lightning wrasse

[mchud]

i just purchase a small lightning wrasse from my lfs and they told me it was reef safe. but stupid me didnt research it and now i find that they are not. does any one have any experience with these fish? if so should i worry it is in a 54 gal reef with a cinamon clown and and misc shrimps. thanks for your help

[Ninong]

Hmmm... I wonder if a lightning wrasse is the same thing as a yellowcheek wrasse? I couldn't find "lightning wrasse" as a recognized common name anywhere but I did find someone else who purchased a fish that the LFS called a lightning wrasse and it turned out to be Halichoeres cyanocephalus. The only common name that fishbase lists in English is yellowcheek wrasse. Check out the picture in the link below to see if that's what your fish looks like: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...=cyanocephalus

If that's what you have, then you may find it unsuitable for a 54-gal tank once it matures. Looks like its adult size is about 12" TL and if it is a member of that genus, you can expect it to be rambunctious and a threat to smaller fish once it matures -- anything that will fit in its mouth might be eaten. Check out "food items" on fishbase. http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/F...=cyanocephalus

[Ninong]

OK, I just found it on Drs. Foster & Smith's website listed under the heading "Fish-Only Aquarium Wrasses" (as opposed to their other heading, "Reef-Safe Wrasses") -- http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1761

Looks like Drs. Foster & Smith does not consider it reef-safe like your LFS told you: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=15

I guess if you wanted to return it and you could get the LFS to admit that they told you it was reef-safe, maybe they would take it back. Maybe not. They'll probably insist that they're correct and everybody else is wrong.