Will I be overcrowding my tank?

[Fmellish]

I have a 120 gallon reef tank. It's 4x2x2 feet. With a 30 gallon sump. http://fmellish.shackspace.com/aquarium/

I have lots of live rock.

I currently have 9 fish and about 10 snails, 2 hermits, 2 stars, and 1 cleaner shrimp. I have a mixed variety of soft and hard corals.

My nine fish are enumerated below

- Blue Tang 3"
- Sailfin Tang 4"
- Ocellaris Clown 2"
- Percula Clown 2"
- Dwarf Flame Angel 3"
- Resplendent Anthias 3"
- Six-lin Wrasse 2"
- Pajama Cardinal 2"
- Pajama Cardinal 2"

They all seem to get along great and have all gone through extensive quarantine and been togther about 7 months. I would hate to upset this balance.

BUT, I am wanting to add another fish.

Would a 4" fairy wrasse add too much stress to my original pets?
SHould I hold myself back? I am sooo wanting to add a fairy wrasse, but I do'nt want to overcrowd my tank. A few of my guys will be getting bigger.

What do you all think?

Thanks
Josh

 

[secrest]

Most of the fish you have stay relatively small, I say go for it.

 

[massman]

Thr only possible problem I see is with the 6 line wrasse.
Otherwise should be fine.

 

[chadp]

I agree, the six line wrasses are notorious for harassing the fairy and flasher wrasses.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7733847#post7733847 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by secrest
Most of the fish you have stay relatively small, I say go for it.

Hippo and Sailfin get up to 1'....not very small.
They will both eventually outgrow this tank and need at least a 6' tank

Size wise, you'd be fine, but the 6-line was in there first and are known to be aggressive and do not do well with other Wrasses or even fish that are similar in shape..I wouldn't add one

 

[Fmellish]

THanks guys. I read an article that had a chart listing the compatibility of all types of fish with the Fairy Wrasse. Mose were completely compatible except other wrasses were listed as semi-compatible.

My six line is soo small though, even if he was agressive, would't the new 4" wrasse be able to defend his own turf against a tiny six line?

Thanks
JOsh

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Probably not. Fairy's are not as aggressive and even if things were okay at first...the 6-line would grow to be more aggressive and would give the Fairy problems.

I had a 6-line that would harass my Royal Gramma..Found them in a lip-lock once

 

[Sygnath&Elasmos]

I agree with BTTRYFLYGRL. Six lines can be mean lil buggers. Friend of mine had one that he added to a tank with a very large mandrin. He told me it chased it down for an hour till it cornered the mandrin and beat it to death.

Also the Hippo and Sailfin will grow to be much larger. Why not try something like the schooling banner fish Heniochus diphreutes. I keep these in my 156 soft coral and LPS reef. They are in there with my sea horses (do not even consider that as an option) yellow tang and juvenile clown tang. Make sure you are getting H. diphreutes as they are the only ones that are reef safe. Some books may claim that they are hard to keep, but these guys have been in there for a while now and eat like pigs when i feed them.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7734276#post7734276 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BTTRFLYGRL
Hippo and Sailfin get up to 1'....not very small.
They will both eventually outgrow this tank and need at least a 6' tank

Size wise, you'd be fine, but the 6-line was in there first and are known to be aggressive and do not do well with other Wrasses or even fish that are similar in shape..I wouldn't add one

1' is a tiny sailfin. They get freakin huge, as do hippos. 16" or so, and just as high.

 

[Fmellish]

The hepatus tang and the sailfin tang will go to the LFS or another hobbiest when they get past 7".

My six-line is so peaceful, it's hard to believe he has the potential to be a bully. He's never bothered any of my other fish.

Josh

 

[mmoore0803]

just do it!

 

[Fmellish]

Please don't encourage the Josh.

 

[snorvich]

Six-line wrasses are incompatible with Fairy and Flasher wrasses; it is not a size issue. The tangs will definitely outgrow that tank if you feed them well.

 

[violaceous]

My 6 line started out as a perfect gentleman too, but since the first few months he has become increasingly more aggressive. Definitely keep an eye on him.

As for size, I noticed today that in my QT my tiny 1" pseudochromis was bullying the fairy wrasse who is more than 3 times his size. They are in separate tanks now, thankfully. But size doesn't necessarily reflect the ability to stress and harass. It reminds me of a rather aggressive toy poodle I had as a kid who bullied our black lab even though the lab weighed 70lbs more than him.

 

[Fmellish]

That's a bummer about six-line wrasses and fairy wrasses not being compatible, I'd really like to add a fairy wrasse.

What other fish are as exquisite as the fairy wrasses but compatible with my fish list?

Thanks
Josh

 

[finsurgeon]

I bet you'd be fine if you can catch the 6 Line and QT or sump him til the fairy wrass gets established and eats. Or take the 6 Line to the LFS and trade him for another that arrives after the fairy wrass. I took a 4 Line back to the store I'd had 4 or 5 months - He was fine until he became accustomed to his surroundings, and then mostly picked on the smaller new arrivals. I noticed he was bought and returned to the store a couple more times after that, too. He had not picked on the fairies that arrived around the same time as him and acclimated concurrently.

 

[Brad Black]

Hey-here's a new one for you: How about putting a six-line in a 100 reef with a banded pipefish? Can't seem to find anything on this. Also have chromis, lawnmower blenny and solomon is. damsel.