So what exactly is a reef-safe wrasse?

[sfsuphysics]

I've seen various sites list Wrasses then Reef-safe wrasses, and I'm curious what exactly makes them "reef safe". The only thing I can immediately see is that their size tends to stay smaller, so maybe can't eat certain inverts? Surely wrasses aren't coral eaters anyways.

 

[Ibn]

Mostly means that they don't eat your corals...

There are bigger wrasses out there that consume corals, clams and other invertebrates, etc. (e.g. broomtail wrasse).

 

[sfsuphysics]

Oh ok, reef safe is such a broadly tossed around term, just wanted to make sure. The flashers or fairy types are definitely catching my eye, but I don't want those uber deep or expensive versions (Sorry Chris )

 

[tuberider]

[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=3123.msg34000#msg34000 date=1203182863]
Oh ok, reef safe is such a broadly tossed around term, just wanted to make sure. The flashers or fairy types are definitely catching my eye, but I don't want those uber deep or expensive versions (Sorry Chris )

[/quote]Whatever you cheap bastid. Reef safe wrasse to me means it's not going to chomp your shrimp/snails, I would place fairies, and flashers in that group. IME flashers are not the easiest to keep long term. They tend to get bullied and need a lot of food, kinda like Anthias. The good old Solar wrasse, now there's a fish, tough pretty, mellow.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Groovy Jeremy, I'm not looking to buy any fish in the short term, but like to keep brainstorming for the future. Thanks for the heads up on the flashers though, I really don't want any fish I need (or should) feed multiple times a day.