Lifespan of Sixline Wrasse?
 

I had a beautiful 3" sixline wrasse that was 3 years old and just died last night. He ate like a pig, he didn't have any symptoms of being sick, wasn't bulley by anyone, water quality is fine-all of the other fish and coral are fine.

I heard that sixlines live 2 years. Is this true? I have a 120 gallon tank and I can't imagine why such a robust fish passed away.

A local reefer here in halifax has had one for at least five years... I would think that two years would be a very short life span for such a fish, but i could be wrong. What are your water params?

Water Parameters:

Sal:1.025
Temp: 80-82
pH: 8.2
Amm: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 10

I did notice that the night he died, he was in a hole (it was larger than him-so he didn't get stuck) in the LR with his head into the corner. He didn't normally sleep in this hole so I thought it was unusual.

I have a small sally lightfoot, too. Could he be the culprit? I have 5 other fish that are smaller than the wrasse, so if was the sally lightfoot why would he go for the biggest smaller fish? Just a thought.

Old thread, same question. :)

What's the longest some of you have had sixline wrasses?
My was full grown from the store and just disappeared after having it for 2 years.

I had one for about three years. It went missing and I figured something ate it (they are jumpers and boxer dogs eat ANYTHING off the floor). I ended up finding it a few days later in the unlit skimmer section of my fuge. I scooped it up and put it back and it lived another year and then died. I am guessing it died naturally but a hermit was busy eating its eyes when I found it in the morning. Nothing was aggressive enough to kill it, nothing seemed off as far as water quality, and nothing else died. So four years was my best at keeping one alive…
It was a beautiful fish, very active and fun to watch. I’d get another one but my clownfish is so territorial now I'd have to move her to a Q tank if I wanted to add anything else... and I'm fine with just the three fish I have now. I’m also too lazy to try and catch the clown.

Thanks, and welcome to RC.

I've had mine for over 6 years. It's one of my original inhabitants from my old 60G.

I understand this is a very old thread, but I found it interesting that my lfs got in a 16 year old six line yesterday. He is very large and has somewhat of a grumpy old man appearance and demeanor

The couple that I owned both went rouge on me after a couple of years and killed off a few of their tank mates before I could capture them. I'm not sure long they live but my experience has been they get more aggressive with age. I don't think I would want to meet a 16 year old 6 line in a dark alley...

I had one about 3.5 years as well. He was very healthy until the day he died. He would also not tolerate anything in the tank his size or smaller.

Had one in my tank for 8 years now but he has developed a kind of old tired look and I wonder, is he getting really old? I am guessing he was a year or two old when I bought him but I`m not sure.

I had my sixline for about 2 years but I would guess he was older than that because about 6 months before he died, he just began to look old and then disappeared. Kind of sad actually.