Six Line Wrasse Care Guide: The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It)

The Six Line Wrasse is a pest controller that becomes a pest itself. It eats flatworms and bristleworms, which is great. It also terrorizes peaceful tankmates once it establishes territory.

Add the six line wrasse last. If you add it first, nothing peaceful survives after.

Add the six line wrasse last. If you add it first, nothing peaceful survives after.

Table of Contents

• What Most Care Guides Get Wrong About Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Species Overview
• Classification
• Origins And Habitat
• What Do They Look Like?
• Tank Requirements
• Temperament
• Tankmates
• What Do They Eat?
• Is the Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It) Right for You?
• How the Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It) Compares to Similar Species
• Final Thoughts
• The Reality of Keeping Six Line Wrasse

The Six Line Wrasse is one of the most popular saltwater fish for a reason, but popularity does not mean easy. This fish has specific requirements that reef store employees rarely explain. After 25 years of reef keeping, I know what separates a healthy specimen from a slow decline.

Saltwater fish do not forgive mistakes the way freshwater fish do.

Saltwater fish require stable parameters, quality food, and a mature tank. The startup cost and ongoing maintenance are significantly higher than freshwater.

In saltwater, the tank runs on stability. Every shortcut you take shows up weeks later as a problem.

What Most Care Guides Get Wrong About Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It)

The most common mistake I see with six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it)s is keeping too few. Guides will say “minimum 6” and leave it at that. In reality, these fish behave completely differently in a proper group of 8 to 10 or more. Keeping just 3 or 4 often leads to stress, hiding, and fin nipping that wouldn’t happen in a larger school. Another thing most guides miss is how much lighting and decor affect this species. Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It)s look washed out under bright white LEDs on a light substrate. Dim the lights, add some tannins, use a dark background, and you’ll see colors you didn’t know they had. I’ve also noticed that many care sheets recommend overly broad water parameters.

The Reality of Keeping Six Line Wrasse

A mature tank is mandatory. Most saltwater fish need a tank that has been running and stable for at least 3 to 6 months. New tanks have unstable parameters that stress saltwater fish far more than freshwater species.

Diet is not just flake food. Many saltwater fish need frozen mysis, brine shrimp, or specialty foods to thrive. A pellet-only diet leads to malnutrition, faded colors, and immune suppression. Variety is not optional.

Quarantine is essential. Marine ich and velvet are common in newly purchased saltwater fish. A proper quarantine tank before adding fish to your display tank prevents devastating disease outbreaks.

Biggest Mistake New Owners Make

Skipping quarantine and adding a new saltwater fish directly to the display tank. One infected fish introduces marine ich to your entire system. Treatment in a reef tank is nearly impossible because copper kills corals and invertebrates.

Expert Take

Quarantine every new fish for 4 to 6 weeks before adding it to your display. I have never met a serious reefer who regretted quarantining. I have met dozens who regretted skipping it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Six Line Wrasses aggressive?

Six Line Wrasses can become territorial and aggressive, especially toward other small, similarly shaped fish. They are fine in larger tanks with plenty of rockwork and hiding spots. Adding them as one of the last fish to the tank can help reduce territorial behavior.

Are Six Line Wrasses reef safe?

Yes, Six Line Wrasses are reef safe and will not bother corals. They actually benefit reef tanks by eating flatworms, pyramidellid snails, and other small pests. They are one of the most useful pest-control fish available for reef aquariums.

How big do Six Line Wrasses get?

Six Line Wrasses reach about 3 inches in length at full maturity. Their compact size makes them suitable for tanks as small as 30 gallons, though a larger tank helps manage their territorial tendencies.

Will a Six Line Wrasse eat cleaner shrimp?

Six Line Wrasses leave adult cleaner shrimp alone but may harass or eat very small shrimp. They are known to eat tiny ornamental shrimp and may pick at newly molted shrimp. Most keepers report no issues with established cleaner shrimp.

What do Six Line Wrasses eat?

Six Line Wrasses eat a variety of meaty foods including mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and finely chopped seafood. They also hunt small pests like flatworms and pyramidellid snails. Feed them two to three times daily for best health and coloring.

