New Cleaner Wrasse
 

That eats Mysis and Brine like a PIG! Six Line doesn't like her and chases her around, which gets my Naso all rowdy who chases both of them. Gonna give the Six Line until tomorrow evening and if she is still being a B**** gonna catch her and give her away.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...anerwrasse.jpg

when i added a cleaner to my tank my 6line harrased it until it went carpet surfing one day while i was away. maybe we could have a death match between our 6lines. :twised:

Hey Phil, I would be in to volunteering my 6-line for the death match...but I've tried everything to catch him and he's smarter than me. I used a trap and every fish was caught but him. You can see by the look in his beady little eye's that he's nasty.:twised:

You no doubt have read that cleaner wrasse are almost impossible to keep long term.\
It appears they need something in their cleaning duties that is missing.\
Most reputable LFS do not carry them anymore.\\
I wouldn't go to the trouble of removing your 6 line and subjecting the other fish in your tank to stress in light of the above.

Always there with positive words for everyone.

Nazerine hooked me up with a trap that worked to catch the Six Line AND my Angel at the same time...only when I walked in the room the six line bolted.

Im gonna start trying again, he made an awesome trap :)

Your sixline would take mine, yours is a fat mofo! he must eat the beating hearts of the fish he kills...

It's no problem. I have 6 tangs full of ich in a 75 gallon and I am adding a few more next week. He will have lots to clean/eat :)

Hey, it is the truth. IMO the advice is solid. No point stressing the other fish in his attempt to catch a very difficult to catch six -line.
What has been your experience with cleaner wrasse to date? Just asking.

What is considered long term?

A week or two to a couple of months.
The cleaner wrasse will be out and about as normal and the next day its gone. There are rare exceptions and unfortunately most reefers are reluctant to post their failures (often multiple attempts to keep them). Some reefers don't post because they cant take posts like JGs. The very rare successful keeper of cleaner wrasse are very happy to post their success. Human nature, eh.

Every author of books in the marine hobby will confirm the same and will tell you they are best left in the ocean to do their cleaning duties.
Most LFS staff will tell you the same as well. No one will tell you they are easy to keep.

For me, the biggest problem with purchasing cleaner wrasses is the fact that they are such an important species in the wild. It's kinda irresponsible, especially with so many cheap, hardy alternatives out there.
Just my two cents.
Let us know how the little guy fares.

I've had three Cleaner Wrasses in 4 years. Been in the SW hobby only 4 years, so not all that experienced. First Cleaner was bought Dec 9/05 (I keep a log) and died Dec/06. Why? I moved. Cleaner didn't survive the bucket trip. But one year ain't bad. Second Cleaner was bought May/07 and died the same day. Why? I neglected to feed the resident fish first. My Bursa Trigger (RIP) ate the Cleaner for dinner when the lights came on. Third Cleaner was bought Aug 2/08 and still going strong. Six months. Rare? If I can do it twice beyond a week or two, or a couple of months, I should start buying lottery tickets again for that rare winfall. Not saying everyone should now go out and buy a Cleaner Wrasse, but I wouldn't say it's rare, under that definition of long term.

Cheers,

Like I said, several posters who have been successful will post.

Here is what a couple of expert fish authors have written.
Robert Fenner
This is the genus of obligate Cleaner Wrasses most celebrated for establishing stations in the wild that are frequented by "local" reef fishes and pelagics for removing parasites and necrotic tissue. Perhaps shocking to most aquarists, all the Labroides rate a dismal (3) in survivability, even the ubiquitously offered common or Blue Cleaner Wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus. None of the Labroides should be removed, not only for the fact that almost all perish within a few weeks of wild capture, but for the valuable role they play as cleaners.

Scott Michael
These wrasses are engaging fishes, but conscientious reef aquarists should refuse to purchase them.

I agree 100% with Osprey.

I have had three different ones now. First one lived in my tanks for three years before jumping :( Second one lived with the first one for about 8 months before being eaten by a Lion fish (in front of me) and the current one is...I think 8 months too now and fine.

I do hear they can be hard to keep but I have found them to be easier than many other species of wrasse.

if it's eating, I don't see why this fish doesn't have the possibility of lasting.

