Blue Cleaner wrasse feeding help

[Maze4321]

Hello,

I recently purchased a cleaner wrasse and the LFS advised me that he would eat Mysis Shrimp... Well after two weeks all my fish are picked clean... not much there in the first place as they were all healthy and he has not eaten anything during the last 4 feedings since purchase. He is active and does not seem to look like he is starving....yet
I have stayed away from these fish due to this eating problem and now am faced with trying to keep him alive and feel deceived by the hope he would eat Mysis.
I have done research about feeding them shrimp eggs called "ebiko". After calling all my local sushi shops no one has shrimp eggs only salmon roe. Think this would work?
I have ordered brine shrimp and will attempt to hatch and feed the newly hatched brine shrimp to the wrasse. Has anyone had success doing this? Also can this have negative impacts on my 300Gal FOWLR tank? I am willing to buy shrimp eggs but cannot find an online seller. Any help from anyone on knowing a guy or sushi store that will let me order and ship these eggs would be helpful or another measure to keep him alive would be appreciated.

Thank you for the time.

 

[Rea17]

Always ask to see a fish eating before you purchase it, don't take the word of the LFS. With that said, cleaner wrasses have dismal survival rates in captivity. You can try nutramar ova or cyclopeeze to entice him, but don't hold your breath.

I currently own one that I got in a tear down, I would never buy one from a store. Collection of these fish does visual damage to the reef after they are taken. Mine eats just about everything, but this is after years of conditioning.

You got the wrasse two weeks ago, and he hasn't eaten anything since purchase - 4 feedings? Did I read that right? These fish need to be fed several times a day if they are accepting food, not twice a week.

 

[FishBo]

Long shot but try some flake. Mine would not touch frozen at first or pellets but he always eats any flake food I put in the tank. Over time he started eating frozen & now eats anything. It's an African Cleaner Wrasse which I have read do a lot better in tanks & I have had him a little over 3 years.

 

[murdoch LFC]

Hello,

I recently purchased a cleaner wrasse and the LFS advised me that he would eat Mysis Shrimp... Well after two weeks all my fish are picked clean... not much there in the first place as they were all healthy and he has not eaten anything during the last 4 feedings since purchase. He is active and does not seem to look like he is starving....yet
I have stayed away from these fish due to this eating problem and now am faced with trying to keep him alive and feel deceived by the hope he would eat Mysis.
I have done research about feeding them shrimp eggs called "ebiko". After calling all my local sushi shops no one has shrimp eggs only salmon roe. Think this would work?
I have ordered brine shrimp and will attempt to hatch and feed the newly
hatched brine shrimp to the wrasse. Has anyone had success doing this? Also can this have negative impacts on my 300Gal FOWLR tank? I am willing to buy shrimp eggs but cannot find an online seller. Any help from anyone on knowing a guy or sushi store that will let me order and ship these eggs would be helpful or another measure to keep him alive would be appreciated.


Thank you for the time.

Try him with lobster eggs, all my wrasse adore them
john

 

[skidoctor]

Life expectancy is all in the way they are treated. I've had mine for over 2 years, he's lived through hell, and now he eats everything. Their mouths are very small, so Mysis might be too big for him. Try smaller foods like cyclopeeze or nutramar. Mine is always the first at the nori clip. try a variety of foods, but make sure they are chopped up really small.

 

[Clownemone]

+1 on cyclopeeze and nori. mine also eats pellets and flakes.

 

[humaguy]

for the most part these fish should really be left in the ocean.
African specimens are really the only ones that seem to be able to thrive in captivity...

 

[finsurgeon]

It is not unlikely that he has not eaten anything, and that the LFS was not truthful. You should try various foods. Arctipods, nutrimar ova, brine shrimp eggs, baby brine, flake foods and cyclopeeze are all possibilities. I have had cleaner wrasses that would search through my hand or finger, with food tucked in the crook or crevices over taking it out of the water column, so maybe try that too. Good luck.

