Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia
| Difficulty | Low |
| Minimum Tank Size | 30 Gallons |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Water Parameters | 72-78 F, pH 8-8.4, Salinity 1.020-1.025 |
| Aggression | Semi-Aggressive |
| Size | 3" |
The Four Stripe Wrasse, cousin to the Six Line Wrasse, is a more colorful, smaller fish with less attitude. They have a large, white chin, making them easily distinguishable from other wrasse. They bring a lot of personality to the tank as they quickly dart around, scouring the rocks for any parasites, pods or pests they can find.
They are peaceful when young and somewhat aggressive after they reach maturity. You will always want to add the wrasse to the tank last, as they will bully most new fish, even if they are larger than the wrasse.
Tank Specific Need
The Four Line Wrasse is not a demanding fish. They do well in tanks over 30 gallons in size with plenty of horizontal swimming space. They also love to search rocks for food and hid in crevices.
Unlike the Six Line Wrasse, the Four Line Wrasse will spend most of its time at the bottom of the tank or around live rocks. In the wild they will generally go no higher than a foot off of the substrate.
Tank Mates to Avoid
The Four Line Wrasse should not be kept with any other wrasse, timid fish, slow eating fish or fish who depend on copepods. The four line becomes more aggressive when mature, but not to the point that the six line does. It may harass timid fish, but it should not go after others that are as big or bigger than itself.
This wrasse is an exceptional hunter, cleaning out live rocks and making life difficult for fish who depend upon microorganisms to survive. This includes mandarins, many gobies, pipefish and sea horses.
Finally poorly protected crustaceans like nassarius snails, both small and large shrimps and copepods. Wrasse will also eat worms, including featherdusters.
Diet & Feeding
The Four Line Wrasse will eat prepared foods, both flakes and pellets. They are excellent hunters and are sure to eat their fill after becoming acquainted with the new tank. They also enjoy mysis shrimp and brine shrimp. Remember, brine shrimp are very low in nutrition and should only be used as food when they are enriched or gut loaded.
In addition to any feedings the Four Line Wrasse will constantly search the tank for any parasites, pods or worms. This means they will keep the tank clean of pods, eggs, flat worms, and often bristle worms. You will need a refugium if you plan on keeping a pod population going in the tank.
Four Line Wrasse should be fed twice a day, but can get by with a large, once a day feeding. By feeding them twice a day you can use less food over all while ensuring they get more of the food you put into the tank. This keeps them and the tank healthier.
Breeding & Sexing
Although the Four Line Wrasse has been known to spawn in the aquarium, they have not been successfully raised in the home aquarium. The parent fish do not look after their eggs.
Males have been noticed to be much more colorful during the mating dance and generally larger than females. With these being the only ways to sex a four line, it is extremely difficult to form a mated pair without relying on luck, as they are quick to be hostile towards other wrasse.
