Six Lines can be a bit strange. Mine was in my 33G semicube together with my Mandarin. They got along fine for months. Then the Six Line decided it was time to tear up the Mandarin. I removed him, and put him into my other tank, which is a 52G semicube. At this time he is the largest fish in the tank. He is in with two Ocellaris Clowns, a Bicolor Blenny, a Yellow Clown Goby, and the small Flagfin Angel. To date he has given no problems whatsoever in there. :biggrin:

BTW the Mandarin survived the ordeal quite nicely. :mrgreen:

From your list I would go:

Blue Chromis
Goby (if one is desired)
Royal Gramma
Coral Beauty
Sixline

I don't know what the behavior of an Anthia is, so I wouldn't know where to place them in the list. Also, when you say "Blue Chromis" do you mean the Blue-Green Chromis (cheap $9 ones) or the Blue Chromis from the Great Barrier Reef (darker blue with a very distinct lyre tail and black stripe on its back)? The Blue Green ones are supposedly more peaceful than the other, but I'm sure they're both pushovers compared to an established 6-line.

Another question about 6-lines is: how to get a pair of them?

Assuming I'm not lucky enough to find a pair already paired up at the fish store, which method will work best:

1. Buy two very small ones and one will grow into the male.

2. Buy one larger and one smaller one.

3. Any way to distinguish gender in these fish?

I have never seen a pair in any tank....ever. If you find out, please let me know as I would be interested to have a pair in my tank as well.

I've seen a pair in Ed99's tank. Haven't heard from him recently, but they looked like fun ! I've never liked the six-line wrasse as an individual, way too aggressive.

I've always liked the six-line and have seen very little aggression from them. Th only time I have was with a diana hogfish that was essentially the same size and very close in colouration. Even then the aggression was limited to some occasional chasing around the tank.

I find them to be intelligent, inquisitive fish that add to the rockwork by always weaving through every possible opening. I had one that would play in the stream of the powerhead, doing little figure-8's. My only regret with keeping one is that I cannot have a mandarin.

I really like my sixline before he/she decided to go carpet surfing :confused:

Was alot of fun watching it zoom in and out of the rocks ... it did not show aggression to any tankmates but then again most of them were alot larger ... there was a mandarin in the tank also but neither paid any attention to each other and did their own thing :smile:

That's how I lost mine too.

How big is your tank to have both in there?

It was a 300G tank :rolleyes: ... I have " downsized " to a 270G tank since my move in October. :mrgreen:

I am not sure that they would have interacted in a smaller space but we will never know now ... I gave the mandarin to a friend before the move as he was too shy in that tank with such large tankmates.

I've had my six line for 3 years now. It was the first fish I added to my tank (70 gal at the time ). Was and still is my favorite fish. He is huge to compare to the six lines you see in the fs. They help control flatworms and are always on the move. Never bothers other fish that I have seen. I have kept flame angels, fire gobies, Bangie cardenals, hippo tangs, dart gobies, Watchman gobies, chromis, bi colour blenies, and maybe a couple of other fish with no problems. They are very curious fish. And my guy will let you know when he is hungry. The colours get better as they get bigger. A very cool fish IMHO. :cool:

He is kept in a small tank for now as I am trying to frantically to set up a 120gal by Christmas. Need more $$$$$$. :mrgreen:

My suggestion is to find a store that has a couple of them ( IE. Big Als in Richmond ) and watch them for awhile. See if you like the way they move and interact with the other fish etc. No harm in looking.

I'm sure you'll like them.

Best Regards :biggrin: