Christmass Wrasse- A good fish?

[polskp]

Hello-

I was wondering if any of you could share your expriences with the Christmas Wrasse (Halichoeres ornatissimus). I am building a reef tank (55 gal) and would like to add this fish to the livestock list. There is surprisingly little information on this or other websites on this particular species.

I am most interested in whether this fish is aggressive, reef safe, and a good candidate for ownership. Any information would be appreciated.


Thanks-
Pete

[chicki]

Well of course I can't speak for all of them...but my ornate is fabulous! He's so gorgeous! and is super well behaved.
He doesn't touch any corals, clean up crew etc.
He has been totally non aggressive to any other fish that has been added. Although I haven't added any other wrasse's??
He also does not bury in the sand at night, which is a plus.
He is also a very active guy, swimming all day long!
He ate well right from the start.
On the down side, he's actually jumped out of the tank 3 times, when I have had my hands in there. He startles easily and jumps frequently, but must be tough as he has survived landing on my hard tile twice now. The third time he jumped was into the overflow. Much softer landing! When I tried to net him out, he leaped out high into the air and cleared the middle brace on the 6' tank and landed back in the tank!
hope this helps

[Cafetao]

My Christmas Wrasse recently died from a bacterial infection he got from burying himself in the sand, which he did every night. Before that he was a wonderful fish totally reef safe and never aggresive towards the other fish. I was very sad I couldn't save him after he got sick.

[Peter Schmiedel]

Originally posted by Cafetao
My Christmas Wrasse recently died from a bacterial infection he got from burying himself in the sand, ...

What makes you think that the infection comes form the sand???

[fishy&co]

On saturday i purchased an ornate wrasse, once it was acclimatised i let it into the tank and it burrowed in the sand (which i understand is the norm) but it is still under there now, i know it is still alive because i see the sand on top of him wobble sometimes. Will he be alright and come up when he is ready?

[Peter Schmiedel]

This fish needs to chnage his bio clock from his origin to your time setting. Just give him to to find his way. It might be nice to place some food for him during the dark phase.

[Cafetao]

Well Peter, I know it didn't come with it, none of the other fish have had it, and a fellow reefer who has kept these fish for several years informed me that it is somewhat common. If you know of an alternative I'd be interested to know, but the symptoms matched perfectly, and I don't know what else it would be. I'm just sad I caught it too late to save him.

[Peter Schmiedel]

So the fish died?
Then it was not only the jet lag ... sorry for you and the fish