Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

[Buckchups]

I was recently sold a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse. The very large Fish store claims that they will eat frozen foods. After doing some research I have found that apparently they do poorly in aquariums because they feed mostly on parasites. Has anyone had any luck keeping them alive? Will they eat frozen food?

[NU-2reef]

do yourself and the fish a favor DO SOME
HOMEWORK!!!

[Breed]

Agreed!

95% of cleaner wrasses do poorly in an aquairum due to their food requirments, in that they feed off parasites of hundreds of fish every day. To sustain this is almost impossible and there are a rare few that can be successfully weaned onto frozen foods. Either catch it and return it to your LFS for a full refund and tell him he is a boofhead for importing and selling a species that is invaluable to a reef system, or try your hardest to get it feeding on sustainable foods.

Good luck,

Breed

[oeb]

If you are unsure, are you within the warranty period where you could return it?

[amcarrig]

I have had a cleaner wrasse in my system for about a year and it eats everything I put in the tank. You can't believe everything that you read

[Breed]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

I have had a cleaner wrasse in my system for about a year and it eats everything I put in the tank. You can't believe everything that you read

In my reply I quoted 95% as there have been cases of people keeping these sucessfully.

Furthermore, when you say "You cant believe everything that you read", its more to the scientific facts of the natural food diet and survivability of the fish, not the conclusions from a book. If you look at photos of cleaner wrasse, generally you can see them cleaning other fish, hence the name "CLEANER" wrasse.

Also, we are talking about the hawian species of cleaner wrasse, not the pacific type that you have in your tank, which is considerably less colourful and demanding.

Breed

[wastemanagement]

Originally Posted by Breed

In my reply I quoted 95% as there have been cases of people keeping these sucessfully.

Furthermore, when you say "You cant believe everything that you read", its more to the scientific facts of the natural food diet and survivability of the fish, not the conclusions from a book. If you look at photos of cleaner wrasse, generally you can see them cleaning other fish, hence the name "CLEANER" wrasse.

Also, we are talking about the hawian species of cleaner wrasse, not the pacific type that you have in your tank, which is considerably less colourful and demanding.

Breed

SNAP!!

I think that you have 2 choices here you can either have a crack at meeting the demands of the fish, were you will have one of two outcomes. or you can take a couple of pics of him in your tank and catch him back out, return him
and get credit .
then do a little websurfing on suitable fish that will match the ecosystem that you have.IMO you will be much happier in the longrun with the later.

[amcarrig]

Originally Posted by Breed

In my reply I quoted 95% as there have been cases of people keeping these sucessfully.

Furthermore, when you say "You cant believe everything that you read", its more to the scientific facts of the natural food diet and survivability of the fish, not the conclusions from a book. If you look at photos of cleaner wrasse, generally you can see them cleaning other fish, hence the name "CLEANER" wrasse.

Also, we are talking about the hawian species of cleaner wrasse, not the pacific type that you have in your tank, which is considerably less colourful and demanding.

Breed

I stand corrected and apologize for the misunderstanding . Could you post a picture of the wrasse species that you're talking about?

[Froc3]

Every fish is different. Lots of Tangs are considered to be "herbivores" but when you throw blood worms in the tank they go nuts! It depends on the fish. If it is not eating anything frozen or prepared in the first week i would take him back. They have a better chance of survival in a larger tank due to the amount of fish present for cleaning. What size is your tank? gl with whatever you decide.
Evan.