Dragon Wrasse

[wheelyfeet]

We have a 90 gallon tank with about 100 pounds of live rock and currently have 2 Clark's Clownfish and one One Spot Lionface Rabbit fish. They are all juveniles.

My husband has fallen for a juvenile Dragon Wrasse. I have read that they can become quite aggressive when they are adults. The manager of our LFS seems to think the Dragon Wrasse will be fine with the fish we have.

I am not worried about the Clownfish, as they seem pretty assertive, but the Rabbitfish is fairly timid. Perhaps the Rabbitfish will become more assertive with age and be able to stand his ground, but I am worried that we may never see the guy again with the Dragon Wrasse in the tank.

Does anyone have experience with this combination?

Thanks,

 

[Navarre]

I dont think it wil be a problem.. The rabbitfish should be able to take care of itself (considering it has a poisonous sting ).

The rockwork may well get thrown around as the dragon wrase is very distructive wiht age and will re-arrange the tank to its own liking. The clowns are in more danger than the rabbit fish IMO but they might be ok.

Remember that the cute looking dragon wrasse will change its looks with ange and losses all those fancys frillys fins are colouration as it grows to adulthood.

 

[Aquascaper]

And gets damn big!

 

[superman]

I echo the above comments. It is irresponsible of us to get fish because we enjoy their juvenile colors and ignore the fact that they get much too large and destructive for our small sized (under 500 gallons) marine aquariums.

 

[wheelyfeet]

Thanks all. I found more information and some pictures of the adult dragon wrasse, and I talked my husband out of purchasing it. We don't want a fish that we will have to buy a bigger tank for. We are going choose a smaller and more docile fish.

 

[Navarre]

If you want a wrasse that has colouration, lots of character and peaceful then why not try the splendid Leopard wrasse (or even the standard "Leopard Wrasse").

Splendid Leopard Wrasse

These wrasse are great for smaller tanks and dont grow beyond 3-4 inches.

 

[SkiFletch]

now THAT is a cool lookin fish

 

[Aquascaper]

Sadly I lost mine before Christmas.....they are really cool fish and ideal for smaller tanks as they can be quite shy and get 'lost' in larger tanks

 

[triggerhappy]

I used to have one found him very good fun to watch he would spend all day moving shells and rocks around the tank so can p*ss off quieter fish.

As soon as tank light go off he shoots into the sand where he stayed all night.

really good fun fish.

Even tho they look aggressive they seem fine with others.