat to wrasses? I saw one like a year ago at my lfs but live aquaria lists them as not reef safe or with caution

sound like thats the wrong purple lobster... https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/555/?pcatid=555

"The Reef Lobster is described as peaceful, and it will ignore sleeping Wrasses or healthy fish within the aquarium."

deedubz · Feb 27, 2018

Peanut said:
sound like thats the wrong purple lobster... https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/555/?pcatid=555

"The Reef Lobster is described as peaceful, and it will ignore sleeping Wrasses or healthy fish within the aquarium."

Thank you. Must have have been another lobster that I looked up. Those are gorgeous and I may try one some day

Peanut · Feb 27, 2018

dwwataz said:
Thank you. Must have have been another lobster that I looked up. Those are gorgeous and I may try one some day

unfortunately, in the 5+ years he has been in my tank, I have seen him a total of about 5 minutes. I do enjoy collecting the shed every few months or so. That's mainly how I know he is still alive and growing.

deedubz · Feb 27, 2018

Peanut said:
unfortunately, in the 5+ years he has been in my tank, I have seen him a total of about 5 minutes. I do enjoy collecting the shed every few months or so. That's mainly how I know he is still alive and growing.

That's a bummer because they really are pretty. I'd read pistol shrimp were pretty cryptic but I see mine every couple days. Oh well, thank you for the info

tom reilly · Feb 27, 2018

codydemmel4 said:
Definitely getting one of these, along with the mccoskers wrasse

I had one of these but he unfortunately started taking out my snails and hermits all the time so he went into the FLOWR. They are very underrated and pretty though.

I go just short of over feeding and it keeps melanarus off the snails. He still gets one on occasion, I just figure its a cost of having him. Back up snails in the sump.

tom reilly · Feb 27, 2018

Bpb said:
Yet another vote for melanarus wrasse. Easy to come by. Hearty. Attractive. Tough enough to not get picked on but not overly aggressive. Get to a pretty decent size in terminal phase. And yes they’ll go to town on bugs and worms all day and night.

It’s true, they will go after some CUC. Mine took out all my hermits, nassarius, snails, most the stomatella snails, and most the amphipods. This has just kind of opened my eyes to how little those critters actually do though. They mostly just eat biofilm. I don’t worry about left over food. Between my tangs and foxface any food that hits the sand is quickly found and eaten. You want something for algae control, get an urchin. Snails are fairly useless for that. I have a dozen peppermint shrimp on order though....I will however be furious if my melanarus and sixline decide to dine on them all

My hermits have learned to hide during the day. Only come out when the sand sleepers are in bed.

tom reilly · Feb 27, 2018

Peanut said:
crabs and snails I could be ok with having to replace every so often, but what about Shrimp and/or Reef Lobsters? I have a pair of ruby red shrimp, a pair of cleaners, some peppermint, and a purple lobster that I have had for 5+ years... I think that's also part of the reason I have never had any wrasse other than the six line which is relatively small.

I have a fire and a cleaner shrimp. The wrasses don't mess with them at all. Been over 18 mos.

Dragon52 · Feb 27, 2018

i have a Hoevens Wrasse Doesn't look like the Melanarus but might be a Juvenile based on some pics I just looked at.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 27, 2018

Solaris, 6 lined, melanurus, flasher and fairy. I want to add but warn that red coris and other coris are beautiful but diggers who will flip your rocks and corals looking for bristleworms and any other hitchhikers.

eatbreakfast · Feb 27, 2018

Karl Halmstad said:
i have a Hoevens Wrasse Doesn't look like the Melanarus but might be a Juvenile based on some pics I just looked at.

The hoevans is the common name for a juvenile melanurus.

Peanut · Feb 27, 2018

does anybody have a Dragon wrasse? play well with others?

Maybe a better question would be, are there wrasses that should be avoided in reef tanks?

BigJohnny · Feb 27, 2018

Dawn Dababneh said:
Unfortunately all of your reef safe and non reef safe wrasses will eliminate all your snails and crabs eventually. You just have to get use to replacing them every 2 or so months. I keep several reef safe wrasses in my 150 mixed reef and even the littlest possum wrasse of 12 years will flip a snail and have it as a snack

No fairy or leopard wrasse I have ever had has ever eaten or killed a snail or crab that I've seen. Halichoeres wrasse that's another story

BigJohnny · Feb 27, 2018

Barbarosa said:
Adorned Wrasse - a model citizen and constantly hunts for those pests in your tank - stunning under blues

I love this wrasse and have been trying to find one, where did you get yours? I've seen them on LA but always out of stock

eatbreakfast · Feb 28, 2018

Peanut said:
does anybody have a Dragon wrasse? play well with others?

Maybe a better question would be, are there wrasses that should be avoided in reef tanks?

Dragon wrasses are cute as juveniles, but they get big and grow fast. They also change from mostly green to a dull gray. They lose the dorsal pennants as they mature. Dragon wrasses will eat any and all motole inverts. They also have the name rock mover wrasse due to their behavior of flipping corals and rocks looking for food.

Other wrasses that are best avoided in a reef tank are the whole genus Thalasomma, mos Cheilinus species, most Coris species, any Halichoeres species that reach 7"+, Hologymnosus species, Labropsis species, most Bodianus species. I'm sure I'm forhetting some other genera too.