Safe FOR your reef but not safe FROM your reef?

[mochaclownlover]

I have ZERO experience with cleaner wrasse, but IMO unless you have a large enough tank to give them enough tangs to clean to stay well fed or can get them eating frozen food, they should be left in the ocean.

 

[aedds2]

We have 9 tangs, 2 angels, 1 trigger, 1 fox face, 2 hawks, 2 blennies, a file fish, 2 darts, 3 clowns, 2 other wrasses, 3 chromis, and 1 anthias. Our cleaner wrasse is at work all day cleaning everyone and eating algae. Had him for about almost 2 years and has tripled in size. In a 280 gallon tank.

 

[JediCruz]

My cleaner wrasse is enjoying life in my tank so far. He is a fatty. I see him eating pods, harassing the fish to clean them (sometimes a little too much), eating the frozen brine, even the Hatchery Diet pellets. Oh, and he also goes after the Nori sheets as well. His belly is actually kind of rotund atm. I’ve only had him for 35 days, so far, but he’s doing pretty good. I even posted a pic of him in a post I created to make sure others thought the same. Here it is for you to see.

 

[Twitchy]

I love our cleaner wrasse... he is a pig, eating everything from flake to frozen, to the Nori on the clips. He is constantly trying to get a free ride In our sailfins dorsal fin, as he swims about, and the sailfin doesn't seem to mind.

 

[Drop the Bass]

Or get a cleaner goby, which even bears some resemblance to a cleaner wrasse! Also available captive bred

Captive-Bred Sharknose Goby: Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums

I love cleaner goby! I have a school of them in my tank. Every time I have to put my hand in the tank they swarm and nibble like tiny piranha. They’re hardy and cheap. I can usually pick them up around $15-$20 each.

 

[green behind the ears]

I’ve personally never owned a cleaner wrasse.

Oh dear I’ve just bought one ... I didn’t realise they where tricky to keep , the chap in the lfs told me they are “doctors of the ocean “ for what that’s worth , my midas blenny wants to hurt him/her bad

 

[ReefRondo]

Amazing fish. I will always have one in every tank I have.

 

[Pistol Peet]

I vote no I have had a cleaner wrasse for a couple of years with zero issues and my fish love him not only does he clean them all up but he really eats tdo pellets mysis shrimp and brine...

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

I have one in my DT, ultimately everything should be left in the ocean.

 

[Joshua Kerstetter]

I've had one for over 2 years, did not QT him when I got him. He eats my homemade frozen foods with everybody else. But I constantly see him cleaning the other fish, my larger tangs I've seen him clean inside their mouths and gills. He'll frequently try to clean my arms when I put them in the tank, its innocent and he only get a few arm hairs, he's definitely one of my favorite fish and very social.

 

[vetteguy53081]

1. Should the cleaner wrasse be left in the ocean?

Cant say yes and it thrives well in captivity

2. What is your experience with these wrasse?

Ive had mine 7+ years and its hardy, busy and bothers no one

(center of pic)

 

[Bossman]

I have 4 cleaner wrasse in 4 different tanks ranging from 33 gallons to 88 gallons. These are the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) from Africa. All of them eat prepared foods. My largest 2 even eat pellets. They're beautiful fish spending most of their time swimming around the tank. Although they do attempt to periodically clean the fish, I have not seen any harassment. Contrary to popular belief, they do not need to be populated with numerous large fish to survive.

I also have a cleaner goby who spends most of his time attached to his friend the Cockerel Wrasse. No issues between it and the cleaner wrasse in the same tank.

 

[iron_mike_gt]

I had one for 6 years. Even named it "Alice", after the housekeeper on the Brady Bunch that kept the house and everyone clean. Thinking I'm going to replace it, but then saw this poll / thread. Still thinking about replacing it.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Most people ive seen own those have big tanks. 200+ and have lots of fish. Like 20. The cleaners are a no go for me imo. I will just do cleaner shrimp.
D

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I am of the standing that no fish needs to be left in the ocean. While there are many fish with unbelievably difficult care requirements, with enough dedication and years of experience any fish can be kept in an aquarium.
With that said, I wouldn't recommend a cleaner wrasse as a beginner or even second tank fish. They have tiny stomachs and need to eat all the time, and you can never tell if they are from Africa (eats everything) or Indonesia (eats nothing but ich), meaning getting one can be a massive gamble. I have been blessed with mine for over 3 years now and he is the best eater in my tank. He'll eat nori, pellets, frozen foods of all sizes and of course will occasionally pick ich off of my other fish. That being the case, I still feel like they need to stimulation of larger fish to stay healthy. At one point in time, the only fish I had left after a crash were two clowns, some darts and the same cleaner. He was going ballistic all the time searching for his tangs and nearly went carpet surfing a couple of times until I was finally able to get more tangs, after which his colors returned to normal and he began behaving normally.

