Cleaner wrasse being weird?

ILikeFish! · Oct 23, 2023

A couple of times I've seen my cleaner wrasse swimming normally then all of a sudden he darts around the tank then dive Bombs the sand a couple of times then goes back to normal, He was also having like a white/brown stringy poop off and on for about a week or two but is back to normal poop now. he looks completely healthy and has a normal appetite so he's been confusing me. i got the fish from dr reef so it has gone through a complete quarantine process and I haven’t added any fish that weren’t quarantined so i don't know how he would have gotten something. I have had the fish for almost a year and I've just started noticing these things this month so i don't know whats going on. could all of this be normal behavior or is there something wrong?

Jay Hemdal · Oct 31, 2023

ILikeFish! said:
I thought cleaner wrasse weren’t prone to flukes?

No - they get flukes. They just don't get Neobenedenia flukes very often, but that is just one species.

The old joke is, "who cleans the cleaner?"

Jay

ILikeFish! · Oct 31, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
No - they get flukes. They just don't get Neobenedenia flukes very often, but that is just one species.

The old joke is, "who cleans the cleaner?"

Jay

What should i do? And is there anything that can cause stringy poop and this scratching or are they unrelated?

Jay Hemdal · Oct 31, 2023

ILikeFish! said:
What should i do? And is there anything that can cause stringy poop and this scratching or are they unrelated?

I don’t see how they would be related. Try feeding frozen brine for a bit to see if the feces clear out. Then, you’ll need to decide if the scratching is serious enough to try a Prazipro treatment.

Jay

ILikeFish! · Oct 31, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I don’t see how they would be related. Try feeding frozen brine for a bit to see if the feces clear out. Then, you’ll need to decide if the scratching is serious enough to try a Prazipro treatment.

Jay

What would be serious? He does it like 2-3 times about 3 times a day, Is that serious?

Jay Hemdal · Nov 1, 2023

ILikeFish! said:
What would be serious? He does it like 2-3 times about 3 times a day, Is that serious?

Depends on how much time you spend observing the tank (grin). I'd say overall, that isn't too often, but if you only look at the fish two or three times a day and it is doing that each time, that could be serious.

I guess what I was getting at is if the wrasse starts scratching to the point of distraction, then you could try a Prazipro treatment in the tank. You would dose it 2x, 8 days apart with really good aeration and a 25% water change prior to the second addition.

Jay