Do Cleaner Wrasse eat ich?

Do Cleaner Wrasse eat ich off fish? I got a cleaner wrasse about two weeks ago and it is doing great. Almost all the fish are now getting comfortable with him. Let the debate begin.

 

no they do not, and they too will get it if you have it in your tank. please read what sw ick is and why it exists- there is a ton of information out there. a true case of- "never judge a book by it's cover", what you don't see may just fool you later on.

 

+1, they can't eat it because it's literally not on the outside of the fish (like most other parasites), it burrows into them. What you see is the cyst that forms where they burrowed, the parasite itself is actually underneath that cyst.

 

they may eat Cryptocaryon and probably do in a tank environment but not enough to make a difference. generally they eat other types of parasites like types of copepods.

keep in mind if the infection gets bad enough even a damsel fish will eat ich off other fish(while taking chucks out of them). but by then all your fish will probably be close to dying.

 

Source: MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES, Vol 197, pages 241-246
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/197/m197p241.pdf

There was no ich found in their stomachs so I would have to say the answer is no.

 

Great info everyone thank you this confirms everything I thought. I had a little debate with a worker at my local fish store about this. She then brought two more of her co workers to "prove me wrong" Haha

 

cleaner wrasse are also not a sustainable fish in many aquariums.

 

^ +1

Better left in the ocean.

 

From an article by Joe Jaworski;

(3) Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides Dimdiatus) and Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata Amboinensis) eat Ich- WRONG. Wrasses and shrimp eat necrotic tissue, damage scales, and scabs. It has been well documented that the symbiotic “cleaning stations” in the reefs by wrasses and shrimps are there to help heal wounds from carnivore attacks, territorial fights, and other skin/scale injuries. It is possible that these cleaners might knock the parasite off the fish while doing this, but do nothing to control the reproduction and life cycle of Ich in your aquarium.

The Marine Ich Epidemic « Joe Jaworski’s Weblog

 

As stated above...from what I've read cleaner wrasses don't last long in captivity...a cleaner(neon) goby is a better choice...but just for external stuff as stated above.