mean 6-line

[encideought]

So, I got 2 cool clowns from Doug at the meeting, and I was really excited to trade for a red firefish that I only saw during feeding times. My tank is 24 gallons and I had 1 firefish and 1 six-line wrasse that always seemed to get along really well...they even seemed pretty friendly at times. So, I thought my 6-line wasn't very aggressive.

 

Well, after the lights went out, I got the clowns in the tank last night. I thought everything would be peachy, but almost immediately the 6-line came charging out and was really trying to pick on both clowns. The clowns didn't really seem scared, but they were obviously stressed. I probably waited ~40 minutes to see if things would calm down, but they didn't, so I netted the clowns and put them into a breeder net until I could figure out what to do.

 

The 6-line is probably being a jerk since he was there first, but I thought they would get along. Is my tank too small for these 3 fish? Are there any options besides these:

1) find a new home for the clownfish

2) find a new home for the 6-line

3) take the 6-line out, rearrange all rocks, put it back (which I can't do)

 

I'd like to try releasing the clowns again to see if things are better (maybe after keeping them partitioned for a couple days), but I'd like to stress them as little as possible. If I managed to catch the 6-line and sequester it while the clowns settled, do you think the 6-line would be get less aggressive? I really didn't think this was such a bad idea, but clearly it was...boo.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated,

Thanks!

Nick

[collegeman]

My six line harassed everything i put in my tank for the first few hours than everything was fine. I would put the clowns in and monitor very closely. If it is a little harassing just let it be, on the other hand if it gets out of control pull the clowns out. Hope this helps.

[SunWyrm]

My six line likes to charge as well, but he's a big pansy. If something else (like my tiny scooter blenny who is half his size) shows any sign of counter aggression, he just warily watches it for the next few days before ignoring it entirely.

 

my six line and my bw clown are now best friends

 

Sounds like if you keep having this issue of aggression after you try again, and if you are able to capture him without too much stress; I would think introducing the clowns and letting them settle before reintroducing the six line would be a good idea.

But I am le noob so please take my advice with a grain of salt

 

 

 

[encideought]

So, I tried letting the clowns back in the tank the other day, and the 6-line would not stop harassing them. The 6-line is such a smart fish, it would seriously wait until I was at least 5-6 feet away from the tank before going after the clowns. I tried to see if things would die down after a couple hours, but nothing seemed to change. I ended up putting the clowns back in the breeder net and then beginning the plans to catch the 6-line...

 

I left a net in the tank and didn't touch it for a while. The next day (Wednesday) I put some food in the tank, but I only put the food IN the net. The 6-line eventually came to pick at the net, but I didn't try to catch it yet. Then I put a big chunk of shrimp in the net and left the net in the tank again overnight. Yesterday when I got home from work I put food in the net again and the 6-line swam right in! I grabbed it out of the tank real quick, put the clowns in the tank, and put the 6-line in the breeder net.

 

So, now I've got a 6-line I want to trade for something a little more tame. I'm sure the 6-line would get along with other fish in a bigger tank, I think my set-up is just a little too small for so many "semi-aggressive" fish. I'll start another post for trading.

[roni]

you may find that if you keep the six line separate for a while and then reintroduce him, with maybe some rearranging of rock, things will be fine. my fridmani is hanging out in the sump until all the other wrasses get added for that same reason.

[RicSG]

What I know is the 6-line is very territorial. I want o make sure you put him last in any tank. I had a 29 gal and I had two clowns a 6-line, royal gramma and pajama cardinal and never had any issues. My buddy had two clown and before putting the clown he also had the 6-line and he had to get rid of the 6-line coz he was a jerk like your 6-line. I do not know if this will work but if you have another small tank and put the 6-line in there for few weeks with a small pvc or rock and then rearrange ur main tank a little and then in few weeks put him back and see how things work and if still not luck then sorry have to get rid of someone depends who you want to. But I have a feeling this trick might work. Even longer than two weeks will be great. Just a thought.

[RicSG]

oops roni got it before me. Yup try that.

[Integral9]

I think once your clowns pair up, you'll find they will become very territorial, especially if they lay eggs. Personally I would be cautious about mating clowns in a 24g with other fish around. just my $0.02

[encideought]

you may find that if you keep the six line separate for a while and then reintroduce him, with maybe some rearranging of rock, things will be fine. my fridmani is hanging out in the sump until all the other wrasses get added for that same reason.

 

I thought that could work, but I really have no idea how I could rearrange the rocks in my tank, it's pretty packed (which in hindsight wasn't very bright either). I'm also pretty terrified of putting the 6-line back in the tank in case I just need to catch it again.

