Red Sea Cleaner Wrasse

[nina&noah]

I did something that I shouldn't have today. I knew it was wrong when I did it, but I did it anyway....
I bought a fish without researching it first.
I saw it at the LFS today and then I got into a conversation with the guy who usually helps me. He told me it would eat pellets. I asked him to feed it for me and sure enough, it didn't just eat, it devoured the food. I immediatly bagged him up and took him home. I've always wanted a cleaner.
So, does anyone have any experience with this fish? I noticed SWF.com doesn't even carry them. That can't be a good sign.

 

[chaoticdamsel]

Cleaner wrasses are kind of like moorish idols in that they have a dismal survival rate in captivity. Bob Fenner, the author of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, advises that they are better left on the reef. One cleaner wrasse out of thousands will live past a year in captivity.
I wish you the best of luck. Maybe you'll beat the odds, but if you don't, just consider it a hard lesson learned. Most people in this hobby have bought something without researching it and regretted it later.

 

[nina&noah]

Yeah, I knew about the survival rate of a regular cleaner wrasse. This one is different though. It has two bright royal blue stripes on a darker body. They sold it to me as a Red Sea Cleaner Wrasse. I tried researching it last night, but when I googled it all I can find is other sites that sell them.
I thought that since I saw him eating pellet food, that maybe this particular cleaner wrasse was different. Does anyone know?

 

[aquaknight]

Larabicus quadrilineatus, right?
They are actually only a cleaner as a juvi. As an adult they feed mostly on stony coral polyps. So basically you have a cleaner wrasse that turns into an Orange Spotted Filefish. And as with any of those fish that seem to do good, but only last about a year, Moorish Idols, Rock Beauty's, Cleaner's, etc, it's a nutrition deficiency problem. It's fairly easy to feed MI's and RB's sponge based foods, but I have only heard of one success story with Orange Spotted Filefish (basically a 600gal a pair was free to keep the SPS trimmed). Feed as many different foods as possible, all soaked in Zoe and Zoecon.

 

[nina&noah]

Thanks, that helped a bunch. It is much easier to search when you have the scientific name. This is what I found...
Four Line Cleaner Wrasse is a native of the Red Sea. It is a cleaner Wrasse that is much more durable and longer lived than the traditional Cleaner Wrasse of the Indo-Pacific specimen. One Four Line Cleaner Wrasse should be kept per tank in a 30 gallon or larger community aquarium. It should be housed with other peaceful species, but may become aggressive towards small, more docile species and peaceful wrasses. Four Line Cleaner Wrasse should have some live rock available for use as shelter and for food. As a juvenile, it will eat parasites from placid tank mates. Adults feed almost entirely on polyps of stony corals. This is one of the reasons this is such a hard species to keep in an aquarium. Four Line Cleaner Wrasse is a very fragile fish and should only be cared for by a very experienced aquarist.
Probably shouldn't have bought it. I knew that when I did it though. I guess I'm just hoping that I get lucky. It is a beautiful fish. Pictures don't do this fish justice.