What is the consensus on cleaner wrasses?

Given my position I see quite a few blue streak cleaner wrasses. They always ALWAYS come in taking frozen and we never have a problem with them being picky or any of the other horror stories.

I wonder if these stories come from trouble with the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse or neon gobies (wild caught almost never take to frozen for either from what I gather).

I would love to have one in my tank, I just want to see what everyone else thinks. Of course this one (last off the order of four) is eating frozen and pellets.

 

Mr B. Has one in his tank.

 

Yes I would really really like to hear what Mr.B feeds his, more specifics husbandry please.

 

Bump for mr. Bill

 

hear hear, I would like to listen as well!

 

iv had mine for the past couple years. he eats the fish food i make

 

My opinion is still to avoid, unless you have a large tank (150+) with fish it can feed off of.

Regardless if it eats prepared foods, it's natural behavior will still persist, in which it will pester other tank mates trying to feed on their slime coating. That typically doesn't work out so well in smaller tanks with smaller fish.

 

FTR, mine was a rescue. An LFS had him in a tank that I knew was less than one week old, and he was only being offered frozen brine, which he totally refused.

For food, I crush Ocean Nutrition Formula One and Prime Reef flakes, then mix them together. He took to that right from the start and has been thriving quite well for 4.5 years, now. He's in a 20L and does not bother his tankmates, although there are only two damsels- a yellowtail and a three-stripe. They do allow occasional inspections, but I've never seen any nipping.

I do agree with Hunter however, they really should be avoided. Along with the aforementioned problems one may face, you also have the issue with diet. Getting them to accept prepared foods is only half the problem; you also must provide the proper nutrition. To complicate the matter, fish with special dietary needs have been known to accept prepared food for a while, then suddenly stop eating. I keep a close eye on mine, checking his activities, watching his size, and making sure he eats at every feeding, because I know that a change in behavior or refusing food will be the start of the end, and it will always be a real possibility.

 

Great info!!!☺Many moons ago mimic cleaner wrasses would show up at the lfs . People wouldn't realise what terrors they are.

 

IIRC, those are actually a type of blenny, but the differences are easy to spot once you know what to look for.
Also, while undernourished cleaner wrasses may become more aggressive at grabbing bites of slime coat, the blenny prefers bits of fin.