Originally Posted by
chilwil84
http:///forum/post/2580732
if you extensively research the cleaner wrasse you wouldnt have asked the question.
The cleaner wrasse's difficulty to keep in the home aquarium stems from three predominant factors. Firstly, cleaner wrasse of all four types have very small mouths as juviniles. As a result, they feed on very small parasites that live on other fish. Within the last 7 years marine aquarium hobbyists have "by accident" discovered this fact. By chopping their fish food into smaller pieces than intended, it was observed that cleaner wrasse actually ate many meaty preparations.
Second, even if you are able to coerce a cleaner wrasse to eat meaty preparations regularly, they still may perish in the home aquarium due to undernourishment. It was once believed that this was because these fish were obligate cleaners. This means that the majority of their diet must be parasites to provide them the nourishment that they require. Now we know that many species of wrasse, including the cleaner wrasse, become coral feeders as adults. This means that if you do not have an abundance of the appropriate type of stony corals in your aquarium for them to feed on, they will starve. The reason for this is not known, but it is speculated that the coral tissue must be damaged or the wrasse will not feed on it. It's thought to be because a stony coral will not release toxins if the wrasse feeds on damaged tissue. Therefore, a cleaner wrasse may be kept in an aquarium free of parasites, but not an aquarium free of stony corals.
Finally, it was once believed that the natural lifespan of cleaner wrasse (in the wild) was up to ten years. Because marine aquarium hobbyists were only able to keep these fish alive for one or two years, it was believed that they would never live even half of their natural lifespan in captivity. Now we know that their natural lifespan (in the wild) is approximately four years. Having learned all that we have about the feeding habits of this fish, as illustrated in reasons one and two, some hobbyists have reported keeping cleaner wrasse alive for over three years. Therefore, it could be said that with the proper care a cleaner wrasse could be kept alive in the home aquarium for over 75% of it's natural lifespan.
That leaves one remaining argument against keeping this fish in the home aquarium. Their removal is said to be far-reaching in it's devastating impacts on both fish populations and subsequently the health of coral reefs. It is said that because there are not enough cleaner wrasse thousands of fish die because there are no "doctors" to treat their illnesses. It is also said that the ramaining fish will leave the reef in search of "doctors". Meanwhile, the reef's ecosystem is imbalanced, as many fish that would normally feed upon natural predators of live coral have left the reef undefended. It is said. But have any of you seen any scientific evidence? Has anyone seen a study done on this subject? I have! And the study was published years after "The Conscientious Marine Aquariast" was. The study was published in 1997, and involved removing all cleaner wrasse from three separate coral reefs. The reefs were monitored for three and six month periods. No noticeable decline in fish population was observed. Therefore, there is currently more evidence (that I have personally found) to suggest that this is cult fiction than there is to support its validity.
So why did I decide to purchase a neon goby? Because, in answer to my post several people reported that they were very happy with their neon gobies. In addition, neon gobies stay small their entire lives, unlike the cleaner wrasse. Therefore, they continue to perform cleaning services for other fish their entire lives, whereas cleaner wrasse often do not. Also, as a personal observation, I noticed that everyone who has been successful in keeping these fish for more than three years has housed them in a 100 gallon or larger aquarium. I personally believe that their minimum tank capacity requirements are wrong. And lastly, neon gobies are considered reef safe, as they do not bother corals. Cleaner wrasse, I have learned, are labeled difficult even if they are eating other meaty preparations well because preventing them from picking at some LPS and most SPS corals in the home aquarium is nearly impossible. It is, in fact, undesirable. In conclusion, I would like to quote kjr_trig again. "There are more appropriate cleaners for the home aquarium," than the cleaner wrasse. Not because of low survival rates or wide-sweeping environmental impacts, but for more practical reasons. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you learned as much as I did by "fishing for someone to give me the answer I want."
