First fish, Six Line Wrasse?

[Hulley]

Hey Reefers, looking to add my first fish to my RSR 350. Would a Six Line Wrasse be a good one to go with? I plan on a couple gobys, blennies and a yellow or purple tang, with the Tang being the last addition.

Any issues with this? I've not had a wrasse before and wasn't sure how territorial these guys are.

 

[Crabs McJones]

RSR 350 is a 73 gallon if I remember correctly, right? If that's the case yes a six line wrasse would be a good addition. Just make sure you quarantine everything before adding to the tank, helps with the heartache and headache later on down the road. But I hate to be the one to say it, i'd skip the tangs all together unless you plan on rehoming or upgrading to a larger tank down the road. A yellow tang or purple tang (for just a single tang) needs at least a 125.

 

[James M]

You could do a kole and bristle tooth tang

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I wouldn't make the 6-line the first addition. They tend to be fairly aggressive. I would try one of the more passive fish first and then add the 6-line towards the end of your stocking plan.
+1 on the info about tangs. They just need more room than you have.

 

[Crabs McJones]

You could do a kole and bristle tooth tang

Agreed, Yellow Eye Kole tang or Bristletooth tang would be fine in a 70-75 gallon

 

[Crabs McJones]

I wouldn't make the 6-line the first addition. They tend to be fairly aggressive. I would try one of the more passive fish first and then add the 6-line towards the end of your stocking plan.
+1 on the info about tangs. They just need more room than you have.

I guess each fish has their own personality. My first addition was a six line and then my clowns and he never bothered anybody

 

[Hulley]

I wouldn't make the 6-line the first addition. They tend to be fairly aggressive. I would try one of the more passive fish first and then add the 6-line towards the end of your stocking plan.
+1 on the info about tangs. They just need more room than you have.

Thank you for answering my question!

The RSR 350 has a foot print larger than a standard 90 gallon, a small YT or PT will be fine in a 4 foot tank. FWIW, the wife and I are finishing our basement and there will be a much larger tank in place.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Yellow Eye Kole Tang is definitely one of my favorite fishes, they have so much personality—could be their eyes with the yellow ring which give them a puppy-like quality to their expressions. Koles also have this silly shyness to them when first introduce them to a tank. The two Koles I've owned quickly became wife and kids favorite fish. A six line wrasse is a must add at some point in my opinion. Consider both these fish as part of a swat team for your tank.

 

[Reeferguy365]

Six line wrasses are Hit or Miss they might be nice or they might be really mean. My first six line was a great fish didn't bother anyone but my second 2nd six line bullied and killed two really nice clown fish 3 purple Firefish. I had to tear apart my entire BioCube just to get that thing out. If I was to suggest a wrasse I would go with a fairy or flasher there are a lot nicer and look pretty sweet. Oh and on the tangs be careful with the purple and yellow definitely add at the same time if those are what you're going with I had a purple tang in my 180 then I threw in a small yellow Tang yeah bad idea purple tang almost kill the yellow tang in less than a minute tore up all its fins I ended up putting the yellow tang in the BioCube it was so bad I didn't know if it was going to make it. The yellow tang made it by the way fat and kind of Happy in the process of setting up a bigger bedroom tank for it right now... still wish it could go in the 180

 

[Hulley]

Six line wrasses are Hit or Miss they might be nice or they might be really mean. My first six line was a great fish didn't bother anyone but my second 2nd six line bullied and killed two really nice clown fish 3 purple Firefish. I had to tear apart my entire BioCube just to get that thing out. If I was to suggest a wrasse I would go with a fairy or flasher there are a lot nicer and look pretty sweet. Oh and on the tangs be careful with the purple and yellow definitely add at the same time if those are what you're going with I had a purple tang in my 180 then I threw in a small yellow Tang yeah bad idea purple tang almost kill the yellow tang in less than a minute tore up all its fins I ended up putting the yellow tang in the BioCube it was so bad I didn't know if it was going to make it. The yellow tang made it by the way fat and kind of Happy in the process of setting up a bigger bedroom tank for it right now... still wish it could go in the 180

Thanks, I'll look into those other wrasse', my last tank was a 180g and had several tangs, my favorites were the YT and PT and yes, I added them at the time!
The RSR 350 is my office tank which will be a mixed reef and when the basement is done, a much larger tank, 180-240 and it may be a FOWLR as I like angels too. The plan is to keep a small YT and/or PT in my office and then move them to the big tank when I feel necessary. I've had many tanks, just not in the last 10 years.

