Highly Underrated Fish - The Pink Lined Rainbow Coris

Coris Wrasses are an interesting group. Nearly all are beautiful, active and hardy fish with interesting behavior and a penchant for eating. Given enough space (some get quite large), nearly all of them will adapt well to captive conditions. If you've spent any time in your Local Fish Store (LFS) or online shopping for fish, you have certainly come across a few species of Coris. One you may not have come across is the Pink Lined Rainbow Coris Wrasse; let us rectify that unfortunate situation today.

This fish is also known as the Spotfin Coris or Pale Barred Coris Wrasse. All Coris wrasses are often referred to as Rainbow Wrasses, and so sometimes you'll see any of the names given to it end in Rainbow (for example, Spotfin Rainbow Wrasse, or Pink Lined Rainbow Wrasse). As with any fish, when you want to be sure of what it is, use the scientific name; in this case, Coris dorsomacula.

As far as fish in the Coris genus, this is one of the best for being size appropriate. They can technically get up to almost 15 inches long, but they reach maturity at closer to seven inches and will grow very slowly after that point. For comparison, some wrasses in this genus can get north of two feet long! You could keep a single Coris dorsomacula in a tank as small as 75 gallons pretty comfortably for a long time, though 100 to 125 gallons would probably be a better fit for the lifetime of the fish. This tank should offer a nice soft sand bed, and at least an inch or two of it. The Pink Lined Coris will hide and sleep beneath the sand (smaller fish are fine with an inch or so, but you do want enough to fully cover the fish when they dive in, so more will be needed as they get bigger). They'll appreciate plenty of rockwork, but this is mostly for hunting around and swimming through. The tank should be covered as they can jump with the best of fish. Flow should be strong and so should filtration because these guys will stir up plenty of dust diving into the sand and will also make a mess at mealtime.

Coris dorsomacula is a very hardy fish that generally isn't going to be picky about water chemistry or even quality to a degree. A specific gravity of anywhere between 1.020 and 1.026 will be fine, as will a pH anywhere between 7.8 and 8.4. Keep your water ammonia and nitrite free and nitrates under 20ppm. Most juvenile Pink Lined Coris are collected in very shallow water (less than 20 feet) and as a result are fairly used to regular fluctuations in temperature. We suggest keeping them in a tank that stays between 72- and 78-degrees Fahrenheit. Larger fish are usually collected from somewhat deeper water, but almost always less than 90 feet.

One of the great things about Pink Lined Coris is that they'll eat just about anything. One of the not-so-great things about pretty much any Coris is that their wild diet is mostly made up of things like hermit crabs and snails, which they hunt with tenacity and eat with the relish of Hannibal Lecter. In general, larger snails will fare better than smaller hermit crabs. Inverts of this kind generally have fairly short life spans regardless, and in some ways, it is better to have them get eaten before they die, then have them die and cause a nutrient spike. The point here is you are going to replace them somewhat more often that you would have otherwise.

Regardless of their penchant for consuming all the natural prey items you've so thoughtfully provided, you're going to need to supplement the Pink Lined Coris' diet above and beyond the hermits, snails and shrimp. They do great on Gamma Krill, Mussel, Chopped Prawn, Mysis and Bloodworms. We feed them a mix of these foods here. They almost universally accept high quality pellets like Nutramar Complete very quickly. Here we feed them twice a day, and this is a totally acceptable schedule for the home aquarist as well; more feedings would be fine but reduce the amount of food per feeding. If you have the dreaded vermetid snails and don't want them anymore (as most don't), you could be looking at your savior fish right here. They will also consume smaller bristleworms from your sand bed and a variety of nuisance inverts from the aquarium.

Your Pink Lined Coris will mostly ignore other fish and corals in your tank. I say mostly because they will pick up and move small rocks while looking for food (sometimes even swimming around with the rock.) If that rock happens to have a coral on it, it probably doesn't go well for the coral so glue those down. They aren't going to bother most fish, unless you have a full terminal male and try to add another one. Smaller fish that appear very similar might also get harassed. In regard to keeping more than one Pink Line, we suggest either keeping them as individuals or adding a smaller female / juvenile or two with your male and doing it all at once. The dominant male's presence will keep the smaller fish from maturing and prevent aggression between them. Another nice thing about this Coris in particular is that while they will change color as they mature, the adult male is just as beautiful as (maybe even more than) the juveniles. Juveniles are usually a light pink with a thick reddish stripe while the adult males will be deep green with pink or red stripes that fade to spots near the tail section.

If you're looking for a gorgeous and unusual Coris Wrasse that could be kept in just about any type of display, the Pink Lined Coris Wrasse should be on your list. Now, if you have an aquarium that is all hermit crabs, or small snails, this might not be the best choice, but we're guessing that is very few of you. Get your Coris dorsomacula from a quality first source like Quality Marine's retail partners. Feed it well and give it some sand to hide in, and it will be healthy and happy in your tank for years to come.