An alternative cleaner fish ?

[lady medusa]

Does anyone know of an alternative cleaner fish that can go into a setup with two bird wrasse, luna wrasse, manila puffer, sunset wrasse, and a harlequin tuskfish? Id prefer not a large species of hogfish cuz honestly i think they are a bit ugly as adults. And obviously shrimp are out of the question so what else is there?

 

[btldreef]

Welcome to the site!
Why do you need a cleaner fish?

 

[bang guy]

You could try a pair of Neon Gobies but make sure they have plenty of hiding places in the rock.

 

[lady medusa]

Well id like a cleaner cause eventually i will add more tankmates and they would be good to have incase someone is sloughing mucus cuz of the stress of a new environment. i know even a perfectly healthy fish likes to be occasionally cleaned, you know to get those extra lil pieces of leftover food around the gills and mouth. In my reef tank i do usually see some of my reef inhabitants enjoying a scan by my skunk cleaner shrimp and i havent had an issue with any illness in that tank in over 2 years!
Bang guy, u sure that those arent tooooooooo small? I mean those guys arent even half a mouthful of most of my fish!

 

[snakeblitz33]

If you want something a little larger than a neon goby, you could try a cleaner wrasse.
Aggressive fish usually don't eat fish that will help them/clean them - so I say go for the neon gobies. They are small, quick and fun to watch.

 

[bang guy]

Say no to the Cleaner Wrasse!!!!!!!!!

 

[lady medusa]

I had some neon sharknose gobies once! I loved those lil guys and they are really fun to watch! Id like to be a bit responsible and not get a cleaner wrasse unless there is a species of cleaner wrasse that will eat other things besides fish mucus and isopods, And that will actually survive for years in captivity. They are better wild on the reefs keeping the wild reefs healthy. Though i have to admit they do a great job cleaning but they do it too well in the home tank. Besides my fish get stressed enough by my 18month old son turning the lights off and on to my tank! Dont need a pushey cleaner chasing them all over the tank lol.

 

[lady medusa]

I wouldnt mind throwing in cleaner gobies as long as they dont get eaten! I do have three 1/4" springers damsels in the tank that havent been herassed at all by any of their large tankmates so maybe its plausable!

 

[lady medusa]

What about a 6line wrasse? Ive heard they sometimes act as cleaners?i have one in my reef but ive never seen it clean anyone.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/389114/an-alternative-cleaner-fish#post_3436459
Say no to the Cleaner Wrasse!!!!!!!!!
I said try! lol, 99 % of them will die unless they eat frozen foods regularly. She sounded like she wanted a quick and easy solution. But I'm glad lady has done her research.
I would still say to go with the neon gobies. They are cool and fun to watch clean fish.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady medusa http:///t/389114/an-alternative-cleaner-fish#post_3436465
What about a 6line wrasse? Ive heard they sometimes act as cleaners?i have one in my reef but ive never seen it clean anyone.
I heard of that too, but I have never seen it happen. Mostly they graze on rocks eating whatever copepods/amphipods they can find and whatever you feed them.

 

[lady medusa]

Lol im a woman i never want an easy solution and ive been in the aquarium game for close to 20years so i hope ive done my research! The only magazines youll find in my house is about reptiles and fish/corals! Probably 85% of my books too! Total fish nerd! :evil:

 

[lady medusa]

Sooooooo gobies it is should i maybe keep them in a"howdy box" for a while before releasing them into the tank? So the other fish see them as friends not food? Or just say "best of luck to ya!"

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, you could keep them in a howdy box for a little while - if the box has big enough holes, they will find a way out!

 

[lady medusa]

Yea id use small holes or mesh screen. Thanx for all the replies!

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/389114/an-alternative-cleaner-fish#post_3436430
You could try a pair of Neon Gobies but make sure they have plenty of hiding places in the rock.
+ a bunch on the neon gobies. The really nice thing about them is that they set up cleaning stations and wait for the fish to come to them as opposed to pestering their tankmates like cleaner wrasses or cleaner shrimp. My fish used to line up in the AM and wait their turn to be groomed by them.
I've also had Janss' pipefish (Doryhamphus janssi) act as cleaners too. They were similar in that they had a shingle out in a specific part of the tank, and would come out and make a little vertical "see-saw" motion when they were open for biz.

 

[lady medusa]

So saxman do you keep your neon gobies with med/large semi aggressive fish? I would love to try a janss' pipefish! However id figure they are about as hardy as a cleaner wrasse? How long did u keep urs for? Did it eat other things besides paracites and fish mucus? Plus pipefish arent aggressive feeders, when i worked at the OKC zoo we had to target feed our hippocampus erectus and it took alot of time, alot of wasted food, and an everyday hydroclean!

 

[saxman]

We weaned our pipes before adding them to the reef, so they not only browsed the LR for pods, but also ate frozen mysis, BS+, etc. The two largest fish were a foxface and a CBS. There was a cranky ol' SFE in residence with the neons but not the pipes. We had the pipes for about 5 years, give or take. We found the pipes to be quite hardy once they were weaned.