Just purchased a cleaner wrasse, and he eats everything in site.

[lesleybird]

Hi, I just purchased a cleaner wrasse to help keep ich out of the tank as my two cleaner shrimp are too well fed to clean the fish even when they sit near them and wait to be cleaned. I have read a bunch of threads where posters stated that cleaner wrasses should be left in the ocean as they will only eat parasites on fish and will starve if there are not any on your fish.
Well, mine ate everything put in the tank from the minute I put him in. First he was eating massive amounts of copapods that are all over my glass, then I put some live brine shrimp and he gobbled those down, then I put in some purple algea sheets and he gobbled pieces of it floating in the water, then he ate flakes in the water, then he followed my majestic angel around trying to clean him.
The only problem is my majestic is not use to having a little fish following him around trying to pick things off of him and he will turn around and chase the wrasse off of him. I think he will get used to it in time.
Lesley

 

[m0nk]

I'd personally like one of these but no one local seems to carry them presently. I also don't want to spend $79 on livestock here, but might start working on a list of coral or something...for when I can afford it...

 

[lesleybird]

Originally Posted by m0nk
I'd personally like one of these but no one local seems to carry them presently. I also don't want to spend $79 on livestock here, but might start working on a list of coral or something...for when I can afford it...
WHy don't you ask if the local fish store can order some in for you?

 

[petjunkie]

Actually it's not usually a huge problem to get them to eat, more of a diet defiency possibly that causes them to waste away and die within a few months. I had one that ate anything frozen and just stopped eating one day and died after seven months. Additionally cleaner wrasses don't eat ich, they eat parasitic isopods, ich has never been found in the stomach of a cleaner wrasse, ich is actually under the skin and cleaner wrasses pick off the surface. They are also obligate feeders which is why they waste away, they get all their nutrition from parasites. Keep us updated, hopefully you can keep your alive longer that most but believe me, there is a reason you were recommended against them as you will most likely learn.

 

[lesleybird]

I don't think they die from starvation....did anyone just think that maybe they have a short life span?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Lesleybird
I don't think they die from starvation....did anyone just think that maybe they have a short life span?
Actually in the wild they can live for several years. I don't think that it is a coincidence that they rarely make 6 months in a home aquarium. They have a specific diet. The fact that they become malnourished and die prematurely is not the only reason for not buying them. They do not spawn rapidly. They are needed on the reefs. The more people buy them, the more distributors will collect them for resale. I had my distributer offer cleaner wrassies for $3, I would not take them. They could have been for free and I would not have taken them. They are not just a cute little fish, they are NEEDED on the reef. These fish are not breed in captivity (to my knowledge yet), they serve a usefull purpose in the wild and should be kept there. No offence, but if you quarantine your fish then you will not need "cleaners".