Coris wrasse, instead of sixline, for frag tank? (pest control: all wrasse created equal?)

smartwater101

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Other than making sure it has some sand, would a Coris wrasse do as much pest control as a sixline? I hate my sixline. Hes a typical jerk and I really love the look of green coris.

Thoughts?
 

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What size of tank and what do you meanby a green coris, i assume the halichoeres species which is confusingly referred to as a coris,but im just checking
 
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halichoeres

Yup.

Its a 45 gallon 45" long frag tank.


lg-39346-green-wrasse.jpg
 

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Red coris is one of the most beautiful fish in the hobby imo, but mine annihilated inverts. No crab, shrimp or snail was safe.
 

PanchoG

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Yellow Coris are great tank mates and good pest control fish. I have had both, I will never buy another six lines and now I just bought my second Coris and I am happy with him.
 
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smartwater101

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Red coris is one of the most beautiful fish in the hobby imo, but mine annihilated inverts. No crab, shrimp or snail was safe.
Coris are great tank mates and good pest control fish. I have had both, I will never buy another six lines and now I just bought my second Coris and I am happy with him.



I have the green dude in my display and he is a model citizen. Really cool/peaceful fish. I'm just not sure if all wrasse do the same amount of work.
 
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ZachR32

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Yellow coris are my favorite for pest control. The greens get big and the reds get even bigger
 

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Yea either of those should be fine in your g
Frag tank, however i may be concnerned with the green guy outgrowing it but he should be fine, however if u want rid of the sixline from your display hed be fine in too. Wrasses from halichoeres, macropharyngodon, anampses and pseudojuloides are all pretty good at pest control with halichoeres being the easiest to keep but just a risk of eating other inverts like crabs and shrimp, not to forget pseudocheilinops and wetmorella for smaller tanks. Coris (genus) are good too but are rather unsuitable for the peaceful reef tank normally. Im probably forgetting a few of the wrasses genus
 
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Yea either of those should be fine in your g
Frag tank, however i may be concnerned with the green guy outgrowing it but he should be fine, however if u want rid of the sixline from your display hed be fine in too. Wrasses from halichoeres, macropharyngodon, anampses and pseudojuloides are all pretty good at pest control with halichoeres being the easiest to keep but just a risk of eating other inverts like crabs and shrimp, not to forget pseudocheilinops and wetmorella for smaller tanks. Coris (genus) are good too but are rather unsuitable for the peaceful reef tank normally. Im probably forgetting a few of the wrasses genus

The sixline is currently in the frag tank. No way I'd allow him in the DT lol but I'm going to banish him back to the fish store at some point. Just trying to decide what to replace him with. I may go yellow if they stay smaller.

I do worry about attacking inverts. Thankfully my green Halichoeres and Mystery Wrasse haven't done anything like that. (Not even to the tiny bumblebee shrimp I keep.) Fingers crossed they stay that chill.
 

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The sixline is currently in the frag tank. No way I'd allow him in the DT lol but I'm going to banish him back to the fish store at some point. Just trying to decide what to replace him with. I may go yellow if they stay smaller.

I do worry about attacking inverts. Thankfully my green Halichoeres and Mystery Wrasse haven't done anything like that. (Not even to the tiny bumblebee shrimp I keep.) Fingers crossed they stay that chill.
Yellows are good at pest control. However, if your frag tank isn’t covered, it will definitely jump out.
 
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I'll probably cover it. It will also have a eurobrace and as far as I've seen, outside of dart/fire fish, most fish seem to swim up the side of the tank and out, so the brace should stop him. That said, I'll likely cover just to be safe.
 

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My six lines was a total disaster, he bullied all the other fish even if they were larger. It added to much stress to the tank. Totally opposite to the yellow coris.
 

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Other than making sure it has some sand, would a Coris wrasse do as much pest control as a sixline? I hate my sixline. Hes a typical jerk and I really love the look of green coris.

Thoughts?

Green Coris turn pretty nasty as they mature. It's generally the Yellow Coris (actually a Halichoeres Wrasse) that is recommended.
 

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Green Coris turn pretty nasty as they mature. It's generally the Yellow Coris (actually a Halichoeres Wrasse) that is recommended.
Both of these are halichoeres spp. The green h. chloropterus does get considerably larger (a few inches bigger) and more dull in color as it grows.

Both really should be housed in tanks with 2" of sand as they bury at night. Both will eventually jump without a lid. Both are great pest control and both will take out ornamental shrimp, some crabs, and some snails. My favorite genus of fish.
 

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How is your frag tank setup? If it's frags on rocks then a halichoeres chrysus would be good, if it's eggcrate with frags then I personal think sixlines are better as they can get into tighter gaps.
If you only want one fish then it would be a sixline for me but if you want a bigger selection you could get a chrysus and pink streak comfortably enough as the chrysus won't limit additions much. A chrysus and leucoxanthus would be good as they are normally fine together and the added competition helps keep pests at bay.

I'd personally avoid the chloropterus as they fade massively as they mature and can turn into real monsters much worse than the average sixline.
 
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How is your frag tank setup?

Right now its just a 2.5' x 2.5' section of my sump with a couple racks. The 45" will also be all racks at different levels w/ a small container of sand for the wrasse. Probably very few rocks. I have a tiny baby foxface, which the sixline bullies from time to time, but the molly is his real target of terror. And once I have the larger tank set up, I'd like to get more mollies since they are so good at cleaning.

My Mystery wrasse, currently in the 160, has been great. No picking at inverts, even the small bumblebee shrimp and pederson cleaners. But I do worry he might grow old/mean and I like a lot of small critters in a big tank. I may just keep him for the frag tank instead of the display. Otherwise a yellow crysus sounds like the way to go. Either way, mr. sixline will be banished.
Capture2.JPG


Capture.JPG
 
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U

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Few of the coral breeding programs have a set fish list for controlling algae and pests which is worth noting.

Yellow tang
Convict tang
Foxface Rabbit - which I found odd since mine doesn't eat anything but what I feed manually
Red Leg Hermits
Trochus snails
Mespilia globulus urchins
Copperband butterfly
Halichoeres leucoxanthus, commonly called the Canarytop wrasse (which is what I think you are asking about)

I've seen this list replicated across a few other aquaculture farms substituing the Canarytop with six line and the yellow for a scopus.
 
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smartwater101

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Few of the coral breeding programs have a set fish list for controlling algae and pests which is worth noting.

Yellow tang
Convict tang
Foxface Rabbit - which I found odd since mine doesn't eat anything but what I feed manually
Red Leg Hermits
Trochus snails
Mespilia globulus urchins
Copperband butterfly
Halichoeres leucoxanthus, commonly called the Canarytop wrasse (which is what I think you are asking about)

I've seen this list replicated across a few other aquaculture farms substituing the Canarytop with six line and the yellow for a scopus.

Thats a great list, thanks! Thats odd your foxface isn't more helpful. They've always been #1 on my list in terms of absolutely bulldozing algae, way more than tangs or any inverts. Urchins are a close second for me. But they also knock everything over lol
 

acer

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Not sure which genus, or the Latin name. But my Meloranus has been darn good as a tank mate- no bullying. However, not the greatest at pests control as I have pyramidal snails all over my tank.
 
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