I had one for nearly a year before it decided to try walking on the carpet

I've only had one, and not by choice, that ended up in a tank too small with not nearly enough/large enough fish to clean, and died after about 6months. I really do think it would still be alive if it had been in a larger tank with more/bigger fish to clean/feed from.

I won't own another one for the simple fact that I think they are rather ugly fish. :) Not because I don't think I could keep it alive "long term".

I'll keep everyone updated on how it goes. Given how much he is eating, I do feel that I should be able to keep him alive. I think he is a awesome looking fish.

I have researched them in the past so I know the issues with them.

Every fish in the reef is important to it. I do not feel that the responsibility of buying only "certain" fish should be on us. If Robert Fenner and Scott Michael feel that they should not be purchases, they should deal with Whole Salers or even countries to ban the collection of them. The fact of the matter is, if a fish is in the store, healthy, eating and I feel that my tank will be a good fit for it and if I want it, I will buy it.

I prefer to purchase "aquacultured/bred" fish and corals whenever possible, however as we all know "aquabred" fish are not as common in the hobby as we would like to see. Given that such a small percentage of reefers are dedicated as much as the ones on Canreef, do research on the fish and strive to make their tank as fitting as possible for the creatures living in it, I feel good knowing that this fish has a better chance of surviving in my tank than it will in others.

Philybean posted
I do not feel that the responsibility of buying only "certain" fish should be on us. If Robert Fenner and Scott Michael feel that they should not be purchases, they should deal with Whole Salers or even countries to ban the collection of them. The fact of the matter is, if a fish is in the store, healthy, eating and I feel that my tank will be a good fit for it and if I want it, I will buy it.``

Fortunately, most reefers do not agree with you. Most reefers strive to obtain optimal conditions for the critters they keep.

IMO the responsibility to ensure that the fish/coral can reasonably survive in captive conditions is on you and only you.
Think about it!!

You missed the point. Redefine the definition of "long term". A week or two to a couple of months is not long term, IMO. If I have my current Cleaner for 3+ years, then I will consider it a success. Until then, the jury is still deliberating.

You also missed the part where I admitted to failing on the second wrasse, due to my own neglect of not feeding the resident fish first before the wrasse went in the tank.

Cheers,

I had a problem with my six line beating up a leopard wrasse. I used a bottle trap with a mirror inside. The sixline was smart and would get out just as fast as he could swim in to it. So I cut another peice of plastic from another water bottle and put it in the trap and made a small hole for a peice of fishing line to tie to it. The other end of the line was outside of my tank. When he went inside I was able to pull on the fishing line which closes off his exit. The trap was in my tank for 4 days before I caught him. Once I rigged up this trap door with the fishing line I caught him within 5 minutes. Maybe make a bigger enterance hole and get him used to the trap, the mirror helped alot as it made him a little pi$$ed as he thought there was another sixline in the tank.

i have a cleaner wrasse. had it for just over a year and i moved twice. still doing what he is doing and he is a tropper..

Alot of our tanks are better homes for these fish than most LFS stores. Wouldn't you rather see a CW taken home and given much better conditions/chances of survival than those at a LFS. It's already out of the ocean, and no chance of going back, so yea there is more than the responsibility of ME to take action against collection. I'm not saying the systems at a LFS are horrible, but in comparison there is ALOT more "in/out" activity, greater stress levels, and ich/disease, than most of our tanks at home.

Think about it!! :rolleyes:

Who's saying phillybean doesn't strive to keep his tank in good condition for the critters he keeps?? I don't remember seeing him mention anything about his "lack of husbandry".

There has already been a couple people mentioning they have kept them long-term (longer than you defined as Long-term)...

If you spent half as much time in the rest of the forum as you do here in "Marine Fish" policing the masses, I think we'd all drop dead of shock. :lol:

I remember you saying to me not to keep one and I've had mine for almost a year now, he's fat healthy and happy and I for one am gald I got him. We also got one for my boyfriend's Dad and his cleaner wrasse is doing great. He has had his for about 6 months now.

I have to agree with you. Say if we get a lotto ticket together just imagine the odds we'd create! :wink:

Good points :biggrin:

mine seems to be the boss of the tank. every new fish i get that goes in, he goes and visits and does the check up. great fish to have.

I got one froma guy that was tearing down his tank, he had it for about a year and a half and I have had it for about another 4 months so far.

