Harlequin tuskfish in reeftank?

[eleyan]

I always thought Harlequin tuskfish were a FO tank type of fish. Until I noticed that MikeP had a photo of his in a reet tank in his Gallery. Mike, how big is that guy, and do you have any shrimps or other inverts in that tank? Does anyone else have one in a reef tank?

[captexas]

Jim Norris has/had one in his tank and he has more corals than all of us combined! lol. You can try PMing MikeP or Jimnorris and they can probably tell you more about their experiences. I would imagine it is more an issue of keeping them well fed and they won't mess with any inverts or corals.

[oliver]

I have been keeping them in my reef tanks for several years. When they are first introduced, they have a tendency to eat smaller snails and hermit crabs. All three that I have, stopped eating snails and crabs when they got used to prepared food. I have never had one touch any corals.

[Jimnorris]

My tusk was :cry: my favorite fish. Had him for acouple years. He was the largest fish in my tank. He show no interest in and crabs, snails or clams. And most important never bother any corals.
Jim

[eleyan]

Jim, What happened to it? I really like this fish. I had one in my old 110G FO tank, but the poor thing didn't last more than 2 weeks. My yellow tang beat the $#$@ out of it. My new tank is a reef tank, so I wasn't sure if I should give it another try.

[MikeP]

Mine is currently in a 45 gallon by himself in my bedroom. I had him first in my 75 and then my 215 tank. He was fine with corals and the smaller fish but he got VERY territorial with the larger fish (betta, foxface, regal) and I had to separate him to avoid aggression. He will practically eat out of my hand and is a great fish he just wants to be the alpha fish in the tank it seems - no crustaceans would be my afvice though my coral banded shrimp lived with him for almost a year with no incidents - the CBS is very large and ornery and I think that partially contributed plus the tusk was kept well fed.