Species Overview

Scientific Name	Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Common Names	Six line wrasse and six stripe wrasse
Family	Labridae
Origin	Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea
Diet	Omnivore
Colors	Purplish-pink, blue, yellow, orange, green
Care Level	Easy
Temperaturement	Semi-aggressive to Aggressive
Minimum Tank Size	40 Gallons
Max Size	3 inches
Temperature Range	76. 82 degrees F
pH Range	8.0. 8.4
Salinity	1.025 or 35 PPT
Reef Safe	Yes

Classification

Order	Perciformes
Family	Labridae
Genus	Pseudocheilinus
Species	P. Hexataenia (Bleeker, 1857)

Origins And Habitat

Six line wrasses are a widespread species found throughout the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific. More specifically, they is found in warm waters all the way from the west coast of southern African, up to the coasts of India, across to Japan, and down to Fiji; they is found near surrounding islands as well¹.

These attractive fish are found in shallow reefs no deeper than about 65 feet. They especially favor dense reefs with close-knit branched corals where they can easily hide and forage for small crustaceans.

Though six line wrasses are not very social, they will be seen in mating pairs or loose shoals as they forage the reef for food.

How Long Do They Live?

There is no average lifespan for six line wrasses, but it’s safe to say that they have the possibility to live 10 years or more.

In general, six line wrasses are incredibly hardy fish once established in the reef aquarium. There is some difficulty with stress from improper care or poor acclimation, but these fish do extremely well once settled in.

What Do They Look Like?

Six line wrasses are very colorful and active fish. They are also very small, staying under 3 inches when fully mature, which can make them appealing to hobbyists with nano tanks. As we’ll discuss later, even though this fish is small it is by no means an appropriate nano species.

These fish have beautiful colors and patterns. They have a purplish-pink base color that will appear as dark red in different settings; the underbelly is the lightest portion of the body and can have a tan appearance against the bluish anal and ventral fins. In shape, the body is very aerodynamic with exact curvature for quick and efficient travel.

Six line wrasses are named after the six alternating blue and orangey-yellow stripes along the sides of their body that run from behind the gill, onto the dorsal fin, and onto the caudal (tail) fin. The tail fin is green at the base and transition into yellow or become transparent. At the top of the base of the tail, there is also a black eyespot which is used to confuse predators.

Six line wrasses also have very characteristic red eyes with two horizontal stripes at either side of the pupil.

Hermaphroditism

While six line wrasses have not been successfully bred on a large scale in the aquarium hobby, their reproductive habits and life stages have been closely studied.

Like many other species of wrasse, the six line wrasse is a protogynous hermaphrodite. This means that the individual fish are born as females and transition into males as they mature in response to internal and external factors.

This is very unlikely to happen in the aquarium setting which is a closed system without additional environmental factors.

Tank Requirements

There is a lot of debate surrounding six line wrasse tank and care requirements. For many years, they were eagerly shoved into small tanks due to their small size. However, over the past few years, hobbyists have agreed that they need a lot more space than was originally believed.

Still, experienced keepers have had success keeping six line wrasses in 20 gallons. Other hobbyists find that 55 gallons is the bare minimum. We believe that a standard 40 gallon fish tank with intricate rockwork should be enough space for your six line wrasse to freely roam.

As they heavily rely on the structure of reefs and corals in the wild, live rocks are a necessity for this species. It is also recommended to use a sand substrate as six line wrasses, like many other species of wrasse, will use the sandbed to hide if stressed. Some will even sleep in the sandbed, though this is a sign that something else is wrong in the tank.

Otherwise, six line wrasses are incredibly hardy. They is a little tricky to acclimate and don’t do well with sudden changes in water parameters but will thrive once established. There is no special care or maintenance needed to make sure your six line wrasse does well once introduced into the aquarium.

However, it is also a necessity to have a tight-fitting lid on the tank. Remember, these fish are aerodynamic and can easily jump out of small openings in the top of the aquarium. If you have a rimless aquarium, consider getting a mesh net to prevent your fish from jumping.

Temperament

https://youtu.be/3Ck-0ZQKLRY

Not only are six line wrasses known for their activity levels, but they can also be very big bullies. There are a few benefits to having them in the tank though as they will act as a type of cleaner fish and will even control some pest populations (Video source).

