Adding a 6 Line Wrasse?

[intarsiabox]

I have a tank with one clown, two cleaner gobies and a female leopard wrasse. For my last fish I was thinking on a 6-line wrasse as they are busy little fish that dart in and out of the rock work and would interesting to watch. I have never owned one and I'm wondering about the compatibility with the leopard wrasse. Does anyone house these two together without issue?

[reefmandan]

Sixlines are notorious jerk fish when it comes to other Wrasses, and so adding another wrasse after that would likely be troublesome. It really depends on the size of your tank, but there may be a bit of aggression from the Leopard Wrasse in the beginning, depends on if it perceives it's territory being invaded. That usually subsides though. The two fish are in different genuses though, so aggression should be reduced because of that as well.

[gobytron]

I have never added a sixline that i didn't regret.

They aren't really compatible with any of those fish, though your clown will no doubt hold its own.

Very territorial fish once established...you would wind up seeing your sixline all the time and everyone else will be taking cover in your 'scape.

[Ron99]

It's funny because I keep hearing about how awful the sixlines are. I've had two. The last one and the current one were/are both well behaved. I think I saw mine chase my neon dottyback once for a second. That's about it.

[mark]

never had a 6line with another wrasse but no problems at all other than cleaner shrimp kept disappearing. Since I lost my 6line, no problem keeping a cleaner

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Ron99

It's funny because I keep hearing about how awful the sixlines are. I've had two. The last one and the current one were/are both well behaved. I think I saw mine chase my neon dottyback once for a second. That's about it.

Dottybacks though are usually more aggressive than six-line wrasses, which explains why your six-line was well behaved. Its like a small bully behaving in the presence of a bigger, tougher bully.

Leopard wrasses are far less aggressive than any neon dottyback and would react to a little bully by swimming away, hiding, diving into the sand, or jumping out of the tank. Leopard wrasses are a bit finicky to keep without any bullies in the tank.

[Ron99]

Good points. And to be fair I've never had a sixline in with other wrasses so maybe that has made a difference.

[intarsiabox]

Well since I have a docile wrasse that I think looks stunning (and eats pellets) plus a cleaner shrimp that I've had for about 4 years I'll look for something other than a six-line that's equally entertaining. Thanks for the responses!

[Flemed]

I actually had no issues with my six line until the past couple of weeks. In the tank with two clowns, two cleaner shrimp and a peppermint. Clowns and cleaners were not bothered by the six line, but the peppermint was being chased and attacked no matter where in the tank they were sitting.

Sadly had to re home him today. But everyone else seems to be getting along nicely.


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