seabird wrasse eating snails/crabs?

[dkode]

I just bought 3 mexican turbo snails and a dozen blue legged hermits to find that as soon as I put them in the tank my seabird wrasse (ID?) was picking them up and smashing them against the tank to break open the shells.

if this guy eats snails and crabs how can i put a cleaning crew in my tank? kinda stinks, but i guess live and learn :)

any pointers would be appreciated. thanks!

[graphixx]

Sean, buddy that sucks to hear!!!! I know some wrasse are pretty aggresive little buggars, I am gonna go ahead and say you got one of them. the only thing I would suggest is getting rid of the wrasse. your gonna need some sort of cleaning crew in a 92 gallon tank.

[Reef_Angel]

Hi Sean! I don't know much about that kind of wrasse. Do you possibly have a picture to share with the group so other members don't make the mistake of buying one. Good Luck and Thank You! ....Angel :angel2:

[dkode]

here is the two best pics i could get of the wrasse thingy, he's fluroescent blue and has a long snout:



on a side note, there seems to be some sort of fungus growing on my sailfin, its very light on the left side of his body and on the bottom part of his sailfin fin. i couldnt get a very good pic. pics below:

[dakar]

Though the pictures are kinda blurry, the wrasse looks pretty sharp, too bad his preferred diet could get rather expensive to maintain. Sounds like a good canidate for another tank if you are particularly fond of him, or a good critter to trade in for more snails/hermits....

Don't feel bad, getting good fish pics are generally a matter of pure luck, the best success we've had is to take pictures from farther away (so your shutter speed will be faster) and then cropping the fish out of the full image.

Difficult to tell anything about your sailfin, is this a new addition to your tank?

[dkode]

this was an up and running tank, i recently moved the tank to my house (this past saturday). the fish guy to just keep him under observation as he might just be stressed from the move.

I'm not perticularly fond of the wrasse, he hardly comes out from under the rocks, if i take him to the local shop will they usually trade for different types of fish?

[dakar]

this was an up and running tank, i recently moved the tank to my house (this past saturday). the fish guy to just keep him under observation as he might just be stressed from the move.

Very likely what we call 'shipping stress', tangs are easily stressed.


I'm not perticularly fond of the wrasse, he hardly comes out from under the rocks, if i take him to the local shop will they usually trade for different types of fish?

Most of the respectable LFS's will give you some sort of store credit or exchange for healthy animals... The larger chain type of shops generally tend not to do much of anything in the way of helping.

[dkode]

thank you for the help and pointers. greatly appreciated.

I actually saw a lovely yellow tang today at the shop that I was drueling over. I would like to see if he is willing to trade for the wrasse.

I hope soon enough I can gain enough knowledge to help others on this forum as everyone is very helpful on this site thus far!

sean

[unleashed]

i have a pair of bird wrasses in my reef and yes they periodicly beat the clean up crew to death(i find it costly but amusing none the less) if you feed them a good diet daily they will slow down on the beatings.the only thing i found they are realllyyyy bad with are clams... picked mine clean :mad:
so no more clams in that tank. i do feed my tank 3 times daily 2 times with pellets (spectrum thera +A ) then frozen prepared foods in the pm bird wrasses are carnivores and need meaty foods.and will eat smaller fish if hungry enough.along with your clean up crew..ps they also control fire and bristle worm populations

[unleashed]

here are pics of male and female bird wrasse ..male being the green/blue female red/brown

[dsfdbutterfly]

I have to tell you that I too found out the hard way that bird wrasses eat the clean up crew. I proudly purchased some hermits and brought them home. Once in the tank I got to sit and watch for the next 1 1/2 as my bird wrasse consumed the most expensive meal (at one time) that I had ever feed him. I was so depressed and my husband didn't know what to do with me. Unfortunately you never know when these guys are going to strike and it's not likely that you will ever be able to keep your tank stocked enough to keep it clean. Or you will constantly be stocking the tank for his/her enjoyment. This fish are good for fish only or FOWLR tanks but don't usually find their way into reef settings for that matter. Hope this helps.

Lynn, your male/female pair are beautiful by the way. I bet that you enjoy watching them play together.

Angie

[unleashed]

thanx angie.they are very active fish mine never hide the male is always doing his shimmy dance for the female .as for clean up crew i have a few fish that like the snails and crabs alike as snacks so yes restocking as always nessesary.normally i would never reccomend a bird wrasse for a reef tank.but my tanks are def not the norm.i expect and accept having to restock clean up crews as im used to keeping fish that eat them.

[dkode]

i was trying to get this guy out of the tank just now and its almost impossible to get him!

everytime i try to get him in the net he darts off underneath the rocks.

is there any trick to catching him in the net?

[graphixx]

you can try and put a little good in the net and hold it still. I am not sure if that wrasse buries when he sleeps (alot of them do) but you may try getting him at night with a flashlight.

[dsfdbutterfly]

I don't recall mine ever burowing in the sand like a lot of wrasses do but that's not to say that at times he didn't. He was however very talented at hiding in the rocks. My suggestion would be to leave the nets in the tank without you around. This allows the fish to get use to them without thinking that they are only there for catching. I always use more than one net to catch my fish. This method takes more than one day but saves me from taking apart the tank. Every time you feed you have to place food around the net and even in it. If you have an especially shy fish though there is no guarantee that even this will work. Sometimes there is never any solution but tear down. As a side note they are good sleepers. You may be able to do a surprise attack at night after the lights have gone out.

Angie

[dkode]

thanks for the tips, i think i will try what you suggested as I would rather not tear out all the rocks :)

thanks guys!

sean

[lReef lKeeper]

how is the trapping going Sean ?? i talk to a friend of mine at a LSF about this same fish and he says they either eat snails or they dont. just depends on the particular fish you get. if you have another tank it would be cool in a FOWLR tank.