Coral banded and Lyre Wrasses

saltycow · Jan 6, 2024

Hello all I have a question about some tank mates. I have a 90g “reef” for what it is… not sure what went wrong, parameters were great everyone was getting along good but suddenly my mushrooms started to shrink, my hammer coral is nearly gone. I have an abundance of the bristle worms that may or may not be a culprit to a die off? Iv noticed them brushing on the corals‍

I decided on a wrasse to eradicate the worms,
I got a Lyre wrasse. Then once I put it in I immediately thought oh no… I was thinking a 6 line not lyre…
Then thought what about my shrimp‍ will he eat my shrimp or will my shrimp eat it‍ I can’t loose the guy he’s one of my favorite! it’s a coral banded shrimp. Then my Mandarin, he’s always hiding but I still like to see him when he pops out.
So stocked I have
a blue hippo tang
2 clowns (those 3 hangout and sleep together)
Then a 4 line damsel.
The mandarin
Coral banded
Would all of them be okay?
I read a bit about wrasses and how good they were for bristles and a lot are reef safe etc but now I’m double thinking my purchase‍

I got the wrong one.. It’s not a waste of money I have a 120 I can put him in. The wrasse is about 2 inches. Did I just mess up or will It be okay?

I never finish anythi · Jan 6, 2024

It may possibly eat the shrimp . I'm no expert tho but don't they get quite big and territorial when fully grown . Think they need quite a big tank .

DrkNMighty · Jan 6, 2024

Not sure about the wrasse, but I think it might eat the shrimp and possibly pick on your other fish. Are you just trying to get rid of the bristleworms?

saltycow · Jan 6, 2024

Yes trying to get rid of bristle worms.
We don’t have any stores that have anything else we looked all day yesterday and I seen wrasse and thought yes! My corals won’t be murdered by the worms brushing against them
Well I sure hope he doesn’t eat my shrimp! My shrimp is the households favorite!

saltycow · Jan 6, 2024

Every emoji I use turns into female emoji LOL sorry for that!!

kevgib67 · Jan 6, 2024

@i cant think?

REEFRIED! · Jan 6, 2024

saltycow said:
Yes trying to get rid of bristle worms.
We don’t have any stores that have anything else we looked all day yesterday and I seen wrasse and thought yes! My corals won’t be murdered by the worms brushing against them
Well I sure hope he doesn’t eat my shrimp! My shrimp is the households favorite!

I don’t know anything about that particular wrasse. However you should order a bristle worm trap. They work great.

saltycow · Jan 6, 2024

Well today my shrimp is still doing good, so is the mandarin. I have fed 4 times today to ensure everyone is full. He’s an active one, maybe he’s had 10 pots of coffee and is like a teen boy always looking for food lol.
He did try and go into the shrimp cave.. got a little to close and it was a big mistake the shrimp went at him with his pinches of pows and about got him. Wrasse was about on the menu!
He’s really active,
My tang really isn’t happy about him zipping near her spots. She will escort him away from her clown fish too.
All seems okay for the moment? If I see any aggression I am ready to move him to the big tank

saltycow · Jan 6, 2024

I will invest in the trap! I am so sad about my corals and mushrooms. Not everything has crashed but the ones near frequent worm spots have. Not sure if it’s all the problem. Iv checked parameters and everything seems within normal. Lights are the same. Light Schedule hasn’t changed. Hopefully my corals don’t go completely kaput!

Slocke · Jan 6, 2024

If by lyre wrasse you mean a Thalassoma lunare then you have one of the most aggressive wrasse. They will eat all inverts even starfish and urchins. Once it gets big enough it will eat that shrimp and it won’t need to be that big.

I’ve seen a lunare wrasse pluck both eyes out of a smaller fish in a couple seconds. Any member of the Thalassoma genus is only good for large predator tanks.