 

 

I think once your clowns pair up, you'll find they will become very territorial, especially if they lay eggs. Personally I would be cautious about mating clowns in a 24g with other fish around. just my $0.02

 

 

I have to admit that I'm still fairly new to the fish part of the hobby, and I've always heard that clowns are pretty territorial/aggressive. Do you think they would attack any other fish in my tank? Even something like a goby? I'm okay with only having 2 fish in there as long as their happy. I was kinda thinking if I could trade the 6-line for something else relatively quickly that territoriality wouldn't be an issue. I know, everything should be quarantined...but I don't do that.

[Integral9]

I think it's about the territory more than the kind of fish. My clowns would also go after snails and hermits that got to close as well. I'm not saying you can't do it, but I would watch for issues down the road. If the clowns are juvi's, then it won't be an issue until they host an anemone (or something else), pair up and become adults. After that you'll notice the territory issues.

 

In my 29g I had a clown w/ anemone and she was fine with other inhabitants. In my 55 I had 2 b&w w/ anemone that I bought as juvi's. When they paired up and started hosting the anemone, they had the entire population quarantined off to the other side of the tank. They never laid eggs to my knowledge, but I hear it gets worse when they do. I had to seperate them after they started treating my tang like a chew toy. funny to see a fish using another fish twice it's size like a rag doll.

[roni]

I think it's about the territory more than the kind of fish. My clowns would also go after snails and hermits that got to close as well. I'm not saying you can't do it, but I would watch for issues down the road. If the clowns are juvi's, then it won't be an issue until they host an anemone (or something else), pair up and become adults. After that you'll notice the territory issues.

 

In my 29g I had a clown w/ anemone and she was fine with other inhabitants. In my 55 I had 2 b&w w/ anemone that I bought as juvi's. When they paired up and started hosting the anemone, they had the entire population quarantined off to the other side of the tank. They never laid eggs to my knowledge, but I hear it gets worse when they do. I had to seperate them after they started treating my tang like a chew toy. funny to see a fish using another fish twice it's size like a rag doll.

 

my male true perc used to attack me when i got too close to his anemones! after i caught him by hand to move him into the smaller tank, he's learned not to mess with me. i find my clowns don't like going too far from their anemone. i think they'd be fine in a 24 but it depends on the individual fish.

 

my breeding pairs in the past have always been okay with other fish as long as they stayed at least 6" from their anemone and eggs (though the smallest tank i had them in was a 75)

[SunWyrm]

I think once your clowns pair up, you'll find they will become very territorial, especially if they lay eggs. Personally I would be cautious about mating clowns in a 24g with other fish around. just my $0.02

 

+1

 

I personally think it will be a lot harder to introduce fish once your clowns are settled. More so than the temporary aggression with a six line, clowns can attack something not new to the tank that just gets too close. In a 24g everything is too close. (Give in to the dark side and upgrade you know you want to...)

 

IMO the six line seems like one of the few fish that can handle his own against 2 clowns or at the very least stay out of their way. I also don't think that you should put a more docile fish like a mandarin in that type of situation. And even a mandarin who is eating frozen still needs pods. Or at least someone to feed him frozen at least 3 times a day. In that size tank its very hard to keep a good pod population up. (I learned the hard way with my 15g, my pods population has been decimated by my 6line and scooter)

 

Please forgive any noobishness I may have displayed but this is my 0.02

[LanglandJoshua]

I've had similar issues with my six line, I actually sold it last meeting. Unfortunately in my 75 gal tank my royal gramma learned from the six line how to bully my baby BW clowns....so the clowns are easy to catch, food on the surface, and one swoop of a net gets both. They will be in my 20 gal frag tank. I hope you have better luck and get to keep your six line!

 

As for attacking anything, my clowns were raised from about 1/2-3/4" to just over 1" in my tank(still babies) with the gramma and six line. They show absolutely no aggression. I actually hope they do later. With any luck they will swim into the lower 3/4th of my tank and find one of my four anemones.

 

 

Another fish to think twice about, Falco Hawkeye. It's the one that ran my six line into the overflow and into my sump....

[encideought]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I think my current plan is to take the 6-line back to the store and trade it for...a new six-line that won't be territorial. The reason I got the 6-line in the first place is because I think they're awesome and I really like them. I would love to keep this one since it's been happy and healthy, but I can't really rearrange anything in a significant way, and I really don't feel like setting up another tank for X months to try and let the clowns settle before reintroducing the 6-line, especially since that may not work anyway.

 

The clowns have been free in the tank for ~3 days now and still haven't really checked much of anything out. Is it normal for them to swim around a lot before settling? They stay right in the front pretty much the whole time, which is cool to see them. Is it possible that the 6-line still being in the tank, although sequestered, is stressing them? At night they're actually cozying right up to the breeder net that the 6-line is staying in, kinda cute in a weird way.

 

I do think the falco hawkfish is cool, but I like my crabs and shrimp, so I think I'll probably steer clear.

 

Please let me know if you have any other thoughts or ideas, or if you have a healthy smaller 6-line you're interested in trading.