 

[Maze4321]

Figured I would update the health of the wrasse. I vary his diet from shrimp roe to cyclopeeze and Mysis and feed daily. He is eating all of them and still cleans his tank mates. In fact he now comes right up to the feeding tube and gets excited just to eat. Thank you to everyone for the advice.

 

[bullitr]

Life expectancy is all in the way they are treated. I've had mine for over 2 years, he's lived through hell, and now he eats everything. Their mouths are very small, so Mysis might be too big for him. Try smaller foods like cyclopeeze or nutramar. Mine is always the first at the nori clip. try a variety of foods, but make sure they are chopped up really small.

Mine always eats regular pellets ever large one and I have it for 3 years. It used to be a pair but the other perish now it kills every cleaner wrasse I put on the tank.

My Hawaiian cleaners eats mysis.

 

[snorvich]

for the most part these fish should really be left in the ocean.
African specimens are really the only ones that seem to be able to thrive in captivity...

I agree. I have one but in retrospect wish I had not purchased it. Mine is now 5 years old, eats whatever hits the tank. Note well that they do NOT help in any way with parasite control.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Note well that they do NOT help in any way with parasite control.

Not entirely true. They dohelp with crustacean ectoparasites. But the most common parasites are protozoan which they do not help with.

 

[triggreef]

Live brine or live black worms if you have access to them. I also agree with the cyclopeeze etc as stated above. Make sure if you hatch brine you can separate the eggs. Its a pita and the eggshells are not digestible and can cause damage

 

[r-balljunkie]

oh the poor cleaner wrasse. its a shame its such a cheap "entry" fish for the aquarium hobby.

I'm sure wholesalers treat these as dollar store type inventory item.

Very trusting fish when seen in the open ocean. i was "stuck" with a 60 mm macro lens on this dive, so had a hard time getting pics of fast moving fish, nothing else was interesting to shoot.

i mooched some shots from a cleaner wrasse that busy helping customers.

i've kept one for about a year with no special dietary needs...eats mostly flake food. he does pester the other fish in the tank, but from time to time, they'll let him clean.

i found that only the 'blue colored' cleaner wrasses do well in captivity...the other color variations..not so well. its just my singular experience. others may have had past successes.

i would suspect the indonesian caught ones don't do as well others, since these are of marginal costs, and treated and handled as such.

C

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[attaboy]

I have a LFS who sells from ORA & Sustainable Aquatics. When he gets these captive raised guys in they eat like pigs. I'd suggest avoiding the wild caught ones as they are very difficult to get eating and often starve to death.

 

[ca1ore]

I agree. I have one but in retrospect wish I had not purchased it. Mine is now 5 years old, eats whatever hits the tank. Note well that they do NOT help in any way with parasite control.

Could I ask why? Particularly if it is eating. Buddy of mine is trying to convince me to take his (it eats thawed brine and hikari Mysis) and I don't really see a downside.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I have a LFS who sells from ORA & Sustainable Aquatics. When he gets these captive raised guys in they eat like pigs. I'd suggest avoiding the wild caught ones as they are very difficult to get eating and often starve to death.

Cleaner and neon gobies are captive bred, no such luck with cleaner wrasses yet.

 

[snorvich]

Could I ask why? Particularly if it is eating. Buddy of mine is trying to convince me to take his (it eats thawed brine and hikari Mysis) and I don't really see a downside.

It drives some fish crazy trying to avoid the attention. Not all fish are willing to be cleaned (clownfish as an example) and some of those which are otherwise shy are intimidated by cleaner wrasses.

 

[NatureNerd]

Cleaner and neon gobies are captive bred, no such luck with cleaner wrasses yet.

Yep, and the neon gobies will clean, if that is the behavior you are after, without overly harassing your other fish.

I think the cleaner wrasses are best left in the ocean. See my video in the Scuba section to better understand how these fish live in the wild. They clean at a frenetic pace all day long.