Types of wrasses

[Tyreefer]

Just had a six line who sadly got stuck in my filter from being scared by me and passed :( Thinking of purchasing another one, they are such cool looking and great fish! Just want to know if six lines and leopard wrasses can go together? Or any other suggestion of wrasses that can live with one another. I have this guy left in my tank, he’s a type of wrasse just never knew what kind. Him and the Sixline got along wonderful! So I know he’s ok with a six line again. But looking to add another fish with them.

 

[mdb_talon]

Based off shape and what I can see of the eye I would guess that is some sort of fairy wrasse. I would make sure u find out details on any future wrasses you get. Many sold in the hobby get quite large if you have a smaller tank....and even in a larger tank the larger ones often will decimate your cleanup crew(like a checkerboard, banana, melanarus, etc). Others like a red Coris wrasse are stunning and one of my favorite wrasses but will knock everything they possibly can over. At full size this can include even decent size rocks. Even in their juvenile phase have had them turn over 12 inch wall hammers completely upside down.

What wrasses can go together largely depend on size and character(rockwork,etc) as well as individual fish personalities. I am sure people with more wrasse knowledge may have better suggestions. I generally try to avoid ones with similar body shape or colors.


In a 115g shallow vat tank for example I have 3 yellow Coris, a sixline, a bluestreak cleaner, a blue throat fairy wrasse, and a red Coris wrasse. Probably not recommended, but has worked out much better than expected and no aggression issues at all, but it's a big footprint(I think around 68x30 or something like that) and a lot of places for them to have their own spot(though the three yellow Coris all hang out with each other).

 

[i cant think]

Just had a six line who sadly got stuck in my filter from being scared by me and passed :( Thinking of purchasing another one, they are such cool looking and great fish! Just want to know if six lines and leopard wrasses can go together? Or any other suggestion of wrasses that can live with one another. I have this guy left in my tank, he’s a type of wrasse just never knew what kind. Him and the Sixline got along wonderful! So I know he’s ok with a six line again. But looking to add another fish with them.

That’s a Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura. Mixing this species with other Fairies is going to be a 50/50 chance. Sixline Wrasses are violent in most cases, I’ve seen them do stuff that’s quite nasty (I have seen several outright kill all other tank mates previously). What Wrasses will mix well with the existing one is a toss up as we would need to know this information;
Tank size (Dimensions are much more important than how many gallons)
Rock Scape (Is it full of holes or very minimal)
How often you feed (Not all wrasses will thrive with only one feeding).

And I believe that that’s it, some will need to have specific feeding schedules to fit when they sleep/wake up. Some leopards and Tamarins need Atleast 2 feedings a day to thrive. Also what the above mentions about body shape, similar colours, ect… That’s mainly false, I’ve had wrasses go at others for being completely different whilst I’ve had more wrasses of the same body shape coexisting. It’s instead what we call Luck of the Draw.
I have a Wrasse gang that shouldn’t work out according to the above (and other reasons that I’ll get into) however they all get along just fine.
Theres 2 things that we recommend when it comes to mixing Fairy Wrasses. These things are;
Check the Complex that the Wrasses are from - Don’t mix two that are extremely close to each other on The Chart.
Make sure you don’t mix a Complex that is highly aggressive with a Complex that is extremely peaceful.

Now we’ve got through that. I did mention “The Chart” which you may be thinking what’s that. Basically it’s a giant chart mapping out the Complexes - Obviously it’s rather old so some species aren’t on The Chart. The Chart was created by someone who used to be active, known as Evolved or Hunter (Hammond). It shows the Complexes and which species are known for being peaceful and which are known for being aggressive. We recommend not mixing the Scottorum Complex for the simple reason of how aggressive they’re known for being. We also don’t recommend mixing two specimens from the same complex let alone of the same species.

This is purely for the Cirrhilabrus Genus. The other genera it’s all luck of the draw. But the general rule of thumb is DO NOT mix specimens of the same Species unless they’re of these genera;
Macropharyngodon
Anampses
Pseudojuloides
The reason why is because, those three genera have a more unpredictable transition rate. We never know if they’ll stay female forever (no matter what) or if they’ll transition. However with the other genera, it’s generally known that you will have to separate trios or pairs in the long run as they will always transition to male no matter what.