wrasse in a gravel substrate ?

[Salvin916]

hey i was wondering has anyone kept wrasse in a gravel substrate ? is it possible ? or sand is a must

thanks guys

[Murphs_Reef]

Following

[Bingo1213]

Well it depends on the type of wrasse. For some sand is a must because they burry themselves. The gravel is too hard for them to dig in and can injure them. But many species such as 6-lines, fairy wrasses, possum wrasses, etc. do not burry themselves so these would do ok in a gravel tank. Just depends!

[HarryPotter]

My Yellow Coris Wrasse burys himself under the sand all the time. I agree with Bingo1213 that because it is a Wrasse's natural instinct to hide under the substrate, it may injure itself due to the gravel.

[Neebles]

Sand is a must unless it is a wrasse that sleeps in a cave. Wrasses have been known to break their jaws trying to dive into substrate that is not appropriate for their housing. Research the wrasse you want and find out if they are sand sleepers or cocoon sleepers. Furthermore I haven't really heard of a gravel substrate in a reef tank, crushed coral yes, gravel not so much. Crushed coral is no good for a sand sleeping wrasse either.

[Bingo1213]

My Yellow Coris Wrasse burys himself under the sand all the time. I agree with Bingo1213 that because it is a Wrasse's natural instinct to hide under the substrate, it may injure itself due to the gravel.

Yes my Melenurus does the exact same thing. They are a giant B to catch during a tank move thats for sure. Ive also had leopard wrasses that do the same thing.

[SquishyFishy]

My banana wrasse loves his aragonite substrate and it is very large size too. I almost threw some sand in one corner for him, but he dives into my current rubble just fine. I've had him for about 6 months and he managed to survive a carpet surfing incident too. He gets freaked at most quick movements in the room and hits his head on the glass darting around all the time, then dives into the rubble to hide for a while. So far so good so I didn't do the sand. I prefer the rubble, easier to keep clean.

 

I have never seen a scratch on him.