cleaner wrasse

guineawhop

guineawhop

Member
before anybody says it i will say it. cleaner wrasses should not be purchased because they don't belong in a tank, but in the ocean because they are specialized in eating parasites and are needed for the fish on the reef. ok so now to what i wanted to say.
i got a cleaner wrasse from my friend that was breaking down his tank. the only reason i took it is cause it was eating everything that he put in there: mysis, emerald entree, marine cuisine... well now i have him in my tank and he is crazy. he's not afraid of anything, he eats everything i put in there, and he begs like a dog. i know this is rare for these fish, but i noticed something else too. this fish is eating nori as well!! has anybody ever heard of or seen a cleaner wrasse eating veggies? :notsure:
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
It is possible to keep these fish for long periods of time. I kept one for 5 years....however, they need more than just indroduced foods...they need other large fish ( = large tank ) in with them also that they can clean for them to get '' needed nutriants '' from for them to make it. IME....
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
There is also a mimic of the cleaner wrasse that looks very very much like it (except for mouth position), but is not actually a cleaner (it takes little bites out of fish). I would assume also that it is more likely to eat other things.
But it is quite possible you have the real thing. This is one of those fish, a la moorish idols or similar, where now and then one gets through that adapts and eats other things. Very few do, but it is not unheard of....however I totally agree with Dogstar that the best bet for it to continue to do well is having large fish around to clean.
 
guineawhop

guineawhop

Member
well i have it in a 180 with a queen angel, purple tang, vlamingi tang, couple of maroons and a cherub angel. thanks for the opinions. ophiura do you have pics of the two different kinds so i can distinguish between the two?
 
guineawhop

guineawhop

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
Two good threads here. In the second one, Dogstar has some nice pictures of the various very similar looking fish

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...cleaner+wrasse
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...cleaner+wrasse
thanks for the links....i definitely have the true cleaner wrasse and not the one that picks at other fish. this guy is such a pig. i hope he doesn't decide to all of a sudden die. i have him in my big tank so hopefully that will be ok for him.
 
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