Dragon Wrasse

drtito

Member
The LFS has a nice small dragon wrasse for sale it is in there with tangs,(naso/yellow), snails and damsels.
I read the not reef safe and was wondering how unsafe it is?
pick at corals or eat everything in my tank?
Is this a fish that is FOWLR only or does it have any place in a reef tank.(overgrown tank)???
I have a 125. I am asking before i buy it. safety first.
 

anonome

Active Member
They are interesting fish, I would say that the main reason they are not reef safe is the fact that when they are small they move rocks, corals, and anything they can possibly move, they will. Also known as rock tumblers. When I first set up a saltwater tank, many moons ago, I had one and he constantly moved things around in the tank, sometimes to places I was unable to retrieve from and small, plugs with zoas, mushrooms etc were lost for ever. When they grow up they will go after snails, crabs etc. Fascinating fish, but be leary in a reef set up.
 

drtito

Member
Wow now I know. Well I like the way he looks and swims but I will NOT make that buy. I guess I could get an eel in the future.
I asked to be sure.
thanks.
As to the last question...would it an O.K. for an overgrown reef tank. Will it eat corals?
Just asking to know.
 
K

king_nothing_

Guest
I'de risk it, personally. They're too damn cool to not give a shot. I had one for about 5-6 months before i accidentally hooked it when trying to remove my grouper and killed it. He never messed with hermits or snails that were bigger than half an inch or so, but would murder peppermint shrimp by the dozen. coolest fish ever...he would stack up all the live rock rubble into a pyramid shape each night before burying in the sand, and then each morning, he would take it apart looking for copepods or little things that would hide there when the lights came on. mine was around 4" long and had the adult coloration, btw. never even thought about touching another fish....very non aggressive, even towards my coris wrasse (which was also fine with inverts).
i also think theres a common misconception that you're going to order this 3-4" fish and its going to start tumbling over your 4lb(or more) pieces of live rock. lie. when they get bigger, i could MAYBE see it happening....MAYBE. but mine wouldnt touch rocks he could see under. If it can see in a gap or something and tell theres nothign in there for him to eat, it will ignore the rocks completely.
 

anonome

Active Member
Not sure that I still would try it. I am by no means a novice, and mine did move very large rocks.....either by burying under them, and making the structure unstable, or physically moving what I consider much larger rocks for the size of the fish. Now, with this experience, I do realize that any fish will do different things. Not all fish are the same.
These are great fish for the fish only tank. Very little live rock, corals etc.
One would argue that the sand sifting diamond goby will move rocks too with its sifting of sand under rockwork. This is true, but I have yet to see one move an entire rock, which I have seen a dragon wrasse do.
Much strength for a small bodied fish, and very determined at that.
 
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