Wrasse dead - to replace or not?

Thatmeganchickk · Jan 31, 2020

I’m new to this hobby so sorry if there are some obvious things I don’t yet know!
I noticed last night that my six line wrasse was MIA. I saw him that morning and he can be pretty unsociable at times so I wasn’t 100% sure but I still haven’t seen him and I’ve feed my fish the past two nights, so I think it’s safe to assume he’s gone. I checked the no3 level last night (I don’t have a test for ammonia) and it was fine so I think the tank is ok.
I also noticed my cat shark (1 month out of the egg, about 6 inches long) was more out in the open and interacting (possibly annoying/being annoyed by) with my clarkii clownfish. He also was actually swimming around to eat instead of staying at the bottom and just eating whatever floated into his area. So maybe the wrasse was a secret jerk and now my shark feels more welcome?
Whatever the case may be, the shark has been trying to eat my crabs for the past 20 minutes (seems to have stopped after being fed) and I think the collinista snails have somehow made 100 babies overnight. I know the six lines are supposed to help keep the snails at a limited population but did he also tell my shark not to eat the CUC? Or did my shark just discover he likes eating?
I guess my main question here is this: should I get another six line?
I would prefer to get another clown and have a breeding pair (it’s just the one clown, one baby cat shark, and about a dozen crabs, an elephant slug, and some snails in a 75 gallon tank with tons of live rock covered in Kenya trees) but I want the snails to be monitored...
I’m going to trade in my cat shark when he out grows the tank but could he potentially have killed the wrasse? He’s so small so I don’t think he could but I’m a beginner so ‍

Thanks in advance for your insight!

fishguy242 · Jan 31, 2020

hi possibility cat ate sleeping wrasse,get a clarki a little bigger than yours so yours does not kill,and will distract from picking on cat imo ,have fun

AquaholicAquariums · Jan 31, 2020

Doubt the shark killed the wrasse, crabs took care of it most likely. Those sharks are harmless. But won’t do good in a 75 that has tons of live rock and can hurt itself very easy

fishguy242 · Jan 31, 2020

agree needs more room did not even see the pics, but also she stated month out of egg once the bump is gone and they start eating ,come across a slimy sleeping wrasse good possibility i have seen a 14" sucking in my 6" melanarus head first with my own eyes not an aggresive shark,but a catfish will eat a bluegill if put in front of his face

Thatmeganchickk · Jan 31, 2020

Thanks for the feedback!
I stacked up the live rock so the shark has plenty of tunnels to travel through while staying in the sand. I haven’t seen him have any issues navigating even when he decides to swim around mid level. I know that he will eventually outgrow my tank which is why I’m going to trade him in at that point for either another shark egg or a different fish. He seems to be leaving my crabs alone now.
Any ideas on why the wrasse died? Nothing seems off with the parameters and all the other inhabitants are very active and eating well so it seems to have been an isolated thing.
I’ll try to attache a photo of the shark later today but I really don’t see how he could have eaten the wrasse... the wrasse was too big to fit in his mouth let alone his stomach.
I’ll look into getting a clarki next week or the week after just to make sure the tank is stable before adding someone new (Id quarantine). But I’m still wondering - what will happen with the snails? My LFS guy thinks all snails are bad and will just tell me to remove them from my tank, it I would like other opinions if possible

fishguy242 · Jan 31, 2020

good to hear a little more room,need snails,best are margarita and trocus, pics of shark would be awesome, look at my thread PRE SUPER SUNDAY SHOWCASE,leave a pic or two there thanks

fishguy242 · Jan 31, 2020

lots of cool pics there

jsvand5 · Jan 31, 2020

If it did die just count yourself lucky. Six line wrasses are the worst.

old salt reefer · Jan 31, 2020

What, no pictures of the shark OP?

AquaholicAquariums · Jan 31, 2020

Here’s a small banded I’m fattening up for a friend and a moorish idol getting ready to move into copper QT

Thatmeganchickk · Jan 31, 2020

fishguy242 said:
good to hear a little more room,need snails,best are margarita and trocus, pics of shark would be awesome, look at my thread PRE SUPER SUNDAY SHOWCASE,leave a pic or two there thanks

I’ll take some tonight when he isn’t under one of the tunnels!

jsvand5 said:
If it did die just count yourself lucky. Six line wrasses are the worst.

I was told they can make introducing new fish difficult but he never tried anything with my shark so I didn’t mind him. He was pretty shy though so I’m glad my entertainer is still around!

tnw50cal said:
What, no pictures of the shark OP?

Tonight! Promise!

El_Guapo13 · Jan 31, 2020

Thatmeganchickk · Jan 31, 2020

In the meantime, here are photos from when I hatched him on Christmas!

fishguy242 · Jan 31, 2020

cool pics

PPPPPP42 · Jan 31, 2020

Either way I firmly feel clowns belong in pairs. Mine are always swimming together and I've been told they get weird if kept singly.
So the question really is do you want a wrasse in addition to the 2nd clownfish.

I wouldn't be surprised if "about a dozen crabs" could take apart a dead wrasse in one sitting. But I also wouldn't be surprised to find a dead wrasse somewhere behind all the rock work you mentioned. Fish having issues sometime do an amazing job of cramming themselves behind or under things, usually to die.
Also I don't know exactly what your tank is like but I have already had to fish one of my azure damsels (still healthy) out of the corner overflow on my 75 gallon and the only opening to get in there would be an impossibly small crack around the pipe spraying back into the tank. Luckily he didn't make it down the pipe into the sump.
Might want to check similar places on yours, or even the floor behind the tank if its not a 100% sealed lid on the tank.

Just to double check, with no ammonia checker how have you been following the stages of tank cycling? Your tank did properly finish cycling after setup right? I guess you don't really need to test to verify it went to zero since other visible things happen but its nice to be certain.

It would be a good idea to list the numbers for the last time you checked for every test you are capable of doing.

Thatmeganchickk · Feb 1, 2020

I got my tank already established with the clown and wrasse. The wrasse used to jump into the section (sorry, I don’t know technical terms) and end up in the socks but he’s nowhere to be found and the previous owners put up a netting to keep him from doing that so I don’t even think he could have if he wanted to.
The levels are : phosphate 0.25mg/L (going to do a water change); 10•dKH; calcium 420mg/L; and nitrate 0mg/L

Medici · Feb 1, 2020

New to the hobby and started with a banded cat shark? I’ve been wanting one my entire life but knew I needed at least 200-300 gallons and more experience. Current 90 gallon going on 4 years for practice. Can’t say I agree with your thought process

Thatmeganchickk · Feb 1, 2020

Medici said:
New to the hobby and started with a banded cat shark? I’ve been wanting one my entire life but knew I needed at least 200-300 gallons and more experience. Current 90 gallon going on 4 years for practice. Can’t say I agree with your thought process

Actually, I started with the wrasse and the clownfish and waited three months to get used to measuring everything and maintenance before getting a shark egg that I hatched a month later. I’d appreciate if any criticism going forward was at least constructive. This is a hobby that a lot of people enjoy and it would be very unfortunate if you shamed people out of it when they are at least trying to ask for help when they need it.