my wrasse is being a jerk...

[mrjoe]

So i bought a melanurus wrasse a couple of weeks ago.. he's doing fine but the little jerk keeps throwing my coral sand on my zoa's.. what his darn problem??? other than that I like him but he's getting real close taking a long trip if you know what I mean..

 

[GHOSTLY]

Melanurus wrasses. Are they reef safe? I kinda want to set up 30g long tank for macroalgaes and stuff and they look so cool!

 

[mdb_talon]

Melanurus wrasses. Are they reef safe? I kinda want to set up 30g long tank for macroalgaes and stuff and they look so cool!

Reef safe mostly. They will bother cuc at times. I would personally never put in a 30g. I know many say 50g is fine, but I think they need much more. They love to swim and dart around a tank. Even though not huge fish they do get decent size and are very active swimmers

 

[Udest]

I mean butt is part of their name and apparently he thinks that covering your corals is a game lol , perhaps he is bored ?

 

[SaltyT]

Sifting through the sand and spitting it out (unfortunately on your corals) is just part of his hunting behavior. Some melanurus are worse than others with their "sand spitting".

 

[nkyreef]

Probably hunting for food. Maybe up the feeding times for a few days and see if it helps.

 

[ninjamyst]

Had to rehome my red coris for killing over $500 worth of frags....

 

[SaltyT]

Had to rehome my red coris for killing over $500 worth of frags....

Red coris can be tough to keep in reef tanks. They'll flip frags, knock corals off rocks and can even move rocks around while hunting for food.

 

[ninjamyst]

Yup...I learned the hard way. The wrasse moved a big size rock and crashed 3 high end acros frags....

Red coris can be tough to keep in reef tanks. They'll flip frags, knock corals off rocks and can even move rocks around while hunting for food.

 

[GHOSTLY]

Reef safe mostly. They will bother cuc at times. I would personally never put in a 30g. I know many say 50g is fine, but I think they need much more. They love to swim and dart around a tank. Even though not huge fish they do get decent size and are very active swimmers

It was an idea. I think I'll probably go for a 6 line but just something with movement

 

[SaltyT]

Yup...I learned the hard way. The wrasse moved a big size rock and crashed 3 high end acros frags....

Oof! That really sucks

 

[mdb_talon]

It was an idea. I think I'll probably go for a 6 line but just something with movement

Yellow coris is also an option. While they can get about as long as a melanarus they have much smaller bodies and in my experience do just fine in smaller tanks. It's my go to wrasse in anything over 30g. Great pest eaters without a lot of the bad behaviors of some other wrasses

 

[blaxsun]

Sifting through the sand and spitting it out (unfortunately on your corals) is just part of his hunting behavior. Some melanurus are worse than others with their "sand spitting".

Haha. I have a melanarus and christmas wrasse and I've never caught either of them doing that yet.

 

[i cant think]

So i bought a melanurus wrasse a couple of weeks ago.. he's doing fine but the little SOB keeps throwing my coral sand on my zoa's.. what his dang problem??? other than that I like him but he's getting real close taking a long trip if you know what I mean..

Just wait till you get further into the Halichoeres haha.
This is normal for them unfortunately, hunting for crustaceans in the sandbed. But I mean, Atleast yours is only a melanurus! These guys IME are slightly better when it comes to spitting sand, my Chloropterus is a pain with spitting sand.

 

[i cant think]

Melanurus wrasses. Are they reef safe? I kinda want to set up 30g long tank for macroalgaes and stuff and they look so cool!

If I’m honest, Unfortunately no Halichoeres species are able to go into a 30g long, the width isn’t great. This genus uses a lot of the floor space no matter what species it is and ideally needs that 2’ width with 18” being a bare minimum. You need to remember the size they get as well, Halichoeres iridis is one of the smallest in this genus however my male is pushing 4.5 inch in my 4’ tank. Really a 3’x2’ is the absolute bare minimum the Halichoeres genus should be in. Even with the “smaller” body, these guys are just as active, and they don’t really have a different body shape at all compared to Melanurus. It’s just their size which is slightly different. The larger wrasses in this genus don’t dart as much as the smaller ones tend to from my experience.

In a 36”x13”x16” tank, your best wrasses to go for that aren’t aggressive are the Pseudocheilinops (NOT to be confused with Pseudocheilinus - the “lined” wrasses) and Wetmorella genera. These two genera are ideal for a 30G long tank as they aren’t overly active and they also don’t have as much aggression (if any) to give.

 

[GHOSTLY]

If I’m honest, Unfortunately no Halichoeres species are able to go into a 30g long, the width isn’t great. This genus uses a lot of the floor space no matter what species it is and ideally needs that 2’ width with 18” being a bare minimum. You need to remember the size they get as well, Halichoeres iridis is one of the smallest in this genus however my male is pushing 4.5 inch in my 4’ tank. Really a 3’x2’ is the absolute bare minimum the Halichoeres genus should be in. Even with the “smaller” body, these guys are just as active, and they don’t really have a different body shape at all compared to Melanurus. It’s just their size which is slightly different. The larger wrasses in this genus don’t dart as much as the smaller ones tend to from my experience.

In a 36”x13”x16” tank, your best wrasses to go for that aren’t aggressive are the Pseudocheilinops (NOT to be confused with Pseudocheilinus - the “lined” wrasses) and Wetmorella genera. These two genera are ideal for a 30G long tank as they aren’t overly active and they also don’t have as much aggression (if any) to give.

Yeah I figured it wouldn't fit. I really want a naiko wrasse but my 75g is occupied atm. Are there any other species? Flashers would need lime 65g+ probably right

 

[i cant think]

Yeah I figured it wouldn't fit. I really want a naiko wrasse but my 75g is occupied atm. Are there any other species? Flashers would need lime 65g+ probably right

If you can grow out the naokoae and put him into the 75 eventually (a maximum of a year and a half in the 36” is what I’d say having experience with a naokoae in an 18” nano) then it could work. I had my naokoae in my RS Max Nano for a year and then put him into my 4’ tank due to an infection - he now loves it in there.