Will social wrasses be social about a six line?

[Mihai]

I have a couple of social wrasses (Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis) in my 90 gallon reef tank and a friend of mine wants to give me a six line wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia). Will they get along?

Thanks!
Mihai

 

[Anonymous]

You can never tell for sure about these things, and the fact that the sixline is being added last works in our favor...but I wouldn't do it. Not in a tank that small.

Sixlines are one of the most reliably aggressive little fish you can get. Fantastic fish, don't get me wrong, but not to be mixed with passive or delicate species unless those species are quite a bit larger.

 

[Mihai]

Oh, so the six line may be the aggressive one... I thought that the socials would be the nasty ones. I also have a mated pair of clowns an old and big royal gramma and a pair of mandarins. Any of those would be in danger of the six line? They are all adults. Also a cleaner shrimp, a blue star and a diadema sea urchin - I assume those are fine...


Thanks!
Mihai

 

[Brian5000]

My experience with six-line wrasses:

As a juvenile, it doesn't really cause trouble, but won't back down from a fight either.

As an adult, it will systematically destroy everything in the tank. The royal gramma can stand up for itself, the rest would be toast (and they love shrimp).
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[Anonymous]

My experience with six-line wrasses:

As a juvenile, it doesn't really cause trouble, but won't back down from a fight either.

As an adult, it will systematically destroy everything in the tank. The royal gramma can stand up for itself, the rest would be toast (and they love shrimp).

+1.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, so the six line may be the aggressive one... I thought that the socials would be the nasty ones. I also have a mated pair of clowns an old and big royal gramma and a pair of mandarins. Any of those would be in danger of the six line? They are all adults. Also a cleaner shrimp, a blue star and a diadema sea urchin - I assume those are fine...


Thanks!
Mihai

If your mandarins are not already eating prepared food exclusively their food source will be virtually wiped out by the sixline.

 

[Mihai]

Oh, that was a close one! Thanks for the advice guys, I'll pass on the six line. It's very pretty, but it's not worth the pain and anguish.

Thanks a lot,
Mihai

 

[Brian5000]

I loved my six-line while i had it. It was very pretty, unique swimming style, and seemed fairly intelligent. I was kinda sad to get rid of it, but it just doesn't fit in a community aquarium.

I think it might be a great addition for a predator tank though.
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[Mihai]

I think it might be a great addition for a predator tank though.

That would be an expensive meal
M.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, so the six line may be the aggressive one... I thought that the socials would be the nasty ones. I also have a mated pair of clowns an old and big royal gramma and a pair of mandarins. Any of those would be in danger of the six line? They are all adults. Also a cleaner shrimp, a blue star and a diadema sea urchin - I assume those are fine...


Thanks!
Mihai

If your mandarins are not already eating prepared food exclusively their food source will be virtually wiped out by the sixline.

Now I hear this over and over Matt, but my last Sixline never put a dent in the pod population in either the 92 corner or the 150 that he resided in. In fact, I never saw him eat a pod, and I spent hours upon hours watching him. The Scooter Blenny in the tank did just fine with the Sixline present.

Also Brian, I can't say that I agree with the statement that a Sixline will systematically wipe out every fish in the system. Frankly, I've never had a Sixline kill a fish. Then, I stock my tanks in such a way that I minimize this possibility, including tank mate selection and stocking order. Stocking order is key.

I've always found them to be an easy fish to deal with as long as certain things are kept in mind.

I think we need to be careful taking a single experience using it to characterize to an entire species. While I'm sure some specimens wipe out pod populations, my experience clearly shows this is not always the case. Same with managing their aggression...I've found it to be not much problem at all.

YMMV.

Jim

 

[Brian5000]

I admit, I had a smaller tank, but I did watch my wrasse single out a particular fish and peck it to death (all fish had lived together for about 1 year). I started with the shrimp, then it killed my clownfish, then made attempts against a royal gramma, but couldn't get past the defensive stance of the gramma.

I do agree that stocking is key. My fish were mostly passive, community sorts that wouldn't defend themselves, which I think is the general theme of Mihai's tank. That is why i said this might be a better idea with more aggressive tankmates (damsels, pseudochromi, angels, etc.).

I never "saw" my wrasse eat a copepod either, but when the standard copepod is barely visible to the naked eye, I really don't see how that's possible to see anyway. The wrasse does nothing but glide though the tank and peck the live rock and other surfaces all day. If he wasn't hunting food, what was he doing?
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[Anonymous]

Your individual was eating pods I'm sure, the last one I had that I really payed attention to wasn't such a grazer. It's not a matter of seeing the pods, just observing behavior as you indicate.

One needs to keep in mind that a Sixline wrasse will make use of every inch of a 300 gallon tank, unlike say a Gramma that will pick a hole and more or less stay in that territory.

Sixlines need space, it's not a small tank species by any stretch.

 

[Anonymous]

I think we need to be careful taking a single experience using it to characterize to an entire species. While I'm sure some specimens wipe out pod populations, my experience clearly shows this is not always the case.

Now I hear this over and over Matt, but my last Sixline never put a dent in the pod population in either the 92 corner or the 150 that he resided in. In fact, I never saw him eat a pod, and I spent hours upon hours watching him. The Scooter Blenny in the tank did just fine with the Sixline present.

Eh? What kind of "pods" are you talking about?

I didn't catch the part about the sixline killing other fish. I don't agree that it would do this either, at least not outright. It's almost a certainty that it will harass the social wrasses when it gets larger though, and would be a poor choice for a tankmate in this size tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Copepods.

I always hear that Sixlines will clear the tank of them, and standard wisdom is that they therefore shouldn't be housed in the same tank as a Mandarin or Scooter, but because of it's more eclectic feeding habits, that hasn't been my experience with this species is all.

I set up a 150 for a friend, and we stocked a sixline last. A year later he had a healthy population of pods still.

Of course my experience in this case could be anomalous I realize, and maybe most/may individuals will clear a smaller tank of pods.

I'm just saying, it's not a given that they'll even dent the pod population in a tank, and it could be highly dependent on the individual, tank size, presence of pod piles or a fuge, and how much/what he's fed by the keeper.

 

[Mihai]

I have big sump and fuge (for a 90 display I have a 20 gal upstream fuge, a 75 gal sump and a 60 gal prop tank), so the supply of pods should not be a problem - it wasn't after adding the social wrasses to the tank although those are active feeding fellows too, so I'm not very worried about pods. But I am worried by aggression - I had fish die to aggression and I don't want a repeat!

Thanks for the advice,
Mihai

 

[Anonymous]

I have big sump and fuge (for a 90 display I have a 20 gal upstream fuge, a 75 gal sump and a 60 gal prop tank), so the supply of pods should not be a problem - it wasn't after adding the social wrasses to the tank although those are active feeding fellows too, so I'm not very worried about pods. But I am worried by aggression - I had fish die to aggression and I don't want a repeat!

Thanks for the advice,
Mihai

That's not surprising. Fairy wrasses are mostly zooplanktivores and don't spend a lot of time picking animals off the rocks.