 

[saltyhog]

If you choose a six line, make it your only wrasse. They likely will be ok with other types of fish but they will not tolerate another wrasse in most cases....especially not long term.

 

[GoPitt88]

If you choose a six line, make it your only wrasse. They likely will be ok with other types of fish but they will not tolerate another wrasse in most cases....especially not long term.

Agree with that 100%!

 

[ZoWhat]

Six lines you hardly ever see except when they dart from one rock to behind another.

If you have plans on sitting and watching a six line.....you're gonna be disappointed in how little you see him




.

 

[GoPitt88]

Six lines you hardly ever see except when they dart from one rock to behind another.

If you have plans on sitting and watching a six line.....you're gonna be disappointed in how little you see him




.

I actually disagree with that.....unless I got lucky. Mine is constantly swimming around, in and out of the rock work. It's neat watching him swim through all of the caves and crevices that I built. And now that my tank is full of mixed coral, he swims amongst that as well. He never hides though.....he's just busy [emoji12]

 

[Crabs McJones]

I actually disagree with that.....unless I got lucky. Mine is constantly swimming around, in and out of the rock work. It's neat watching him swim through all of the caves and crevices that I built. And now that my tank is full of mixed coral, he swims amongst that as well. He never hides though.....he's just busy [emoji12]

I'm going to agree with your disagree, when I had mine it was out all the time and swimming in and around the rockwork. It was actually very calming and fun to watch

 

[Hulley]

While I do hope to see him swimming around, I'm trying to pick livestock that will serve a purpose too. The Six Line is good for some amount of pest control, right?

 

[James M]

I only see my 6 line everyday , he mostly comes out during feeding time

 

[Bradley Keck]

Good discussion here on your thread Hulley. I have been considering a six-line for one of my first fish as well. It's pretty well documented on R2R how they can sometimes be very aggressive for what ever reason. I have not found a consistent pattern like tank size or type of tank mates that seems to cause some owners of six-lines have issues with aggression. LA rates them as semi-aggressive. I am considering one for the same reason you are, they are known to eat pests. I hear that about them, but not as much the case for fairy or flasher wrasses. I would get a fairy wrasse instead of a six-line if I knew it would be as effective at pest control, but I have not read that to be the case. I'm still up in the air about it myself. Not sure whether I should take the risk or not. If I do, I will probably make sure to get percula clowns instead of ocillaris, maybe a bicolor blenny instead of tail spot, etc. in hopes he would be less likely to bully them.

 

[saltyhog]

While I do hope to see him swimming around, I'm trying to pick livestock that will serve a purpose too. The Six Line is good for some amount of pest control, right?

It is. However, H. chrysus and several others in that genus arguably are just as good. The advantage is they are much more peaceful and would hardly affect your other live stock choices at all.

 

[User1]

Six lines are similar to Damsels in that they get a bad rap. Could be because it is more readily available and thus picked up by beginners or could be that they are just more aggressive than others. Similar to Damsels. However, there are a lot of easy going Damsels that make great tank mates if the tank is set up properly. I tend to say the same rule of thumb applies to Six lines. If you know or understand the base principle of needs then they are usually great assets to have in home aquarium.

They are small but fast. They are constantly hunting. They require a lot of rocks and food readily available to hunt. So a healthy pod population. Healthy pod population also means limit the number of pod predators that will require and compete for the same food unless the pods can reproduce at a faster rate than consumers. Tanks that are not mature in this regard need not apply because they won't meet the base requirement for the fish no matter how small, cute, and cuddly it may look.

Point is, would you leave your puppy unattended in the home while you went to work? Or would you have it contained or better yet crate trained? Of course, you wouldn't leave it unattended. Much like a young child. Same rule applies. Introducing a fish that the system can't sustain means said Six Line is bored and hungry. Thus the aggression, bad behavior, and trouble they get into.

I've owned two. Plan on getting one with my new tank once it is mature enough and the pods are breeding like a rabbit because I also want some dragon faced pipe fish which will compete for the same food.