Digging Wrasse
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Fish
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about fish.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2522
Printed Date: April 25 2025 at 1:32pm
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Topic: Digging Wrasse
Posted By: Tresa
Subject: Digging Wrasse
Date Posted: May 08 2004 at 4:03pm
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I have a wrasse, I can't remember what kind he is butI posted something about one a while ago- it jumped into my overflow and died ( if I remember right, Adam knew what kind it was). I found a new one a month ago and bought it but it is digging holes all over my tank, all the way down to the glass (sand is about 4-5 inches deep). Isn't this bad for the nitrates? Any help is appreciated.
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Replies:
Posted By: Weimers
Date Posted: May 09 2004 at 1:50pm
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You're sure it's a wrasse? Not an engineer goby, or watchman goby? I figured I'd chime in and then maybe some more experienced people will answer. It doesn't seem to me like it would be bad to have him digging, at least from a chemical standpoint. Hopefully he's creating new places for amphipods, copepods, etc. Making your substrate a more diverse environment. Hopefully. What I would worry about is your rock falling over. Did you put the sand in first, and then set the rock on top? Or the rock in first, and then substrate? If you went the first route, I'd think your rock could topple. We did a combination of the two, and our watchman goby builds some tall pyramids of substrate. So far, so good. ------------- Renee and Damon Weimer Tankless in Hawaii |
Posted By: Tresa
Date Posted: May 10 2004 at 5:52am
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Renee, Most of the rock is on the glass - he has already found the ones that werent and crashed them! He is definately a wrasse - I am just worried that he is going to mess up the filtration. Thanks for the reply |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: May 10 2004 at 9:24am
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Can you point us to a pic or description? It is very unusual for a wrasse to be constantly digging in the substrate.
I'll bet that it is finding food there. It is definitely damaging your filtration. What else do you have in the tank? There may be a need to take some quick action to remove the wrasse or feed it. Wrasses enjoy all the little bugs that live in a mature reef. If the reef isn't old enough or is populated by carnivores like Wrasses, Psuedochromis, Royal Gramma, Basselets, and Damsels(includes clownfish) it may eventually crash with an algae bloom, sometimes preceded by massive fish death. 
Suggested reading is the article by some crazy guy in the June 2001 issue of the Sea Star Online (blue button to the left) titled Herbivores vs. Carnivores (Algae control and fish defined).  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Tresa
Date Posted: May 11 2004 at 12:20pm
Here is the link to one that looks just like it - http://www.goldmaniac.com/fishtank.htm - http://www.goldmaniac.com/fishtank.htm He is burying himself mostly to sleep - I think- noone in there is bugging him and he shouldn't be hungry. Maybe the best thing to do is get him out before he causes problems.
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Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: May 11 2004 at 1:25pm
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Is he sleeping in a different spot each night? If it's the same spot I wouldn't worry too much. My father-in-law has a yellow wrasse that sleeps in the exact same spot every night. I like watching him dive into the sand. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Tresa
Date Posted: May 12 2004 at 7:57am
| He has about 3 different spots.It is funny to watch him "wake up", he sticks half of his head out of the sand and stays there for about 15 minutes looking around - he is not a morning guy! I think he is starting to mellow out on the digging thing, maybe he wasn't comfortable yet?... |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: May 13 2004 at 4:59pm
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Wrasse bury themselves every night. I don't think it will hurt your filtration, it is just more reason to have a very large deep sand bed, so that the disturbed areas are of minimal size. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Weimers
Date Posted: May 13 2004 at 6:31pm
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Does their wrasse cocoon contain proteins, or bad stuff, or ?? I'm only asking because I've found a few of their spider-web looking cocoons. ------------- Renee and Damon Weimer Tankless in Hawaii |