Melanurus Wrasse Compatability

swormke · Nov 4, 2022

I would like to add a Melanurus Wrasse and one or two other wrasses to my mixed reef 135 gallon tank (RedSea XXL625) and sand bottom. I'd love to hear what people have had success with as far as compatibility of their Melanurus wrasse with other wrasses and tank inhabitants.

Current Stock List, which are all getting along very well

2x Clown
Diamond Goby
Yellow Watchman Goby
Purple Tang
White Tail Bristletooth Tang
Royal Gramma
2x Anthias
Sailfin Blenny
Longnose Hawkfish
CUC - Snails, emerald crab, hermits, skunk cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp

SaltyT · Nov 4, 2022

Your CUC may take a beating, but compatibility-wise a Melanurus will mix with your current stock.
Do you have a lid on your tank?

swormke · Nov 4, 2022

SaltyT said:
Your CUC may take a beating, but compatibility-wise a Melanurus will mix with your current stock.
Do you have a lid on your tank?

Yep I have a tight fitting lid. The hawkfish can be a jumper too. He flew out once when I was feeding the corals as he chased after a chunk of food on the top of the water.

SaltyT · Nov 4, 2022

swormke said:
Yep I have a tight fitting lid. The hawkfish can be a jumper too. He flew out once when I was feeding the corals as he chased after a chunk of food on the top of the water.

I usually ask because some folks don't like lids, all fish can jump some just do it more than others.

What other wrasses are you interested in? You mentioned possibly adding more than the Mel.

swormke · Nov 4, 2022

SaltyT said:
I usually ask because some folks don't like lids, all fish can jump some just do it more than others.

What other wrasses are you interested in? You mentioned possibly adding more than the Mel.

That is a little bit of what I trying to figure out. I love how colorful they are and they way they look, but just not sure on compatibility. I've see the flow charts for compatibility, but wanted to hear a bit from folks who have successfully kept species together.

I was thinking about a 2-3 of these:

Exquisite Fairy
Carpenter's
Scott's Fairy
Lineatus Fairy
Cleaner

SaltyT · Nov 4, 2022

swormke said:
That is a little bit of what I trying to figure out. I love how colorful they are and they way they look, but just not sure on compatibility. I've see the flow charts for compatibility, but wanted to hear a bit from folks who have successfully kept species together.

I was thinking about a 2-3 of these:

Exquisite Fairy

Carpenter's

Scott's Fairy

Lineatus Fairy

Cleaner

Scott's fairies are aggressive they also loose most of their bright colors after being in captivity for awhile so I'd take that one off the list. The rest of those wrasses would be fine, but I should mention since you have just a couple of tangs that sometimes cleaner wrasses can "harass" them by trying to clean them all the time. It doesn't always happen it's just something worth mentioning.

mdb_talon · Nov 4, 2022

Especially when it gets large that cuc gonna get clobbered.

I would suggest a yellow Coris in there. Partly cause I think they are beautiful, but also cause fairly docile and they are amazing pest eaters.

I also love red Coris, but only suggest it if you get enjoyment from resetting every colony and rock they flipped over the night before......

nereefpat · Nov 4, 2022

swormke said:
Current Stock List, which are all getting along very well

2x Clown

Diamond Goby

Yellow Watchman Goby

Purple Tang

White Tail Bristletooth Tang

Royal Gramma

2x Anthias

Sailfin Blenny

Longnose Hawkfish

CUC - Snails, emerald crab, hermits, skunk cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp

I don't see any issues there, other than maybe some of the snails.

I have a pretty similar stocklist in my 125.
Melanurus
Long nose hawk
Yellow tail damsel
Orchid dotty
Tomini tang
Scopas tang
Foxface
Bangaii cardinal
Lawnmower blenny that recently died of what I assume was old age.

My melanurus doesn't seem to look at any of the other fish. It's almost weird. I added a Lubbock fairy, and the melanurus didn't seem to notice it either. Other than that, I don't have other wrasses at the moment. I don't have a clean up crew either.

Coffee Soundboard · Nov 4, 2022

I have a Melanurus wrasse and he has never bothered any other fish or inverts. I’ve heard they can be hit and miss though.

i cant think · Nov 4, 2022

SaltyT said:
Scott's fairies are aggressive they also loose most of their bright colors after being in captivity for awhile so I'd take that one off the list.

After owning a Melanomarginatus for 2 years I can say that they don’t seem to lose colour. Obviously scottorum has more colour however IME with scottorum it’s mainly that red splotch that vanishes over time.
I will agree that some Scott’s can be aggressive however obviously there are exceptions as with everything. Although there is that risk of getting a nasty scottorum.

This guy gained more colour than what he lost in the end. Again, I am aware this is melanomarginatus however it’s the closest to Scott’s that I have personal experience with (I have had experience with scottorum in the LFS but not outside of that).

swormke · Nov 4, 2022

mdb_talon said:
Especially when it gets large that cuc gonna get clobbered.

I would suggest a yellow Coris in there. Partly cause I think they are beautiful, but also cause fairly docile and they are amazing pest eaters.

I also love red Coris, but only suggest it if you get enjoyment from resetting every colony and rock they flipped over the night before......

I like the idea of the Yellow Coris too. Great suggestion!