Pseudocheilinus hexataenia

(sixline wrasse)

The six-line wrasse is Pseudocheilinus hexataenia.  Below is a link to a short infopage on them http://www.poseidonsrealm.com/sixline.htm Did some more reading today and unfortunately found out that the sixline is going to likely pester any dartfish I would get.  I had previously wanted to put a purple firefish in there with him but am reconsidering that now.  I think I am going to play it as safe as I can: just get my centropyge dwarf angelfish and let that be it.  Total of 3 residents for my 55g: sixline wrasse, flameback angel, and small maroon clown.  That should keep the bio load light and hopefully keep aggression to a minimum since all 3 of those specimens are known to be mean little buggers if the mood strikes them. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this wrasse was to photograph.  He held still much better than my africans do.  Plus, the light is brighter in my marine tank due to the power compacts which also help keep exposure time down a bit when not using a flash. The wrasse took some food last night (5-6 pieces of brine shrimp) and I am hoping he will continue to do well.  I will be feeding him at least once a day for this week and then eventually twice each day.  I want to give him some time to get used to the tank before I pick up with the feeding schedule though.  Plus, my tank is still quite young by marine standards and I want to keep uneaten food down to a minimum. You'll notice I no longer have a glass top - replaced it with eggcrate in order to take care of a temperature fluctuation problem.  Worked great..

Photos and text by Owen Hoffman