WTB Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

Ling_Thing · Jan 28, 2020

Looking to buy a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse can’t find anywhere that has them in stock.

Gareth elliott · Jan 29, 2020

Hawaii i believe has certain restrictions on how fish must be caught following their aquarium trade ban in 2017ish dont quote me on year.
but for the last year or 2 fish from hawaii have been a lot less common in the trade/

ca1ore · Jan 29, 2020

I've been on the lookout for one for years. Never seen it at LFS or on line. Apparently much trickier than the standard blue steak though.

Angel_Anthias lover · Jan 31, 2020

Seems like u could get some CB ones in the near future

User1 · Jan 31, 2020

Angel_Anthias lover said:
Seems like u could get some CB ones in the near future

Call Pacific East Aquaculture. Not sure if they can get these but they recently picked up BIOTA's captive raised / bred Millseed Butterflyfish. Worth a shot.

evolved · Feb 1, 2020

They're exceptionally tricky to keep. Unless you have a very large tank (hundreds of gallons) with multiple very large fish, I would avoid.

Ling_Thing · Feb 1, 2020

evolved said:
They're exceptionally tricky to keep. Unless you have a very large tank (hundreds of gallons) with multiple very large fish, I would avoid.

I trust you your the wrasse master

vanpire · Feb 1, 2020

evolved said:
They're exceptionally tricky to keep. Unless you have a very large tank (hundreds of gallons) with multiple very large fish, I would avoid.

You are indeed the master, but would a captive bred on eating piscine energetic pellets be OK? The Hawaiian ones are really pretty.

evolved · Feb 1, 2020

vanpire said:
You are indeed the master, but would a captive bred on eating piscine energetic pellets be OK? The Hawaiian ones are really pretty.

Maybe? No one's really tried yet to see if there's a different result. But it's also never really been understood why this species doesn't live well in captivity while the blue streak does.

User1 · Feb 1, 2020

evolved said:
They're exceptionally tricky to keep. Unless you have a very large tank (hundreds of gallons) with multiple very large fish, I would avoid.

I've read this about the fish also. No so much the size of the tank but rather the number of fish. Larger number of fish means it gets to spread out its work. Fewer fish means it is always pestering the same few fish over and over rather than spreading out its golden bombs of light and love, er, attention to all.

No idea how true this is but at least this is what I've read along with their owners tanks. I mean it makes sense to me logically at least but I've never owned one.

ca1ore · Feb 1, 2020

Angel_Anthias lover said:
Seems like u could get some CB ones in the near future

was that a recent video ...

Angel_Anthias lover · Feb 1, 2020

ca1ore said:
was that a recent video ...

Yea it was like a day ago

Angel_Anthias lover · Feb 1, 2020

Yea 19 hours ago

ca1ore · Feb 1, 2020

Ok, thanks. There were captive raised Hawaiian cleaners a few years ago that were a one off/fluke. I don’t do Instagram so figured it was easier to just ask. Very very cool though. Although I have a blue streak, the Hawaiian cleaner had been something of a holy grail fish for me.

Angel_Anthias lover · Feb 1, 2020

ca1ore said:
Ok, thanks. There were captive raised Hawaiian cleaners a few years ago that were a one off/fluke. I don’t do Instagram so figured it was easier to just ask. Very very cool though. Although I have a blue streak, the Hawaiian cleaner had been something of a holy grail fish for me.

Yea theyre my favoruite of the cleaner wrasses too,never seen one tho in real life

minus9 · Feb 1, 2020

Honestly, I would just look at any of the captive bred Elacatinus gobies. They're awesome at cleaning, fun to watch and have tons of personality. I just wish bonded pairs were offered more.

Angel_Anthias lover · Feb 20, 2020

Live aquaria has some now from biota, so.look out on DD

Shredded · Mar 29, 2020

evolved said:
Maybe? No one's really tried yet to see if there's a different result. But it's also never really been understood why this species doesn't live well in captivity while the blue streak does.

I have had one of these before and was going try again when I saw them on the Quality Marine price list (captive bred) but after doing tons of research, I have changed my mind. The reason that it doesn't do as well as it's kin is because it almost strictly feeds on the fishes slime coating as well as parasites. To do well it does need lots of fish to feed on and if only kept with a few will constantly harass the fish mercilessly and at the same time starving. If they do manage to feed on the same fish over and over they can damage the fishes slime coating to the point where it is open to other parasites and infection. My tank is 300 gallons but I don't think that I have enough fish to support one, plus the fact that I have several tangs. They rely heavily on their slime coating to prevent parasites and even tho i have not seen it in over 3 years, I know there is Ich in the tank and would not want to open up there defenses to that. I do not know if the tank bred are feeding on prepared food or not but i think their natural instinct would take over and whether they eating or not, i can't risk everyone else.