Dragon Wrasse

[bhav_88]

I really want one of these fish for my new 75 gallon tank. However, it has a DSB and I am not sure whether or not it will burrow too much and disrupt it or something of the like. Could I get one of these guys and have him live happily with everythig else?

 

[saltwaterdave]

He will cause much havoc to your sand bed. I think they are really cool also....my lfs has had 1 for about 3 months now.....been really hard not to buy him, he is always cruising all around the tank...

 

[julie]

I have one in my tank, and it has been no problem.

 

[bhav_88]

...Okay.... I'll wait for a few more opinions on this... It appears that I have two very opposite ones right now.

 

[shadow678]

Where julie may be the lucky exception to keeping this type of wrasse, many who have had them will say they wish they had skipped and avoided the hassle. Dragon wrasses get up to 12" long, and are very tough fish. They are also called rock-mover wrasses, and for a good reason. They are notorious for flipping over LARGE pieces of rock and rubble, as well as corals. Juveniles may be appropriate for the community tank, but will become very aggressive as they mature. Will eat small fishes, ornamental crustaceans, and many other motile invertebrates, such as snails, serpent stars, bristleworms, and mantis shrimp. Also, even large individuals have been known to jump from an open tank. HTH

 

[ccartag]

if you got inverts i would not recomend this fish's(wrasse) can kill and disrupt aqua scape i had a clown,wrasse and it ate all my snails and small crabs it picks on almost anything in the tank and likes to dive in to the sand if available and its hard to get rid of i had to dismantle my tank just to get him and the (lfs) was doughtful of having it back even as a gift........fyi.....one lesson i lerned is to read before i bring it home.......

 

[bhav_88]

Hmm... Looks like I'll have to forego the hawkfish in my 55 gallon tank and instead have a Dragon Wrasse and Damsel tank. Obviously he isn't going to work in my 75 gallon tank, which by the way I just spent 150 bucks for a cleaner crew for two months ago.

 

[ryebread]

I had no problem with this little guy until he got a bit more confident and started knocking over all of my stuff. Back to the LFS for him. Strangest thing.......his face was always blurry. Go figure.

 

[shadow678]

Hehehe, as I said, almost everyone who has had them ended up having more problems out of them than they were worth. It's a shame, too, they are such interesting and uniquely-beautiful fish.