cleaner wrasses.....yes or no

[organicreefer]

ravenmore and myself have been discussing cleaner wrasses in the thread"my fish died from ich".i would like input from more poeple on this subject.

[Steve]

I think it depends on what you get - a good or bad cleaner wrasse. I had one that would attack and did kill a clown that was bigger than he was. I no longer will keep them because of this bad experience. I ended up having to take out all my live rock to take it back to the pet store.

[organicreefer]

a cleaner attacking a fish ...i find that hard to beleive.perhaps you had the false cleaner fish,aspidontus teaniatus.though i doubt you would have found one in a lfs,this fishuses its similarity to l.dimidiatus to get close to its victims who instead of the expected "wash and brush up"are attacked.

[killian]

I love my cleaner wrasse. He does a great job keeping our other fish clean, he will even pick on us when we put our hands in the tank. He is very active and loves to eat anything. I say go ahead and get one they usually are not that $$. We haven't had a problem with ick since we added the wrasse but that could just be a coincendence (sp).

[fishrule]

My cleaner wrasse is also great. He will eat any food added to the tank and will clean my fish of parasites. But, if you have an outbreak of a parasitic disease, it won't be able to handle it. I had to add medication when I introduced a fish with ick. The cleaner wrasse can handle only a few parasites.

[David]

For me it's not a question of the fish being good in your tank, it's a matter of ethics. I have heard too many times the suggestion that removing these fish from the wild is devastating to a reef community. There are LFS in my area that refuse to buy or sell them because they strongly believe this to be true. Why risk it? We have tank raised neon gobies for pete's sake! IMO this fish is yet another candidate for "the list".

[golfish]

I'm curious as to how long you folks have kept your cleaner wrasse.

[fishrule]

My cleaner wrasse has been with me for 10 months, and as far as ethics is concerned, all these fish should remain in the ocean, but, we want them in our homes. Mankind is not really concerned with what is best for the world, or its animals, as far as I can tell.

[organicreefer]

golfish,
ive owned three ,and all have done extremely well and eat anything i give them.the first disapeared after 10 months in my tank,i think he was eaten by my slf.the other two i still have one for about 4 months now the other almost a year.
david,you state that you have"heard".i suggest you find out for youreself,and not be so quick to "jump on the band wagon".
sorry not to pick on you ,it just seems that there is this"rumor" that the cleaner wrasse is a poor aquarium choice,but i have experienced the complete opposite.
also i i would like to clarify that i am talking about labroides dimidiatus,the common or pacific cleaner wrasse.i would be willing to wager that ANY other successes that you here of are with l dimidiatus.all of the other cleaner wrasses do very poorly in captivity ,and should not be collected.i think that l dimidiatus has been unjustly grouped in with the rest of the genus,hence its bad reputation.i have NEVER EVER SEEN OR EVEN HEARD OF FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF A CONFIRMED L DIMIDIATUS REFUSING TO EAT.

[organicreefer]

i want to add that ravenmore has made some good points against keeping the wrasses ,and posted a link to an article on the subject in the post fish died from ich.i always have an open mind,but i bet there are even more success stories to come

[Ironreef]

ask any wholesaler. They say 1 out of 10 survive when captured = most die before they even reach the lfs. I wouldn't want to promote that

[organicreefer]

ironreef, is this here-say,or can you even site youre source?are we talking about l. dimidiatus,or lumping them in with the OTHER four species of labroides?

[Ironreef]

can't tell you which species for sure but if you go to reefs org there a few wholesalers who post there with websites now thats just there word but theres a few LFS who don't purchase them for the same reason. They (lfs)don't purchase seahorses, pipefish and other hard to keep animals unless the hobbiest makes a special order and usually can meet there requirement. You can even read Scott Michaels fish book. Its not recommended which this book seems fairly accurate if you read it. Theres many fish that may be easy to keep but the stress they receive from shipping ect makes there survival rate little to none. Whats it called? Post trumatic shipping disorder. But its just like manderines some can't keep them alive but some manderines eat processed foods. Cleaner fish just aren't recommended because 1yr isn't considered long lived. But I guess you can call it hear say cuz I don't buy them just for there rep. I buy neon gobies they act as cleaners. They always clean my fish and the take processed foods every time. PPL say captive bred neons don't clean but mine do. captive bred is always a plus.

[organicreefer]

Originally posted by Ironreef
can't tell you which species for sure .

seems to be a common answer i get from anyone who says cleaner wrasses are difficult to keep
i plan on ordering reef fishes ,and i would be very interested to know EXACTLY what he has to say about l dimidiatus.do you by any chance have the book?if not does anyone else?i encourage evrey/any one to post any info ...articles,from books etc.so i ,if not we can get to the bottom of this.i still say that l dimidiatus being difficult to keep is an "urban legend"

[Ironreef]

labroides dimidiatus= rating2.=most individual of these species don't acclimate to the home aquarium,often refusing to feed and wasting away in captivity= difficult to feed. per Marine fish Scott Michael but he probally just heard rumors also;;

[organicreefer]

Originally posted by Ironreef
labroides dimidiatus= rating2.but he probally just heard rumors also;;

good one lmao


hhmmm,ive heard nothing but good things about the book, but if thats true,why am i three for three?i also have 2 freinds who have cleaner wrasses that also eat anything.its gonna take more than that to change MY mind.i need more opinions/info.i have a book(the marine fish survival manual) that rates l dimidiatus a 9 on a scale from 1-10 10 being the hardiest.

ravenmore where are you?i was hoping you would have more links and info to share

[Ironreef]

My question is why 3 for three? Are they all still alive? If not why? personally I have no experiance with them. I buy neon gobies they act as cleaners and are very hardy.

[organicreefer]

two are still with me one "disapeared" after ten months in my tank.i am 99.9% sure that my sally lightfoot crab ate him.my best freind has had one fro almost a year,another guy i know has one but i dont know for how long.i have the distinct "feeling"that i could go buy every cleaner wrasse in town and they would all eat.as far as 9 out of ten dieing before they even get to the lfs,if i could see some actual first hand accounts that would probably be enough to change my mind

[Ironreef]

I agree in you can't go wrong with your own experiance

[organicreefer]

ironreef,
in fact everyone,next time you are in a lfs that carries cleaner wrasses why dont you casually ask to see them eat(as many of them as possible),as if you are going to purchase them.i betcha they eat .you know what, i am going to go to ALL of my lfs's tommorrow(today?:eek3and do just that.i will post my results.