Sixline gone psycho

[reefbound]

Everything in my tank was well until last night when I witnessed a brutal attack by the Sixline on my poor Mandarin.
Right now the Mandarin is holed up behind the bubble diffuser and the Sixline has taken over that side of the tank. Is there anything I can do to help this stop before the Mandarin get beaten... Right now his tail is split in two and his long fin on his back is broke in two (the long spire that males have)... This Mandarin is the koolest in the tank and even eats pellet food.

 

[xkenneth]

Wow that's amazing that you've gotten him to eat pellet food. But one thing you could do is perhaps add some more LR or adjust yours around so the Mandarin has more hiding places. How big is the tank? Are you sure there is enough room for the fish to have ample territory? Six lines seem to be somewhat unpredictable as i've seen the cohabitate and not with many different species.

 

[reefbound]

Wow that's amazing that you've gotten him to eat pellet food. But one thing you could do is perhaps add some more LR or adjust yours around so the Mandarin has more hiding places. How big is the tank? Are you sure there is enough room for the fish to have ample territory? Six lines seem to be somewhat unpredictable as i've seen the cohabitate and not with many different species.

The tank is a 75 gallon (hit the my info button) the Mandarin has been in the tank for six months and the Sixline about three, I did adjust a few rocks and the Sixline has not gone over to that side yet... I had nothing to do with this Mandarin eating pellet,he started that on his own...Thankfully... Adding more liverock is somthing I dont want to do right now because I dont want to take from the ocean,Im actually going to try the DIY way of making rock...much more cost efficient and with the 106 lbs I have now, seeding the DIY rock will not be an issue...although the long cure time is the only down fall that I can see.

 

[ellisz]

I wanted to add a sixline to my 75 gal with a yr old mandarin but the more I read, it looks like they eventually fight it out. The mandarin will probably lose. They compete for the same food source so they will see each other as competition. It probably took a few months for the sixline to get acustomed to the tank.

Even though the mandarin is eating pellets, its main food source will be pods. That is just instinct. The sixline is the same way. My sixline eats mush but I have decided to not add it to my display. He has his own system at this point...

Not saying it won't work but the odds are against it.

HTH

 

[reefbound]

I rearranged some of the rock on the left side of the tank and it seems that the Mandarin has reclaimed his property and the Sixline has retreated for now... I may have unwittingly added to the aggression,I was thinking how I would throw extra pellet in that corner for the Mandarin and maybe the Sixline wanted in on the goodies... So now I also scatter the pellet all around,we will see if that helps. For now the attacks have stopped.