First off, I rarely post around here, I tend to sit back, read lots, and try to learn lots. Anyway, I just ordered a maroon clownfish (my lfs never seems to get any in) and the wife really wants a six line wrasse. I was wondering if it's a big no no to add anything after a maroon clown, as I've heard they can be beyond aggressive. I have a 34 gallon Red Sea Max and a bi color blenny, dragon goby, mandarin, and a flame angel (and soon to be maroon). The answer may be that I'm out of room after the maroon which is fine; just looking to enlist the knowledge of you experts. Doubt it matters but I have a couple of anemones and a super small one (all RBTA) which hopefully host the clown, however, I know this will likely add to his aggression. Any help and stories would be beyond appreciated.
six line wrasse with maroon clown
- Thread starter dsprouse
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Can't say I'm an expert but if you have a lot of rock and coral you maybe out of room for fish. With that said, maroons are aggressive mostly to other clownfish (unless a pair) but the six line is a horrible aggressive fish too! I had a six line and gave it away when i upgraded tanks. Unfortunately it had killed a tank mate before I could remove it. There are so many other nice wrasse you could choose!!
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I would say that if you got the six line quick enough, before the maroon establishes its territory the wrasse would be fine. I have a six line along with a saddleback clown and they get along fine. The six line was actually in the tank a lot longer then the clown. It is all up to you and if you want to buy the six line or stay with what you have.
Thanks for the quick responses - I may be leaning towards not having the room; Since I've been hearing six lines tend to be aggressive, are there any other common wrasse choices? I've got a tremendous case of bubble algae (recently added emerald crabs, but we'll see what happens) but I don't think there are many fish, let alone any wrasse, that will help with bubble algae. So, I guess lots of typing for a simple question; what are some other solid/common wrasse options.
Most wrasses need much more room than a 34g. Possum wrasses are the exception. They are very docile and would be ok in a tank that size. The only problem is the maroon clown. They are overly aggressive to other fish (not just clowns) especially in such a small tank.
You are rather heavily stocked already.
Something to keep in mind, a wrasse will compete with the Mandarin for pods. As it is, your tank is a bit small to support a Mandarin unless you are supplementing heavily with live pods for its consumption. You may have to up the live pod supplementation with a Six-Line.
Six-Lined wrasse are either model citizens, OR holy terrors. Nothing in between. I've kept several over the years, and most were just fine, but we had one that terrorized everything in the tank (I wonder if it's a male/female thing?)
As for the maroon - if you get a juvenile, you probably won't see any serious issues right away, but as it matures and grows, they take over the tank, and in a small tank such as yours, it might get to the point where it does not tolerate any other fishes (not just other clownfishes).
I've seen some really mean maroons, but on rare occasions I've seen huge females that were actually quite docile. Those are the exception, rather than the rule, but it does happen.
With fish attitudes, we generalize a lot based on how the majority behave, but occasionally there is a specimen that didn't read the memo
Jenn
Something to keep in mind, a wrasse will compete with the Mandarin for pods. As it is, your tank is a bit small to support a Mandarin unless you are supplementing heavily with live pods for its consumption. You may have to up the live pod supplementation with a Six-Line.
Six-Lined wrasse are either model citizens, OR holy terrors. Nothing in between. I've kept several over the years, and most were just fine, but we had one that terrorized everything in the tank (I wonder if it's a male/female thing?)
As for the maroon - if you get a juvenile, you probably won't see any serious issues right away, but as it matures and grows, they take over the tank, and in a small tank such as yours, it might get to the point where it does not tolerate any other fishes (not just other clownfishes).
I've seen some really mean maroons, but on rare occasions I've seen huge females that were actually quite docile. Those are the exception, rather than the rule, but it does happen.
With fish attitudes, we generalize a lot based on how the majority behave, but occasionally there is a specimen that didn't read the memo
Jenn
Sorry for the double post but didn't want to make a new thread for this. The maroon came in today and has spent most of his time on the bottom just sort of laying there. I haven't had this happen with any other clowns I've gotten. Just curious if this can be normal. He tends to swim fairly slow and again lays on the sand bed vertically in a back corner. All other fish, anemones, and corals are doing fine.
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A) You are too overloaded IMHO for that tank.
B) The wrasse would eb the last thing I add IF you were to add it.
C) Only trouble I have ever had with a 6 line is when he established his territory first.
D) As Jen said, he will compete with the mandarin for pods. (But so is that angel fish)
E) No the actions of your clown are not normal. I would lean on the side that something is wrong. How did you acclimate? Looks like you did not have a QT procedure. Was he swimming normal in the bag? Any other signs (increased breathing)?
B) The wrasse would eb the last thing I add IF you were to add it.
C) Only trouble I have ever had with a 6 line is when he established his territory first.
D) As Jen said, he will compete with the mandarin for pods. (But so is that angel fish)
E) No the actions of your clown are not normal. I would lean on the side that something is wrong. How did you acclimate? Looks like you did not have a QT procedure. Was he swimming normal in the bag? Any other signs (increased breathing)?
Hey. Thanks for the reply. We decided to not go with a wrasse. So just blenny, goby, clown, mandarin, and flame angel are what we have. I usually drip acclimate all corals and inverts and sensitive fish but just floated this guy for a good while. I have floated the last probably 6 clowns I've had with no issue so I figured it would be ok this time as well. However he was fairly sluggish in the bag when we got him. I just didn't know if shipped fish tend to act sluggish for a period of time.
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Nope.. shipped fish should still be relatively perky. It is even more important to drip a shipped fish IMHO. I usually do 1-2 hours increasing the flow of the drip as time goes on. What you are trying to do is adjust the PH. That is most often what gets off due to the decreased O2 and the increased CO2 in the bag. I have seen bags come in with a PH of 7.6 before. Moving a fish from that into a tank that is 8.0 to 8.2 with out a proper acclimation can, and often does, kill a fish. But given what is going on with the fish, I would assume that is the cause. Sad thing is there is not much you can do at this point. If you had a hospital tank, there are some treatments that may help with PH shock but absent a hospital/QT tank, there is not much you can do. Just hope he gets better and it was not too much of a shock. Leave him alone as much as you can. Hope the place you got him from has a 14 day guarantee. If he is going to die from PH shock, he will usually do it within 48 hours.
