Cleaner wrasse

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hi guys, damn i lost another fish, this time a cleaner wrasse, it was looking very happy, trying to pick stuff off my other fish, i even saw it eating some of the coral frenzy, now it's dead as a dodo after 4 days...

i just did some googling on it & it looks like in general it's a difficult fish to keep alive!?!?

what's your experiences with keeping a cleaner wrasse?

ps. i did only have 1 in my tank

thanks!
ant
 
Notoriously known as one of the fish that shouldn't be imported by the LFS's, they have a very dismal survival rate in captivity, along the lines of the Moorish Idol. There are exceptions where reefers have been successful with these fish but in general, stay away from them, waste of money as they are 99% guaranteed to die in our tanks.
 
thanks viper, i'll try research a bit before my next buy, i wish the LFS dude warned me :(

i wish people just leave these guys in the ocean where they belong!!!
 
yip, i also had a few, they seemed to last only 3 months in my tank, i don' think that they get all their nutrition they need from our tanks and feeding alone.
 
I got my cleaner wrasse as my second fish just after setting my new tank up, if I think back, I knew nothing compared to what I know now and saying that, I've never had a single worry about it, put him in and forgot about him, literally. Maybe just lucky?

what I would do is get one that you have seen eating and continue on the same food and change over slowly if need be.

my 2c
 
Mine only lasted 2months... Second one 2 and a half months so i gave up on them, done some reading and thay say should not be kept in house aquarium
 
wow guys this is one weird fish, it lay on it's side in a spot in my tank where i couldn't reach it to throw it out, so i left it there hoping the hermits will dispose of him, it is now swimming merrily munching on coral frenzy!? i thought it was dead...... *touch wood* i hope it will last a bit longer...
 
i got mines as a juvenille,about 2cm long when i caught him.doing well,and he was one of the first additions to my tank.he is now +- 1.5 years old and still going strong.probably the local guys are stronger than the imported cleaners?
 
Lighty, how long have you had your cleaner for? What size is your tank, and how many other fish do you have?


I've had my tank now about 9 months, so he must be there almost 8 months now... I've got a 180L tank with just internal filter and a crappy R200 Jebo skimmer.... don't feed him anything other than small pellets, tank stocked with 2 clowns, regal tang, yellow tang, middas blenny, coral beauty, longnose hawkfish, 4 cromis.
 
I have one thats about 1 1/2 years old :p - it eats Omega One flakes with my other fish, so its strange if everyone keeps complaining abot them
 
Hey guys - Mekaeel - I definitely think that the locally caught specimens are much stronger than the imported one's. Also - we do not always know what is used and how they caught, overseas (at the islands).....

Punk - I had one - and only one - which lasted me just about 2 months as well before it died. I never got another one. I know that they sleep like that - lie down or squeeze into funny holes/locations, where they feel safe.... Then, when they wake up they swim all over....

I hope yours survives.... I really do.
 
Wrasse in sump

Any idea, how to get a cleaner wrasse out of the return chamber in a sump, without have to take out all the pumps and piping ?
 
what i know and experienced is that for the first 5 months they are great, then they find a crevice in your LR and just sit there and die ???
why I dont know?
 
Any idea, how to get a cleaner wrasse out of the return chamber in a sump, without have to take out all the pumps and piping ?
:lol: Did he go for a supertube ride? If you got no space to get a couple of small nets in there then I'm afraid you're stuck with doing it the hard way.
 
Well im not sure how far in he is? But do what a vascular surgeon would do lol. Buy a long Foleys catheter from the pharmacy, slip it throug the pipe, when u past the fish, inflate the balloon and pull the fish out like a piece of cholesterol. If its not long enough then attach it to air line tubing, and use a guide wire to push through?
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