Poll - 6 Lined Wrasse Aggression

[Jesterrace]

Evil to anything easy to bully

Yup, and many people who claim to have success with them change their tunes after the 6 line hits puberty. I love the look of the fish, but until someone can find a way to genetically breed the aggression out of them, I won't touch one. Kind of like adding a dottyback to your tank. If money were no object I would get a 30 gallon tank and stick one in there by itself. With the other spectacular wrasses that are out there (ie Melanurus, Red Lined, Christmas) it is really hard to justify a 6 line.

 

[chowwil]

It’s a hit or miss, this last six-line I put in when I switch tanks due to leaks is getting alone with everyone in the tank. In another note, my Pygmy angel is a nasty devil, but not enough for me to remove

 

[rosshamsandwich]

I have 2 sixline wrasses....

 

[rosshamsandwich]

they are doing fine with each other and other tankmates tangs, angels and other wrasses.

 

[drblakjak55]

Agree with above. Evil incarnate to goatfish-killed him, dottybacks-terrified to death. Only other wrasse was a good size Coris who fought initially than ok. He died after developing a large orange tumor on his side. I called it an orangeoma. Anyone else seen such a growth?

 

[PeterG]

I added a Sixline wrasse to my 90 gal and then a larger Christmas wrasse about a month later. No issues with aggression. He did his thing and I never saw him bothering anyone.
Unfortunately I had some sort of infestation and the Sixline died in QT. Christmas wrasse doing fine, still in QT until 3/10 when DT fallow period ends.
Will probably add another Sixline as it was one of my favorites.

 

[atoll]

I have TWO six line wrasse, leopard wrasse, peacock wrasse, melanurus wrasse in my display, all model citizens no fighting, no chasing, no bullying no issues at all. But they do have a lot of room, a lot of hiding places and food. That’s probably the reason.

Or simply because you have 2

 

[Jesterrace]

I have one housed with a G.Nugget Maroon and a Starry Blenny..... just yesterday the big lady shook him down for a cleaning. I did not think 6 lines cleaned I don't think he did ither but he did. The Starry Blenny on the other hand is 3 now and quite large and full of hateful spunk so my 6-line is constantly the victim.

Funny. I had a Yellow Tang that did the same thing with my Melanurus Wrasse and my Melanurus Wrasse was always like "What the heck do you want me to do" It did take the occasional peck at the Yellow Tang and would then move on.

 

[User1]

I think they are similar to Damsels in that they carry bagage or have a bad rap. I owned one in a 100 gallon with a yellow and purple tang, and a pair of clowns. Lots of live rock and a deep sand bed. This was in 1999 through 2000 but sadly this tank crashed while I was on vacation (actually the extended family too / reunion thing) due to the California brown outs and Enron. Anyway here is why I voted my only wrasse but model citizen.

Great fish. Healthy. Always swimming and hovering over rocks. Fast. Used every inch of the tank. Mostly soft and LPS corals which it didn't bother. One thing I believe worked in my favor is that I had a lot of rock and there wasn't any other fish that ate his or her food. There was no compitition. While the tangs also used up every inch of the tank there was never any fighting and both the yellow and purple are a lot bigger than the little six line.

I think if you can build a habitat that suites their needs they will be fine. But if not or if left alone then just like a puppy you will come home to torn up shoes or poo on the floor.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I owned one...

A limited subject group...

...with a yellow and purple tang, and a pair of clowns.. ...both the yellow and purple are a lot bigger than the little six line..

Also fish with a reputation for aggression/ability to "take care of themselves," that were bigger than said sixline.

...This was in 1999 through 2000...

Their aggression is observed to get worse as they mature. 1 yr is not long...

Under certain circumstances, yes they can be fine, but for the average reefer going for a community tank, they are less than ideal.

 

[User1]

A limited subject group...

Interesting reply, not really sure what the point was. Every reply in this thread is a limited subject group due to the number of people that keep reefs vs this fish vs post in threads on this forum statistically speaking. I was just providing my experience. I'll change my vote to not owning one since I didn't own it long enough.

Maturity - no one knows the age of the fish they are buying although I'm sure you meant time in the tank and/or your possession. Yes, they can be fine. Great actually. Just like a Damsel can. If the hobbyist knows what they are buying before hand and have a system properly setup. This is no different than if one is buying a pipe fish, Mandarin, wrasse, or clown tang. Buying a fish on impulse or out of ignorance (not knowing anything about it) leads to various threads asking for help later or the fish having a history of being aggressive.

