My Cleaner Wrasse is Broken :(

[roibenami]

It looks like he has a broken back or something... He swims fine, he eats fine, he harasses my other fish just fine... But he's been like that for 4 days now! What do you guys think?

 

[evolved]

Yes, that's a spinal injury. It does appear he still has the ability to control the caudal as you stated, so he likely can still live a long life.

 

[roibenami]

Yes, that's a spinal injury. It does appear he still has the ability to control the caudal as you stated, so he likely can still live a long life.

So that means he'll stay like that? This is very wierd because a few months ago it happened to him but after a day he just shook it off... Thought he pulled a mussle or something...

Anyway he will always have a home in my tank... Crooked or not.. lol

 

[Katrina71]

I've had freshwater fish get back to normal and some that didn't.

 

[evolved]

So that means he'll stay like that? This is very wierd because a few months ago it happened to him but after a day he just shook it off... Thought he pulled a mussle or something...

Anyway he will always have a home in my tank... Crooked or not.. lol

I've had freshwater fish get back to normal and some that didn't.

Right; sometimes they heal fine and other times not. ;Meh

 

[ndrwater]

Seen that before. As long as they are eating, I wouldn't stress it. Similar note, my LFS has a blue tang that has a tail that points straight up.. Looks like the feather in a fez.
Perfectly happy, eats like a champ and growing..

 

[Katrina71]

Right; sometimes they heal fine and other times not. ;Meh

Mine always lived a long time. Pretty amazing the things that nature can overcome.

 

[roibenami]

Just thought i'd give an update... The cleaner wrasse seems to be fine now... just took him a few days...

 

[neupane00]

great news.. btw. has anyone been able to keep cleaner wrasse successfully in captivity ? seems like they like 6 months to 1 year .. or is it just my experience ?

 

[Reefer1978]

I always figured that's just how long they live....

 

[tj w]

I've had mine for 22 months now, I've seen other people have them for 5 years though.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

I had my last one for 2 years before it jumped. They always find the cracks. I think it's best if you have larger fish for them to be able to pick at.

 

[roibenami]

I've had mine for 5-6 months now... He eats everything (flakes, pellets, nori, frozen...). He's always cleaning my hand when it's in the tank....

The funny thing is that because I don't have a lot of big fish the wrasse cleans the smaller fish as well...

The diamond goby calls the wrasse by swimming up to the water column and opens his mouth huge... The bicolor blenny is the same and the wrasse really likes to swim with the melanurus wrasse (like he's attaching to a shark lol)

Funny thing is, the melanurus wrasse which never cleans anyone... Likes to clean my copperband butterfly sometimes... But only him...

I'm not sure about the lifespan but I'm sure in the wild it's far more than 6 months to a year...