Harlequin Tusk

[mbuckley]

Anyone have any experiences with these fish. The LFS recently got a small one in.. around 1" that I was contemplating putting in my tank... I realize I would have to trade him in within a year.. But are they reef safe, any special requirements. Am I nuts for thinking about putting one in a 35 gallon tank?
Thanks for the advice... Mike

 

[almarktool]

yes nuts for putting one in a small tank,
i do not beleive they are reef safe at all my LFS has 2 of them 5" long and u should see the chompers on these guys,

 

[mbuckley]

Do the tusks have a function... sfor some reason I though they were reef safe...

 

[shadow678]

Yes, I would also agree with not putting it in a 35 gal tank, they get pretty large, and I would not suggest anything smaller than a 75. My Aust. harlequin is in my 90, with no problems. As far as reef-safe, they will not look twice at corals and such, but your cleanup crew will likely become a nice dinner(i.e. snails, crabs, shrimp...) They are fantastic fish, though, very colorful and active once accustomed to the tank. Adults can be somewhat aggressive, and may harrass new introductions to the tank or passive fish, so they should ideally be housed with more aggressive species. HTH

 

[grouperhead]

They are great fish for the right tank. A 35 is too small, even for a small one. You will get attatched to the fish if you get it, and it will make it very hard to take back. A 75 or larger tank is required like said, and they will eat shrimp/crabs/etc, but not sessile inverts. Bo

 

[slick]

Like said they will leave corals alone but they will eat anything small in your clean up crew. A 35g is a no no.