To add or not add a 6 line wrasse?

[dstipple]

I currently have a 30g tank with only a firefish. I would like to add a green/red mandarin down the road once my tank is established and ready for one. In the meantime I want to add a few more fish, possibly including a 6 line wrasse.

I have heard how they are a great little fish and a lot of people love them, and I have also heard how they harass other tank mates. Also I heard that they eat pods.

Would it be possible to add a 6 line now and also a mandarin later on?

[Allmost]

would it be possible ? maybe.

but it sure would not be a good Idea. 30 G is kinda small /boarderline for mandarin, I wouldnt lower its food population.

if you are planning on ever adding another wrasse, then dont get 6 line. it will simply harras it till it jumps out.

HTH,

[Sugar Magnolia]

That tank is much to small to meet the dietary requirements for a mandarin. Adding a wrasse would be direct competition for food making it even harder for the mandarin to hunt for pods. I've kept a sixline before. They can be real bullies and it will likely go after the peaceful firefish. I'd suggest looking for some more peaceful tank mates for the firefish.

[celamb89]

its either the six line or the mandarin from my POV... the six line will harass the mandarin...

[Michigan Mike]

What fish do sixlines harass? I have 2 perc clowns(in tank) and a bicolor dotty back that's in qt, I want to add the dotty back and another fish in the future, but I want it to be peaceful.
Bad idea having a six line?

[Biocubehqi]

I have a clown, royal gramma, and flame angel and my sixline dosnt harass any of them. I actually added the flame to keep the gramma from harrasing the sixline. Mine is very peaceful and active swimmer. Really woke the tank up

[Pointboy]

I had to remove my six line wrasse from my main tank because he was trying to kill my clown fish. He lived together with them for almost a year with no issues. I came home one day to find that the wrasse had both clowns pinned in a corner and was trying to kill them.

The wrasse now lives all alone in a small tank.

Very interesting fish with a ton of personality and fun to watch. I've heard similar stories from other people about their six lines just going nuts one day.

They are also very hard to catch should you need to remove one from your tank. Haha.

[coonasssaint]

My sixline gets along with all my fish except the Royal Gamma. Sometimes I wish the sixline would jump out of the tank! Because the Royal Gamma is much prettier.

[TealCobra]

I agree with what has been said here about the Mandarin. his dietary needs will not likely be met in such a small tank. Six Line Wrasses are nice but why not consider a Pink Streaked Wrasse/Cryptic Six Line? We love ours and they are not aggressive at all.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...08&pcatid=2908

Here is a recent video of our Wrasse.
http://youtu.be/DhNaUmqrKhI

[celamb89]

the six line will most likely harass the mandarin... do a search and you can find some info on this... this is not to mention the dietary needs...

[dstipple]

TealCobra: I just checked out the pink streaked wrasse and I think I'm going to get one soon! I thought I heard it was ok to keep a mandarin in a 30g if he's the only one eating pods but I guess I can skip on him.

What other wrasses (reef safe) stay small enough to keep in a 30g?

[TealCobra]

Originally Posted by dstipple

TealCobra: I just checked out the pink streaked wrasse and I think I'm going to get one soon! I thought I heard it was ok to keep a mandarin in a 30g if he's the only one eating pods but I guess I can skip on him.

What other wrasses (reef safe) stay small enough to keep in a 30g?

You really shouldn't keep Mandarin's in tanks under 75g IMO. You need a mature, larger tank with lots of pods for them to have long term success IMO.

You could probably keep a a Banded Possum Wrasse with the other one and have no issues. These are both very laid back Wrasses but you won't know until you try.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...41&pcatid=3041

[ReeferYork]

My Sixline was an awesome addition to my tank for the time he was there. Always the most intuitive fish in the group and never bothered any other fish (2 clowns, 1 Firefish, 1 Lawnmower, 1 Diagonal Goby).

He was added as a small defense against flatworms and killed them all off in short work. Unfortunately he met his demise to my wifes youngest cat that I had caught swiping into the tank while hanging off of the light fixture the day I found him on the floor half eaten =(. The other cats never even looked twice at the tank.

That being said, they are not all the same and may or may not harass your fish. But might be an option if you don't end up getting a Mandarin.

[usefulidiot213]

I would say no. I had a 6 line wrasse at one time & a Mandarin. The 6 line wrasse wouldn't let the Mandarin out of the corner to eat. Had to get rid of the wrasse before the Mandarin starved to death.

[postshawn]

I have a green mandarin and a rainbow fairy wrasse in my 29g. The mandarin was a mistake on my part because I listened to a LFS that I didn't know. It's been fine and actually eats some frozen food. But I would have preferred to just not worry about if it's getting enough or not and not have gotten it in the first place. The wife loves it though now. I've had it for months and it's doing ok though. The fairy wrasse has been great. It's mostly a scaredy-cat and just hides. I haven't seen it pick on any other fish and they are ok sized for a 30g.

[david pinder]

Put a 6 line wrasse in a 350 he killed about a dozen fish before I could get him out

[outssider]

i have a 6 line wrasse, he is the most peaceful fish i could hope for. constanly looks for something to eat in the rocks...

[dstipple]

So I went to my LFS today and saw a few dwarf angels that looked sweet. They had a flame angel, coral beauty and another one that I forget the name of. I asked which is the safest for a reef and he said the coral beauty. One was about 4" and almost fully grown and the other was about 2".

I'm leaning towards the 2" one because he is smaller but his eye is messed up so I'm getting a great deal on him. He's been there for 3 weeks and is eating very well (he fed him while I was there so I could see him eat). Has anyone had one of these guys in a reef with success?

[9501gle]

Had one in my reef tank. Had to borrow a trap from the LFS.

[ReeferKimberly]

Some people will do what they will do. Here is a tip for success if you get the Mandarin (don't get the 6 line). I have a 10 gallon full of live sand, live rock, ect ect left over from a tank upgrade. I just left it going, not connected to the new tank. Over just a few months I have developed a LOT of pods. All different kinds, amphipods, copepods, mysid, ect ect. What I do is I take a strawberry basket (green plastic netting kind) and I load it with shells.

I put it in the pod tank and let them get all up in it for a few days. Then I take it and put it in the other tank and shake it out a bunch and leave it in a while until many pods leave. Then back in the pod tank it goes and repeat when needed. I have found this the best way to transfer pods. Keep the pod tank well fed and with good detritus (I still do water changes though of course). Works pretty well for me. I feed my fish mostly pods, even if they all will eat other food too, they like the pods best.

[dstipple]

9501gle: did you take out your 6line or coral beauty?

[jlnielsen13]

In my opinion the six lined wrasse is the most aggressive fish you can buy on the market... I say this having a miniatus grouper that ate my coral banded shark.

I have one living in the fuge right now because he would beat fish to death with his little mouth till they were hiding in the corner.

[maypo59]

I had both a mandarin and a 6 line for a couple years, never a problem between the two, 75 gallon display, 35 gallon sump/'fuge, lots of rocks, lots of pods. The problem I had was with the damn 6line going down/over the overflow into the sump.. after about the 50th time of him going down there.. I just left his butt in the basement. He was down there 3-4 years before the ice storm.

[thegrun]

I've kept several 6 lines over the years, they are great fish to watch but every one I've owned that lasted more than a couple of years eventually went rouge and started killing it's tank mates. In a tank over 100 gallons the harassment rarely leads to death, but in your 30 there would be no escape for the other fish. I don't see any way you would be able to feed a mandarin enough food with any wrasse in a 30 gallon tank, particularly a 6 line.

[teknik777]

I wouldn't put one in if it was me...