Six line wrasses are often the most active fish in any aquarium setup. They can quickly dash across the front of the reef tank or take their time maneuvering in and out of the rocks, looking for some microorganism to nibble on. No matter what they’re doing, they’re always moving.

However, when they’re not looking for food they is bothering other fish. There are many stories from hobbyists who have had to trade in or give away their six line wrasse after a year of having them because they turn into a menace overnight. This is one of the risks you take when adding one of these fish to your aquarium!

Six line wrasses are labeled as being semi-aggressive, though they’re either peaceful or aggressive with no in-between. The problem with these fish is that they is model citizens until they’re not. One day, they may start terrorizing other peaceful fish in the aquarium and they won’t stop; six line wrasses are very persistent at pestering other fish, which can quickly lead to weakened, sick, and dead tankmates.

As mentioned before, many hobbyists end up giving their six line wrasses away as the aggression only gets worse with time. However, increasing feedings and providing more hiding places may help deter some aggression, though this is not guaranteed.

If you’re looking for a fish that’s not as aggressive but still as colorful, then you may consider the eight line wrasse (Pseudocheilinus octotaenia); note that these fish are considerably larger and can also be relatively aggressive. Other larger peaceful wrasses like the Yellow Coris do not exhibit this behavior, but may harass and eat shrimp.

Are They Cleaner Fish?

It has been said that six line wrasses can act as a cleaning species for other fish, though this isn’t often observed. In general, a cleaner shrimp is going to do a better job.

Experienced keepers have seen their six line wrasse approach other fish and pick at parasites and other foreign bodies that is present. While some wrasses, like the bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), are known for having a mutualistic cleaning relationship with fish, this behavior is largely undocumented with six lines.

If you find that your six line wrasse is picking at the sides of other fish in a friendly manner, then you may have a cleaner six line wrasse! Keep an eye out for if this turns into aggression and/or starts to bother the other fish.

Pest Control

Though your wrasse might not be a natural cleaner, there is a good chance that it will control some pests in your saltwater aquarium. Six line wrasses are foragers and advantageous scavengers. They will happily eat any small invertebrates they come across as they swim in and out of the rocks.

Some of the six line’s favorite quick snacks include flatworms and bristle worms. This is beneficial for hobbyists struggling with flatworm or nudibranch hitchhikers, like those commonly found on small polyp stony (SPS) corals. They can also help hobbyists who don’t enjoy the appearance of bristle worms, though these worms is some of the best cleanup crew members.

At the same time, six line wrasses will eagerly eat any copepods they come across. Hobbyists work years to establish a healthy copepod population in their aquariums, especially if they have a finicky eater like the mandarin goby (Synchiropus splendidus). If this applies to your tank, you should not add a six line wrasse.

It should also be said that six line wrasses will not eradicate a pest infestation. Though they will definitely help control populations, there are simply too many pests for one fish to eat. In addition, these fish should never be added to a tank simply to help with a pest problem!

Are They Reef-Safe?

Past their aggression and interesting behaviors, six line wrasses make a great reef-safe fish; of course, there will always be one individual that is not reef-safe from this sample, but in general, six line wrasses are reef-safe.

In fact, these fish feel especially at home in between the branches of elaborate SPS colonies. In the wild, they use these branches for protection and this natural behavior will translate into the saltwater aquarium setting as well.

Tankmates

Six line wrasses are largely regarded as a community species fit for any fish only (FO), fish only with live rock (FOWLR), or reef setup. However, they shouldn’t be treated as just another community fish.

In general, you want tankmates that can stand against your six line wrasse, either in terms of speed or aggression. Species like tangs, angelfish, and damsels, will be able to escape or hold their own against the tyranny of an aggressive six line wrasse.

There are a few methods to increase the chances of compatibility among your tankmates.

1. Add the six line wrasse last. Adding this species to the tank last leaves little room for a hierarchy to form among other fish and even less physical space for a large territory to be established.
2. Acclimate slowly. In this case, we don’t mean acclimation in the sense of matching water parameters. Instead, use a glass or plastic container to slowly introduce your wrasse to the rest of the tankmates. Simply submerge or float this container with your wrasse inside for several days. This should get all fish familiarized with each other so there is less immediate aggression.
3. Get a pair of six line wrasse. Pairs of wrasses are difficult to come by. This method only really works if you know with certainty that the two fish are already a mated pair. Experienced keepers have found that keeping six line wrasses in pairs completely diminishes aggression.

