Does Cleaner Wrasse clean small fish??

[ocellaris06]

What will be the different (in terms of function or side effect) to keep cleaner wrasse or cleaner shrimp? Cleaner Wrasse cleans big fish, but how about small fish like ocellaris and yellow watchman goby? Will cleaner wrasse clean cleaner shrimp?

 

[kevin2000]

You should note that neither cleaner wrasses nor cleaner shrimp are effective in eliminating ich.

Your 20 gallon tank seems like its already pretty crowded with fish so if its a choice between the above you should go with the shrimp.

 

[jakleen]

cleaner wrasses are obligatory feeders. they will not take other foods as far as i know of and will starve to death. good jumpers too. they should not be removed from oceans because the reef fish will suffer . they clean all fish,big or small. cleaner shrimp is better choice because they also eat other foods like flakes,frozen and pellets. you can use neon goby to help clean parasite from your fish too.,but i love the cleaner shrimp . they crawl on your hand and try to clean it. cool little things. my 2 cents. good luck. jakleen

 

[chrisp074]

The shrimp is the way to go, the wrasses mostly just die in captivity. As Kevin said, neither remove ich, their natural diets is mostly parasitic Isopods and other large parasites, ich is just too small for them to find/eat.
-Chris

 

[aznlmpulse]

My cleaner loved flakes. He ended up jumping out of the tank though. so sad. The tank was 90% covered but he managed to get out.

 

[ocellaris06]

Jakleen, I just read about the cleaner wrasse should be kept in the ocean. I agreed with you and won't buy it.

Will neon goby cause problem with my yellow watchman goby? neon goby can control ich. Am I right? Can cleaner shrimp do it too? May be I will remove the crab and 2x turbo snail to make room for two cleaner shrimp........! Two.... any chance to have baby cleaner shrimp??!!

 

[kevin2000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10165484#post10165484 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ocellaris06
neon goby can control ich. Am I right? Can cleaner shrimp do it too?

Thats just part of ich myth lore ... neither will eliminate ich.

Heres a good article which discusses ich, how to cure it, and some of the common myths.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

 

[luke33]

I've had a cleaner wrasse for over a yr now, love him, he's an awesome cleaner and most of my fish love him. I do believe he will eat ick, unlike others. But it won't cure ick. I have a cleaner shrimp as well and he does a great job too, but does nothing compared to the wrasse. I had ick a while back and my dog face puffer would allow the cleaner wrasse to swim inside his gills and let him eat away at it. This is why i believe they do eat parasites. My wrasse will eat formula 1 and 2 along with mysis and brime, and anything else i throw in there. He swims with my puffer like they have a simbiotic relationship. Would i suggest one? No, they are very tough to keep and are not good to take out of the ocean. But i love mine!

 

[Kuzujanakis]

I actually saw my cleaner wrasse eating from the nori clip a few days ago! Mine spends most of his day trying to eat who knows what off the sides of almost all my fish, but come feeding time he gladly eats mysis or whatever the meal being served is...

 

[aznlmpulse]

I don't understand why people get so worked up over cleaner wrasses. They do an awesome job picking ich off fish, and the general consensus is that they're really not that picky when it comes to eating. If anything, they acquire a taste for prepared foods, and stop cleaning fish. Same goes for cleaner shrimp.