I am of the opinion that ocean harvesting is perfectly fine, if done sustainably. Cairns Marine recently came out and gave statistics on how many fish and corals they harvest each year, and the numbers (don't remember the exacts) were nearly the same as if there were a couple more sharks on the reef, meaning there was barely any environmental impact in their methods. of course, fishing methods such as cyanide and needle fishing are very bad for the reefs but action is always being taken against them so I won't cover that here. Aquaculture is always the best option though as the animals are accustomed to aquarium life already so no adjustment is required.

 

[Jpconer]

I have one that was labeled "Maldives Cleaner Wrasse" purchased from LiveAquaria in August 2014 and still going strong. It was the fish I was most worried about when I moved just over a year ago cuz I was afraid of possibly jumping out of a container or being hidden so well that I wouldn't be able to find/catch it for the move. For the simple reason it's very nice to see him(?) pick other fish clean and they are a cool little fish - I doubt I will ever have a tank without one.

 

[BradB]

I've had them a few times and never had long term success.

I feel a fish should be left in the ocean if it is endangered or rare - 100% of fish caught for food do poorly in captivity and what we take for the hobby is tiny by comparison and leads to greater knowledge. Similarly, if the aquarium trade endangers a species or ecosystem by taking a fish, the fish should be left in the ocean, even if it does well in captivity.

This fish is plentiful, but I've heard different things about removing cleaning stations - especially all the cleaning stations in the same area. I'd go by how much damage that does, not how long the fish live.

 

[wilkinss77]

Oh dear I’ve just bought one ... I didn’t realise they where tricky to keep , the chap in the lfs told me they are “doctors of the ocean “ for what that’s worth , my midas blenny wants to hurt him/her bad

They aren't, it's largely a myth spread by the aquatic press in the 90s. Get a fat one that's eating prepared foods in the shop & it will be fine.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I've done a TON of research on this

AFRICAN Cleaner Wrasses (Eastern Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia) can be sustained in captivity for years bc they eat prepared food right along side your other fish. They MUST MUST MUST be Marketed as an "African" Cleaner Wrasse. Their only demise is them jumping out of the tank.

You absolutely need to visually see them eat mysis prior to buying it at the LFS. Not eating? Probably not an African Cleaner Wrasse. AVOID & WALK AWAY.

Indo-Pacific Cleaner Wrasses are a total disaster bc they have a special diet. They will NOT eat prepared food, live food, nothing. Complete waste of your time. They will last about 30 days in your tank and eventually hide in a hole and starve to death. One day you just quit seeing them and they die.. Irresponsible to even attempt owning one IMO.

I've kept one African Cleaner Wrasse for 5 years. Most last about 2 years before carpet-surfing

Africans are a great utility fish for multiple Tang owners. Tangs will chase down an African to get cleaned. The Tangs are very happy and mellow after cleaning that it improves the Tangs health a lot IMO. Definitely worth having a African if you own 3 or more Tangs.


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VOTE: Other - get biota capitive bred @Theulli thanks for chasing down that info for those that are considering

Other: if you must get one, get a captive bred one. Biota offers them, and I asked and they said they should have some coming available this summer.

Tangs will also chase down neon blue goby for cleaning - I have two. My tangs love to beg neon blue gobies for cleanings... though my tangs are sluts... they'll even beg clownfish for cleanings... they beg my 2 cleaner shrimp, but I have the laziest skunk cleaner shrimp unless there is actual food involved

I love neon blues for their personality, always stay out front in my 180g DT so I can see them despite their tiny size and zillions of places they could hide to chase pods. They are my 'happy puppy' type fish - they like to look at me while I like to look at them - adorable. I feed my tank 2x daily since they are so small

 

[A-Reef]

I had one long time ago and didnt survive a week. Since then, the live stock in my tank changed about 75 % . Would it be OK to have one with the following tank mates? 1 yellow tang, 1 blue hippo tang, 1 red coris, 1 lunare wrasse, 1 mexican wrassew. 5 blue /yellow damsels. 2 snowflake clown, 2 blood-orange clownfish, 1 niger trigger, 1 huma huma trigger. 1 dispar athia, 1 green chromis. Any recommendation about how to care for them?