hawaiian cleaner wrasse

[milsj099]

picked up a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse yesterday and hes happily munching down flake

 

[MoonSkin]

Awesome, always wanted to try a cleaner but, I was afraid of their diet issues : (

 

[milsj099]

i think if u get one thats already feeding they can do well
if not just feed them really small pieces of food and they may take to it

 

[humaguy]

this is one fish that should not be pulled from the ocean for the hobby...
they rarely survive long...
africans haven proven to be the hardiest...
good luck and keep us updated...

 

[rssjsb]

I'm glad your fish is doing well, but still think these fish should stay in the ocean.

Feeding is only part of the reason that these fish are problematic. They can harass tankmates. They also play an important role on the reef, so removing them is not great.

 

[humaguy]

I'm glad your fish is doing well, but still think these fish should stay in the ocean.

Feeding is only part of the reason that these fish are problematic. They can harass tankmates. They also play an important role on the reef, so removing them is not great.

totally agree...

 

[evolved]

^ Agree with the three above comments.

In fact, no cleaner wrasses should even be collected (regardless of species), let alone purchased.

 

[Yurivd]

Here in South Africa cleaners can be found in rock puddles (thy are abundant in the wilde ) and take food regularly

 

[SDguy]

Have their been any studies done on the effect of removing all cleaner wrasses from an area?

 

[evolved]

Indeed:

Technical paper as to their benefit on a wild reef (and therefore, impact if they're collected): PLoS ONE: Long-Term Effects of the Cleaner Fish Labroides dimidiatus on Coral Reef Fish Communities

Here's the best article I've ever read. Source/Author speaks for itself:
Labroides

More:
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Common Cleaner Wrasse
Cleaner Wrasse
Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse Facts, Information, photos and pictures - Facts, Information, photos and pictures of the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
Blue Streak Cleaner Wrasse

This one provides a snippet of behavior in the wild; conclusion can be made why one might make a poor aquarium candidate: Zoologger: Patriarchal fish punish powerful females - life - 15 June 2011 - New Scientist

Interesting and informative discussion here (see post #10): Cleaner wrasse

 

[SDguy]

The first one is the one I was remembering. Thank you.

Now I guess the next question is, what is the fecundity of cleaner wrasses?