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Tazz11
05/08/2011, 01:52 PM
has anyone had any experience with a Dragon wrasse? Considering purchasing one from my LFS but have no experience with this particular species. I have a 125 reef system lots of soft corals 2 clowns a 6 Line, A tang and scooter blennie

Any thoughts are appreciated



Thanks
jd474
05/08/2011, 03:47 PM
They are a true Jekyll and Hyde fish. As juveniles they aren't too bad, but once they lose their finnage, they just become nasty. I have a terminal pair in a large tank, and they are pretty destructive and equally aggressive towards tank mates. A 125 is too small to house anything other than a juvenile, IME. Here is a pic of the male, doing what they do best, digging and trying to knock rock structures down:

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn158/saxmansports/dragon.jpg

Generally I urge people to avoid them like the plague, unless you have a very large semi/aggressive aquarium.
ssavader
05/08/2011, 06:45 PM
+1 These are amazing looking fish as juveniles but as they grow, these all recede and turn in normal looking fins- and the color of the fish changes to an unimpressive silver-green. And, that rock moving and digging behavior only intensifies (according to books I've read). Look on FishBase.org and see what these guys look like when they grow up!
stubby 58
05/08/2011, 08:37 PM
as adults they r pure nasty . Have watched onae at LFS and truely nasty . u will not have a clean up crew left after these guys .
iamwrasseman
05/08/2011, 09:01 PM
they are beautiful critters but i would suggest that they are housed in a fish only system as they are very boisterous and will flip corals like mad . also they will decimate you clean up crew very fast .with age they get pretty nasty and when they get large they lose all their color and are quite an ugly fish .
i must admit that they are very interesting to have and when small make very good tank mates but its short lived in my experience . i have a couple and they are great in my situation but with corals they will reek havoc .
Tazz11
05/09/2011, 07:31 PM
Thank you all. Sounds to me like this one stays at the LFS for now. Maybe some one else has the right system for this guy.

Thanks again, great input!