Anyone keep a Harlequin Tusk in a Reef tank?

[Dilan Patel]

Hello, I have been in search of a true showfish. I have always loved the harlequin Tusk fish from Australia. I have heard they are good reef dwellers and are bullet proof once established. Is that true are most experiences with this fish in a reef good. Hear they were very peaceful, wont eat my sps and other corals,fish and or anything that matters to me. If all checks out then I think I found my showfish if not then I will decide amoung a couple of cool tangs or something else. Thanks for all the input.

 

[atlfishes]

They are hard on your clean up crew. Hermit crabs fared better than snails. Nocturnal snails are better if you can find them. My fish wasn't aggressive towards bigger tank mates or established fish. He ended up eating a number of smaller wrasses I added to the tank. Took me awhile to realize what was happening. Of course every fish is unique.

 

[BradB]

Had one 4 years. Didn't eat snails in the tank first, but new snails lasted about 5 seconds. Killed clownfish and moved frags around, but otherwise didn't hurt anything. I am still upset about losing him, otherwise I'd get another.

 

[Dilan Patel]

I have no CUC cause of my melenarus wrasse. The onlysmall fish I have is a purple pseduchromis. My clowns would probably kill the tusk before he could kill the clowns hah.

 

[ndrwater]

I had mine for 3+ years. One of my all time favorite fish.. That said, I recently sold him to a gentleman with a FOWLER. Problem was he became more and more aggressive to his tank mates over time. Never really had a problem with him eating snails and the like, but other wrasses (yes a Tusk is a Wrasse) became the target of his aggression.
IMO, a Tusk is a great short term addition to a Reef as long as the Tusk is small. Once they get larger, they will probably become more and more troublesome.
FWIW, I have a 8' 240 gallon SPS tank stocked with about 20 fish. I wouldn't consider a Tusk in anything smaller.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I, too, have found that while small they are peaceful, as they grow, their aggression does as well.

 

[mort]

There was someone I saw that had a large tank and added a big tusk fish, I think once it settled in the trouble began. I remember it ate or bit in half several new additions from hawkfish to centropyge angels before it was removed. You might fair better with a smaller one that grows in the tank but as they mature you could be in for heartache.

 

[Dilan Patel]

So what would you reccomend for 180gallon 6' reef. I was thinking if the tusk was not a good idea an achillies tang,Blond naso tang(don't know if it would fight with my clown tang). or some other reallly nice looking fish any sugesstions is awesome. My current stock is 2 clownfish,a purple dottyback,4 chromis,kole tang,yellow tang,clown tang,flame angel,melenarus wrasse

 

[eatbreakfast]

So what would you reccomend for 180gallon 6' reef. I was thinking if the tusk was not a good idea an achillies tang,Blond naso tang(don't know if it would fight with my clown tang). or some other reallly nice looking fish any sugesstions is awesome. My current stock is 2 clownfish,a purple dottyback,4 chromis,kole tang,yellow tang,clown tang,flame angel,melenarus wrasse

A clown tang and achilles tang will fight. A naso tang will outgrow a 180g and unless the naso is significantly latger than the clown, the clown will beat it up.

 

[Dilan Patel]

wow. My clown is about 5 in from head too tail. Yeallow is about 4 in and kole about 4 in

 

[Daniel Waters]

I have a 6" Australian harlequin tusk. No issues with any corals, but sometimes new frags on plugs that get glued down get ripped off if the glue hasn't had time to harden yet. Shrimp would most likely be eaten, but he's never bothered any starfish. My larger turbo snails seem to be okay, but any smaller snail or snails with triangular shells got picked on quickly. The few hermits I have get their shells picked up and moved quite a bit, but they seem to hide in the shell and survive from being eaten. As far as temperament, mine is a pretty good tank companion with my other fish. I'd be hesitant to put in any small fish like a chromis but I've had no issues with other smaller fish like a long nose hawkish and a diamond goby I added after the tusk. My clownfish has gotten along perfectly with my tusk, and the only issue I have had is my yellow tang keeps trying to assert dominance over the whole tank, but the aggression between the two is pretty minimal. All in all, tusks look mean and fierce, but I think they are less aggressive by far than tangs and triggers I've had in the past. I wouldn't recommend mixing with another wrasse, though, as I'm sure that might cause problems. Also, they are big eaters and not picky at all. I feed mine a variety of meaty foods. It's a beautiful fish, and needs a decent size tank. Mine swims in and out of the rock work most of the day, and be has a couple of spots inside some rock work he will hide and sleep in at night.

 

[Reefkeeper12]

My harlequin tusk likes to kill smaller fish he has ate 5 chromis, 2 alleni damsels, murdered a flame hawk and probably killed other little fish I didn’t witness being eaten that have disappeared in my tank. It suck because they are some of the most beautiful fish but IME unless you have a tank with no small fish stay away from the tusk. Mine was a model citizen for 6 months and about 7 inches long then he turned into a jerk and loves little fishes.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Fire urchin and shortspine rockburrowing urchin: potential lunch?

 

[i cant think]

Fire urchin and shortspine rockburrowing urchin: potential lunch?

Yes, I find that Tusks go after almost any invert. As said above anything nocturnal will most likely work but anything else will probably get eaten. Wrasse are a big factor and they will become VERY aggressive to them, the alternative I like (And is more reefsafe, also does a fantastic algae management’) is the Foxface. These are similar to tangs but not aggressive and can go into a 4’x2’x2’ tank IMHO. The reason I say that is because they’re not active fish, they more perch then swim then perch then swim.

 

[HB AL]

I have one along with 7 triggers, a grouper, a few tangs, the boss a red Sea broomtail wrasse, couple clowns and a fee others thrown in. It will not touch any corals.