Six line or Mandrin

Yes they really are

 

Woohoo! New fish are always fun. I still wanna know just because, how old is your tank?

 

I had a sixline before, and like Triggerfish said, they get pretty agressive. Mine was very peaceful and doing great until one day it did a Dr. Jekel/Mr. Hyde on me. She started chasing everything around and nipping at anything that got in its path. I had to remove it, and believe me, that wasn't fun.

I later got a mandarin that did well for me. They say they only eat pods, but I had mine eating frozen mysis too. Depending on which color you get, the green mandarin is easier to train onto frozen foods than the psychadelic mandarin is.

If it was me, and your tank is well established with pods, I'd go with the mandarin from personal experience. They're calm and add amazing color!

Good luck with the decision.

 

I have had 2 manderins now and they are tough to keep I have a fuge and have a good pod population and I have lost both of them. I have 3 6 lines and they have been in the tank almost 2 year with no issues. I personally would take them out if can but cant they dont do bad but they are just there. I would shoot for anything other then either of them.

 

I would guess the reason you lost both mandarins is because of your 3 six lines.

Mandarins and six lines eat about the same things, namely pods. Six lines eat prepared food very readily, but that doesnt mean they don't eat pods off of the rock. Your six lines most likely consumed the mandarin food population. The six lines don't need pods because of their willingness to eat many other varieties of food.

 

I love my sixline, but can be aggresive towards some fish. Especially Royal Grammas.

 

My six lines eat everything from live brine to mysis to seaweed. I have a huge pod population and I will tell you they are different fish. the pods dimminish when the manderin enters the tank even though I have a huge fuge and its still not enough.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm finding it extremely hard to believe that a two year old, 220 gallon tank, with a large fuge and 350lbs of rock has difficulty supporting a mandarin because of the pod population. What other fish are in it? If it isn't other fish eating the pods, thus taking away the mandarin's food source, then it's not the pods at all. Something else must be out of whack.

And my six line eats mysis, brine, krill, flake, bristle worms, amphipods, copepods, and more. If you don't have other pod eating fish in the tank, I blame it on the six lines.

I know 3reefers who have successfully kept a mandarin in a 40 gallon reef by breeding his own pods. My friend at school (not on 3reef) is doing the same in a 29 gallon. Like I said, I highly doubt an established 220 with 350lbs of live rock has any difficulty keeping a mandarin. Some other fish or something has to be eating the pods.

 

+1 Agreed

 

fwiw i have an 8 line wrasse with a manderin with no problems ....both eat pods and meaty foods though.