Feeding rainbow cleaner

[MARR0NE]

My rainbow cleaner wrasse is looking skinny. It has been 2 weeks and he hasn't eaten. He does pick at my fish. How can I add parasites and other food so the fish can eat? I was thinking of buying chromis fish and changing them at the petshop every few weeks.

 

[Dmorty217]

The fish needs pods to pick at or it will die. Adding a sick fish will not save the cleaner and only make your current fish sick

 

[snorvich]

Contrary to popular belief, cleaner wrasses do not eat parasites.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Contrary to popular belief, cleaner wrasses do not eat parasites.

Not protazoan parasites, but they will eat crustacean parasites, however adding fish with parasites is not a successful strategy.

If it is in a tank with many fish it may be able to be sustained by their slime coats and damaged scales, but this fishes survivability is hit and miss.

 

[Betta132]

Treat it like a mandarin dragonet and give it lots of live foods.
What size is the tank? My guess is it's too small and he's run out of pods.
It won't eat parasites off other fish. That's a myth. They're picking at dead skin, really.

 

[snorvich]

Not protazoan parasites, but they will eat crustacean parasites,

I agree, however many folks in the hobby think they consume protazoan parasites.

 

[Betta132]

By crustacean parasites, you mean things like those nasty isopods, correct? Because those are ewww.
Adding sick fish will only get your other fish sick and quite possibly infect the wrasse.