Lastly, you want to stock your tank accordingly. There are definitely a few species you will want to avoid if you’re trying to eventually add a six line wrasse to the stock list.

Can They Live With Clownfish?

Whether or not six line wrasses can live with clownfish is completely up to the personality of the individual fish. I, personally, kept a six line wrasse with ocellaris clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris) and never had a problem. Other hobbyists have had their clownfish killed overnight.

If you desperately want to keep your clownfish alive, then do not add a six line wrasse. There are also a few other species of clown that is able to tolerate possible aggression instead.

Some varieties of maroon clown (Premnas biaculeatus) can grow to be very large, which could possibly intimidate the wrasse. Tomato clowns (Amphiprion frenatus) can also get to be very big and are one of the most aggressive species, making them a good candidate as a six line wrasse tankmate.

Can They Live Together?

Yes, experienced keepers have successfully kept pairs of six line wrasse together, though this is rare. In fact, pairs often help diffuse aggression.

More importantly, though, wrasses of different species should not be kept with six lines. It is not unheard of for a six line wrasse to kill another, larger species of wrasse. The territories, body shapes, and behaviors can overlap too much and the six line may see the other fish as a threat.

Of course, experienced keepers have had complete success keeping an assortment of wrasses together, though this is uncommon.

What Do They Eat?

Six line wrasses are very opportunistic feeders. On top of the many bristle worms, snails, and microorganisms they find among the rocks, they will readily eat fish flakes and pellets. They will also appreciate meaty foods like live, frozen, and freeze-dried options like brine shrimp and mysis shrimp as well. Blackworms are also a good option. For frozen foods, I highly recommend LRS foods.

Will They Eat Peppermint Shrimp?

While these fish gladly eat small invertebrates, they leave bigger snails, crabs, and shrimp alone. This includes peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) that are much larger than the very small mouth of the six line wrasse.

Of course, if your fish is especially hungry, it might try to go after bigger prey and it’s not unheard of for them to eat snails and smaller shrimp. As long as you keep your fish fed and watch for signs of aggression, there should be no problems with keeping other invertebrates.

Is the Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It) Right for You?

Before you add a six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) to your tank, it’s worth asking whether this species actually fits your setup and your goals. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you decide.

This species is a good fit if:

• You have a large enough tank to manage territories. Cramped conditions amplify aggression.
• You’re comfortable managing aggression through stocking ratios, line of sight breaks, and tank layout.
• You can commit to regular water changes. These fish produce more waste than many smaller species.
• You’re not planning a peaceful community tank. Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It)s need tank mates that can hold their own.
• You enjoy watching active, interactive fish. Cichlids have personality that smaller species simply don’t match.
• You have backup plans. Sometimes a particular fish just doesn’t work out, and you need a way to rehome it.
• You’re feeding a varied, high-quality diet. Color and health depend on nutrition.

If most of those points line up with your setup, the six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) is worth serious consideration. If several don’t, it’s better to choose a species that matches your tank now rather than trying to make it work.

How the Six Line Wrasse The Popular Reef Fish With a Reputation (and How to Manage It) Compares to Similar Species

Want a hardy first saltwater fish? Get clownfish. Want more personality? Get a six-line wrasse. Want a showstopper? This fish is worth the effort if your tank is ready.

Choosing between similar species is tricky. Here’s how the six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) stacks up against some common alternatives.

The six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) occupies a specific niche in the aquarium hobby, and direct comparisons really depend on what you’re looking for. In my experience, the most common question people ask is whether they should choose the six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) or something similar that’s more widely available. The answer comes down to three things: tank size, water parameters, and what other fish you’re keeping. If your setup matches what the six line wrasse the popular reef fish with a reputation (and how to manage it) needs, it’s hard to beat. If not, there are alternatives worth exploring.

Final Thoughts

Six line wrasse have been misunderstood for a very long time. Just recently, hobbyists have come to understand their true needs and aggression levels. Though these fish are relatively peaceful and reef-safe, they definitely have the capability of attacking and killing other fish in the tank.

Keeping aggression in mind, these popular saltwater aquarium fish bring color to the home display like no other and are exceptionally hardy once established in the tank.