Pinstripe wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus)...

[phunkie99]

Do you have experience with this fish? If so please inform me is it agressive, coral safe, invert safe, eat well and any other first hand knowledge will help me as I am pretty sure this will be my next & last fish (for now).

[Merfin70]

Mine is not agressive, coral safe and invert safe. He eats very well and spends all day picking at the rocks for pods and such. He rarely seems to notice anything else in the tank though he will investigate any new additions. Any new frags I put in the tank generally get a very good "once over" from him for anything good to eat.

He was my first "sand sleeper" so it was a bit traumatic for the first week when he didn't come out. As soon as I put him in the tank, he dove into the sand and didn't come out for 4 days. Once we got past that, he's been great ever since.

[Flavum]

my experience was pretty much the same as merfins. The only complaint I had with the melanrus is that he will totally desimate your pod population. After he picked off all the easy ones hes started doing divebombs on my zoas to make them close up so he could munch on the exposed pods. smart fish

[Merfin70]

Lol ... mine hasn't tried that one yet but he is very fond diving into the sand bed to see what's down there. If he's really hungry, he'll stir up a bit of sand and then check over the area to see what goodies he disturbed. Apparently my sand bed if full of creepy things since he's a very fat and happy fish.

It is a bit annoying though with the sand cloud he creates when he does it. I have to blow off my rocks every week (which I should probably be doing anyway) because of the muck he disturbs.

[phunkie99]

wow I didn't realize that they were such pod eaters looks like I will be purchasing them (pods) more often b/c the last thing I want is my Mandarin Dragonet to starve.

[phunkie99]

How do you think this fish will do with a clam? I dont have one yet but was planning to get one.

[Merfin70]

Mine doesn't bother with my clam. When I first got the clam, the wrasse kept knocking it over trying to get to pods, etc. underneath. He also needed to "clean it" of all the fun stuff it had on its shell. Now that the clam is firmly attached and the wrasse ate everything attached to it, he doesn't pay it any attention at all.

[phunkie99]

Merfin70 & Flavum thx for your input if anyone else has any experience with this fish I would love to hear from you

[iamwrasseman]

he should be ok with the clam , surely the pods will dissapear in no time !some will learn flipping corals and anything small over to find thease tiny little critters to ood luckeat ,so be cautiousif thats a problem . they are awesome fish and should be a good choice IMO g

[iamwrasseman]

oh yea you wont be able to keep your pod population up at all and purchasing them will be futile so plan on getting them to eat live brine first then switch to mydsis PE_MYDSIS is the best .

[nivram]

Is this the fish you are looking into?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4AK_7tj0kG0/SM3ofuKCfZI/AAAAAAAAAX0/0SnEQGTWVIo/s720/65gal200800021.JPG

If so I wouldn't call him aggressive. But did stand his ground. Very active always swimming in rock work looking for food.

[phunkie99]

Could be wrong but I think that is either a different wrasse or female version but the wrasse I ordered from LFS hopefully looks like this http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?products_id=1727&parent_category=4&category_search=61&root_parent_id=4

[FiShTaCo]

I believe Christmas Wrasse is more common name for them =)

[atlantisaquari]

holy crap.... a melanurus is not a x-mas wrasse and not a disappearing wrasse( evandus )! the melanurus is like my most favorite wrasse , especially when they are big. totally harmless.

[phunkie99]

atlantisaquari-thanks for the input I hope I'll have the same experience with mine when he comes in.

[kilmca]

great fish so far, i've had mine for about 3 months. Gets along great with all my other fish, inverts and corals. Eats brine, mysis, flake and it loves nori. The colors of the fish are just amazing, as you can see from the pic.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/3006358830_a17f0ff0af_b.jpg

[steelersfan]

It is a great fish. Mine always cruised the tank and never bothered any other fish. I hope that you have a deep sand bed. My guy always buried himself under the sand right after the lunar lights came on. In the morning, he would pop out of the sand. Fun fish!!!

[phunkie99]

kilmca- wow great pic I hope mine looks as nice

steelersfan- I have about 2-3 inch sand bed hopefuly that will be deep enough do you know if all melanurs burry themselves or is that a "some do it, some don't" type of thing?

[steelersfan]

I believe that all of them bury themselves under the sand. Your sand bed should be ok. It's a great fish!!! You will not be disappointed. :thumbsup:

[phunkie99]

will this fish get along with my Royal Gramma

[UFreefer]

How does this fish do with other wrasses? I have a possum wrasse in my 120g and was worried he might clash with him