Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

[cruzin94066]

A friend of mine gave me a hawaiian wrasse to take care of my ich problem after it took care of his ich problem. He's doing a pretty good job of it right now but when I did research on its care it seems like he only eats parasites. How can I keep this guy from starving. Anybody had success with them.
Thanks

 

[AdidaKev]

My best advice would be to try brine or baby brine. Unfortunately, though, cleaners are almost always parasite-only feeders.

 

[rayjay]

The hawaiian cleaner wrasse will not eat anything other than parasites.
I've attempted to get them to live at the LFS when they get them in and have tried nauplii and various sizes of ongrown brine shrimp.
Nor do they feed on brine shrimp mush like the Shri Lankan ones do that I keep. If they ever get another one in I'll try live copepods and see what happens then.
The Shri Lankan cleaners I have no problem keeping, and usually have seven on hand all the time.
Ones I sell, (after a minimum 3 months in my tanks) will eat everything I feed to the tanks, including my main feed, spirulina flake food.
Some hobbyists in the area report success with the ones from Bali but many more have reported losses.