Certain circumstances = aware hobbyist and proper environment which is why it worked for me.

 

[nereefpat]

I've never kept a 6-line, 4-line, mystery,....
From everything I've read, it sounds like they just don't have a place in peaceful tanks, or reef tanks.

There was a thread a few months ago on the other forum about someone trying to keep two in that genus together in a 400 gallon. After using an acclimation box and, I believe, adding them at the same time, it still didn't work.

I think they still might have a place in the hobby, though...Specifically two situations:
1. Keep it in a large tank with large fish like angels, tangs, triggers etc. Similar to one of the aggressive dottybacks.
2. The other situation is in a frag tank. They are tailor-made for this.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Interesting reply, not really sure what the point was. Every reply in this thread is a limited subject group due to the number of people that keep reefs vs this fish vs post in threads on this forum statistically speaking. I was just providing my experience. I'll change my vote to not owning one since I didn't own it long enough.

Maturity - no one knows the age of the fish they are buying although I'm sure you meant time in the tank and/or your possession. Yes, they can be fine. Great actually. Just like a Damsel can. If the hobbyist knows what they are buying before hand and have a system properly setup. This is no different than if one is buying a pipe fish, Mandarin, wrasse, or clown tang. Buying a fish on impulse or out of ignorance (not knowing anything about it) leads to various threads asking for help later or the fish having a history of being aggressive.

Certain circumstances = aware hobbyist and proper environment which is why it worked for me.

The more appropriate choice would have been that It Was Your Only Wrasse. The Model Citizen choice also stated that it Lives Nicely with Your Other Wrasses, you didn't have him with other wrasses.

 

[User1]

The more appropriate choice would have been that It Was Your Only Wrasse. The Model Citizen choice also stated that it Lives Nicely with Your Other Wrasses, you didn't have him with other wrasses.

Clearly we are on different pages and there is friction. Have a good Friday.

 

[mort]

I've never kept a 6-line, 4-line, mystery,....
From everything I've read, it sounds like they just don't have a place in peaceful tanks, or reef tanks.



I think they still might have a place in the hobby, though...Specifically two situations:
1. Keep it in a large tank with large fish like angels, tangs, triggers etc. Similar to one of the aggressive dottybacks.
2. The other situation is in a frag tank. They are tailor-made for this.

I completely agree with what you have said with a slight difference in regard to reef tanks. Now this is coming from someone who loves six lines. If I could only have one fish in my reef it would probably be a sixline and whilst I would never recommend them for anything but a frag tank in most situations, I feel they are best suited to a reef tank because they are so useful. The caveat with that is that you need to exclude a lot of other fish in their presence, hence why they aren't suited to the majority of people.
What puzzles me is that people are happy to add aggressive species like maroon clowns or powder blues in full knowledge that they can be devils but for some reason don't expand the same leniency to sixlines who are called the spawn of Satan even though they aren't much different.

So to sum up, terrible choice for most but can be awesome in the right tank.

 

[rhastareefer]

In a small tank evil incarnate is an understatement. Not only could I not have other wrasses, he'd pick at and kill anything that couldn't kill him (lawnmower blenny, then a scooter blenny, a small clown, as well as a bicolor dottyback (the last one didn't bother me as he was also a jerk). The only fish he couldn't kill were my large clown and foxface...

 

[nick0206]

I read with great interest your feedback on the six-line Wrasse.
A week ago, I cut off a few heads of my frogspawn and found flatworm during the dip. I am afraid that other LPSs have this kind of stuff.
I consulted with the owner of LFS and other guys from the hobby. The answer is six-line Wrasse.
I have a 50 gallon tank, plus a 15 gallon sump.
Of the fish, there are 3 surgeons (yellow tang, Saifin tang and blue powder tang) and 3 adult Chromis Viridis. I have Blue Powder and Chromises for 5 years, the other 4 years.
There is also fire shrimp and maybe peppermint shrimp.
Do you think there will be peace in a tank?
And further. I have no sand in my tank. How critical is this?

 

[Tonycass12]

Mine has had no problems since I added him. Also have a flame hawk, 2 clowns, cardnal, and a canary blenny