Russ-IV;1041805 wrote: always owned a melanarus wrasse. it is needed for a reef tank imho.
265 dt
they will eradicate any pest in your tank, and snails if they get hungry or ballsy. usually a leader of my tang pack. (regal abd yellow). apprehensive(which can be confused for shy), but aggressive. most of the time he ignores everything but new additions will make him taste test them for food. even a birdsnest lol.
this usually goes away after you add more confusing "stuff" to the tank
ive had this same behavior to a lesser extent in my old 220
As always everyone has their own ideas about reefing...
I'd never own a melanarus wrasse because they EAT MOST ALL INVERTS. I like cleaner shrimp and many other inverts.
Peppermint shrimp can be a blessing when and if you get at aptaisa, they saved me! A reefer freind's peppermints were all eaten within 24 hours of tank introduction. He's had a horrible, nasty fight with aptaisa for years. His melanarus died of old age a few months ago and his tank is finally pest free!
I've got a female McCorkers Flasher Wrasse, 2 male Linespot Flashers Wrasse, female Blue Flasher, (bought all these together), Blacker Ice Clowns, Yellow Tang, Pink Spotted Goby, Ruby Red Dragonette, Firefish, Blue Chromis and Ignitus Anthias in a 75 gallon living happily.
IMHO and how I decided which wrasse to purchase is look on Liveaquaria. They have a compatability chart and a selection of "reef safe" and FOWLER only. If a wrasse is going to nip it won't be under reef safe and if it's possibility going to eat inverts it will tell you under that fishes details.
The biggest problem with aggression in multiple wrasse comes into play with the males (as usual
). They all want to be "King" of the throne. Most reef safe female will get along but many don't have the striking color as the male so pick you selection and introduce your females into your tank first.
Many males will do better if you QT them at the same time but it's usually recommend to add the males last (and at the same time).
Hope that helps!
