cleaner wrasses

[natep206]

ok so my lfs told me he was getting in a bunch of nice cleaner wrasses.

ive wanted to try one for a while.i know that in the wild all they eat is parisites but my plan is to get one that already eats frozen foods ( ill ask the guy to feed them and see if theyll eat) then im going to feed all of my normal food. (formula 2, nori, mysis and brine) and soak them in garlic, zoe and selcon. hopefully he will take to it and it will be a godd diet for him.

anyone that has or has had a cleaner wrasse. please share your experiences and its diet.

i didnt start this thread for a million people to tell me not to do it. so dont tell me not to please

thanks
nate:beer:

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

bought one 4 weeks ago and put him in my 210g. with 15 other fish and he died a week ago
...he wouldn't touch prepared foods...*thats the key, if you personally don't see him eat, don't buy it.

i regret my purchase as it just helped continue the selling cycle of these fish that are truly meant to keep in the sea - imo

 

[Billybeau1]

:lol:

My CW eats everything. Have had him for over 3 years now. And the other fish eagerly dock to be cleaned. Once in awhile he will get a little too aggresive and pi** one of the fish off. once in awhile he picks too hard and the other fish chase him away. Otherwise he is part of the community. Make sure he has a nice place to sleep at night where the other fish cant get to him. Mine dug a hole under a rock and has a nice little home.

 

[natep206]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7516816#post7516816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
:lol:

My CW eats everything. Have had him for over 3 years now. And the other fish eagerly dock to be cleaned. Once in awhile he will get a little too aggresive and pi** one of the fish off. once in awhile he picks too hard and the other fish chase him away. Otherwise he is part of the community. Make sure he has a nice place to sleep at night where the other fish cant get to him. Mine dug a hole under a rock and has a nice little home.

awsome man!

what do u feed it? what did u feed it when u first got it?

thanks
nate:beer:

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

i don't know what about my post was funny to you?

 

[natep206]

went to the lfs today (picked up a awsome marbled sea star!!!)and they had like 12 cleaner wrasses. they hadnt fed them yet cause they got them in today. so im gonna go back this weekend. any suggestions on how to pick out a healthy one? besides swiming good, eating and nice color?

thanks
nate:beer:

 

[Rossini]

I brought one,when I was advised not to. Wish I had taken the advice of various people and books.

He ate frozen,and flake but still wasted away after 4 weeks.

 

[falconut]

I tried two at different times. Both ate flake food. Neither one lasted long, I think about a month. Both swam around fine and ate really well, then one day they just disappeared, never to be seen again.

I'm not sure how to tell if they're healthy, but eating prepared foods is probably a must. But that apparently, from my experience, doesn't mean they'll survive either.

 

[Asuran]

neon gobies also carry out the same tasks you might want to give them a try as they are easier to care for.

 

[Billybeau1]

Re: cleaner wrasses

i didnt start this thread for a million people to tell me not to do it. so dont tell me not to please

thanks
nate:beer: [/B]

Matt, thats what I was laughing at, not your post.

Mysis and plankton right off. Then everything else followed.

I really dont know how to pick a good one out of 12. A number of people have failed to keep these guys alive. I think I just got lucky. Hope you will too.

 

[snorvich]

Well if you HAVE to get one, get the smallest one. Try cyclopeeze. Your odds are about one in eight unless you have a very large tank with a lot cleaning customers. Even though they eat they require nutritionally cleaning customers to survive.

 

[MDboyz]

I have one cleaner warser for more than 2 years. It does eat everything I put in my tank. My yellow tang is getting service from the cw every week.

 

[bkbailes07]

i have had a red sea cleaner wrasse for almost a year getting it without knowing how hard they are supposed to be. and it will eat anything from flake to mysis to brine

 

[Fishwhisperer]

cyanide is all i can say

this has given the cleaner a bad name !!!!!

If you get them from an MAC certified source you wont have a problem they are hardy and feed well. They are not the best travellers i'll admit but most settle very well and most shippers ccmpensate for their lack of hardiness by shipping them with a little more water

mine is four and is still going owned now by Mark another member on here now, and still going strong just ask him how he feeds!!!!

my next project is a hawiian one

HTH tom !!!!!

 

[DKRT0821]

I had one for a while. I went on vacation for two weeks and left a friend of mine in charge of feeding. When I got back my wrasse was no where to be found. I don't think my friend may have done a good job, but my cleaner wrasse ate anything I would put in that tank. I introduced it to food by feeding some cyclopede - try that, it may work. I am probably going to get another one soon, but hopefully I will have good luck with it again.

 

[spoiledcats]

I've had one for about 6-8 months now. It eats anything meaty, but seems to prefer to eat the eyes off of frozen mysis shrimp. Also likes cyclop-eeze. Bugs the crap out of the hippo tang sometimes and gets put in his place by him. He bounces around the tank like tigger. And you should see him when he sees the feeding cup. I do enjoy teasing him a little before I put the food in cause it's just so darn funny to watch him bouncing!

 

[mark97r6]

I have Fishwhisperer's cleaner. really does eat anything, so much so it doesnt clean! In a tank with 6 tangs....

I had one before this that i got with a set up i bought, they had it awhile and i had it 3yrs. All in all i have been pretty good with these fish.

My advice though really would be buy one from someone who is breaking down a tank or something, and its a proven surviver!
they are hit and miss in LFS's.
Also be carefull in a smaller tank, as they can really haras over fish when they try cleaning them all the time.

HTH
Mark