Dragon Wrasse
 

Just wondering if anyone on here as ever kept a dragon wrasse in their tank.

Mostly wondering about how aggressive they really are, how much more likely are they to jump from a tank compared to other wrasses, and do they really move around/knock over large pieces of rock?

Haha, Laurie are you thinking of adding "one more fish" perhaps the one we saw on Sunday :lol::razz:

dragon wrasse
 

i just gave my dragon wrasse to j&l last week(my harliquin tusk was terrorizing it)-it was fairly peaceful,except to snails and shrimp-but it was surprising what it could lift.as long as your rock weighs at least 5 lbs. it's ok-but it did tear off some small coral for its nesting area(branch hammer stuck on with reef epoxy).it usually burried itself in the sand at around 5 pm for the night

Dragon wrasses change appearance quite dramatically when they reach adulthood (and not for the better in most people's opinion). They also get stronger obviously and more ornery and are therefore more likely to cause chaos. I've got an old Marine Aquarist magazine somewhere that has an excellent dragon wrasse article. I'll see if I can dig it up.

I would stay away from them If I were you, I had a similar species (The Red Corris) and every day I would come home to all of my corals and all of my frags flipped over. If you think catching an open water swimmer is hard try catching something that likes to hide in your sand (After 2 hours I finally caught mine in a 50g tank). Beautiful species but its called a Rock Moving wrasse for a reason.
Levi

I know exactly what you mean. When I removed my Formosa Coris, I pulled every rock out of the tank and still couldn't find it.

I should mention it would be going into an open top 230g FOWLR tank that has a very aggressive lunare wrasse and a large miniatus grouper. My thoughts are that the dragon wrasse would be aggressive enough to hold it's own against my other fish. The rocks are pretty large in that tank so I guess I should be ok and there are no frags or corals for him to turn over. I also know that they change as they get older but I still like how they look.

Yes Dawn, I am thinking about the one we saw on Sat. that dragon wrasse has been there for over a month (almost 2 months I think) and he has a cool personallity at the store.

If you could find that article that would be great.

goggle them Articles I have read say when juvenile they are peaceful and shy but when they mature they are known as rock movers. they will eat all shrimp and snails they can catch their jaws most be very powerful. They will redecorate your tank moving corals where they want them. they will also kill and eat smaller fish. I looked at one a while back and decided no not for my tank after reading quite a bit on them.

Bill

I did read all that, I was wondering what peoples personal expirences with them were/are.

I have a FOWLR tank with very aggressive fish in it. My main concern is if he'll be aggressive enough to hold his own against my other fish. I don't want my grouper or lunare wrasse to kill him or chase him out of the tank. There are no corals or inverts in that tank and the LR in it is fairly large pieces, my 8 inch grouper hasn't knocked them over with all his digging, so they seem fairly secure as well.

:thumb: He's cool! Sorta reminds me of our cool little weedfish :cry:

Ya that's what I was thinking. He also seems so personable, the 3 times I saw him at the lfs he came right up to the glass and swam around in front of me as if to say "pick me pick me, I need a good home to go too" I also think that he'd be a good choice for that tank considering the other fish I have in there. ie: my puffer most likely wont nip his fins, my trigger, king angel and foxface wont care about him because he's so different from them which leaves my grouper and lunare and hopefully the dragon would be aggressive enough that he'd be able to hold his own against them until they give up and leave him alone. I also still like how they look as an adult and I think it would be cool to see how he changes.

I'm mostly hesitating because it is an open top tank and from what I've read they are prone to jump. However my lunare hasn't so maybe he wouldn't either.

I would say he would hold his own when he is an adult but as a juvenile he would probably bechased prity hard. I don't know if he would jump out of the tank they are not a fast swimmer from what I have seen of them at stores. As juveniles they are timid and skidish with large fish. But who wouldn't be with a grupper hanging about your head.

Bill

I had one. They get very aggressive when mature.
Their common name is a rock mover wrasse for good reason. I know you have a fish only but for the benefit of others they eat your snails, hermits, stars and other inverts and turn over you coral searching for food and therefor are not suitable for a reef tank.

They also need a fine sand bed two to four inches as that is where they sleep at night.

Thanks for asking.

I do have a 2-3 inch fine sand bed in that tank.

Edit: What other fish did you have with yours? Do you think my aggressive lunare and grouper would kill one or is it possible for them to get along?

This is what I'm really worried about, I'd just hate to get him then have my lunare or grouper chase him out of the tank or kill him. The one I saw at the lfs is about 3 inches and still is a juvi. Right now I'd say there's a 50/50 chance that either the lunare and grouper would care less about him and ignore him or they would gang up and kill him. On one hand I'd hate to miss out on this cool fish if it turns out they'd all get along but then on the other hand if the other fish start picking on him I think I'd have a hard time re-homing him, assuming I can catch him before he buries himself in the sand or gets killed. Ugh I wish I could somehow pre-determine how the other fish would respond to him. I know my tank set up is perfect for him, it's just not knowing how the other fish will react to him that's bothering me and unfortunately there's only one way to find out for sure.

If he has lots of small hiding places to go when the other fish is in hot persuit of him he should be ok till grows up and then turns on them for being meen to him. They can burry fast in the sand it is incredible you can always put him in a fuge till he is adult. But who know how long that would be and it would not be fare to him if it were a year or more. I have contiplated one a few times I just don't want to loos the smaller fish I have when it getts larger. they are not a huge fish but large up to 12 inches, groupers can get larger. The more I think about it he is different enough that they very well will not care about him. It is a hard call catching him once burried is easy. You just have to watch where he burries himself and when you net him take a bunch of sand with him. That is how I net gobies that burry work all the time and they don't seem to care to much.

Bill

Thanks everyone for all the info., I was watching the dragon wrasse at the store and I saw him getting picked on by a smallish yellow tang that they just added to the tank he's in. Needless to say I knew right then it was a bad idea and I didn't end up getting him.

i bought one last week and within the hour it got down my over flow and ended up in the pump was very sad

That sucks :sad:

I certainly don't have any tips on the dragon wrasse (as I'm quite new to reefing!) but if you were ever in Calgary, I did see at Big Al's on 32nd Ave, that they had a couple small ones. Very neat looking fish! Good luck!