Mine also seems to investigate and eat a bit of almost every type of food I put in the tank. My copperband is a heck of a lot more picky, but is eating mysis form my hand. As well as brine, but Mysis has nore nutrients from what I've read so I now stick with that...

You just had to go and get a snack, eh ?

I've had mine for about 6 months, and he is perfectly healthy and regularly molting. Eats anything he can get his hands on. Pretty sure he helped polish off a goby that went missing. I wouldn't consider success either if it has not live more than 3 years in my care.

You must be talking about a cleaner shrimp not a cleaner wrasse as i have never seen a wrasse molt.

The real problem with that philosophy is that, by purchasing the fish, you are creating a market for it. So they'll order another one... and another... and another. So long as they can sell them, they'll keep bringing them in. Demand creates the harvest; the fish don't just end up in the shop automatically.
Unfortunately, many people are convinced that they need a cleaner wrasse to have a healthy system... so I don't see demand for them falling to a standstill any time soon.

Do cleaner wrasse not get ich? Or do you get them their own little cleaner fish? and so on, and so on...oh, the mind boggles!! :lol:

Ok, so how about all of you successful keepers post what you were feeding your fish so that we who are not sucessful have a better chance.

And yet still a fair number of ppl in this thread (considering how many have posted) have posted good things about the ones they keep... So what's to say that its not a bad idea to have one in a tank, because they obviously can survive from what ppl seem to be saying.

We might as well get into the topic of Harlequin shrimp.. they are doomed to die unless you start harvesting star fish for food.

I never meant for this thread to get switched to the ethics of our hobby. If anyone is concerned about the health of our reefs and not doing any damage to them, this hobby is not for you. Everything, at one point, came from the wild.

That being said, the cleaner is still doing good. He gets chased by the six line, but since the six line is afraid of the net and the cleaner isn't, half way thru feeding time I put the net in the tank, the six line runs away and the cleaner comes out for his turn. Still eating lots and seems like he has some personality.

Heh, my understanding is that they don't get ich, but I could be wrong.

I don't really have all those tangs, just one who doesn't really have any ich. Due to the fact that this fish is eating, I feel I can support him with enriched Mysis and Brine with-out the need to eat ich. Based off several other responses from from post, I feel confident I made the right choice.

My regal tang gets ich every now and then so my cleaner eats the ich off of him as well as he constantly is picking at all the other fish in the tank. My cleaner wrasse also eats PE mysis and nori.

Cleaner wrasse DO get ich. Mine has had it and used to flash on the sides of my Niger Trigger...must have been like sand paper :D

I agree to a point. But unfortunately most people who argue these ethical points are just way too hypocritical. If you have a tank, you have contributed to a reefs destruction in some way. You have fish in an unnatural environment.

I am all for ethical fish/coral collection and argue it here all the time. I wish more could be done to make certain species less likely to die suddenly in our tanks because they were caught by poison. But in the end, if I really cared as much as I often think I do, I would have given this hobby up so long ago. The day I realized what this hobby does to the reefs around the world should have been enough to discourage me from buying ANY fish or coral. But it hasn't.

Apparently I am selfish enough to continue.

Personally I care a heck of a lot more about how fish are caught but don't feel any species should NOT be caught or kept other than threatened or endangered fish. It just starts to get way too hypocritical when you start to argue what fish should and shouldn't be kept.

A healthy 4" cleaner wrasse in a 180G tank may not have its natural diet but in that same tank a 16" Naso Tang has even less space in comparison. How can you argue that the cleaner wrasse should not be kept in the tank unless you also argue that Naso shouldn't be kept in the tank? Either way its less than ideal yet people will say the cleaner wrasse is unethical :lol:

Well put! I agree 100%. None of us are saints and obviously we share the guilt yet cannot quit this hobby.

I also wonder how you can even ENJOY being a member here Naesco when nearly everything I read by you has this same flavor. That's not a personal attack but seriously what motivates you to police the forums in this way? There's nothing ethical about you keeping a tank whatsoever. There may be different shades of ethical but we're all guilty to some degree.

The motivation is very simple and I don"t look at it as policing the forum.
Many newbies make a purchase of an unsuitable species and post, which post is followed by congratulatory posts and posts for other newbies desiring the same species.

By entering a thread such as this, I have the opportunity of putting forth the opinion of experts like Scott Michael and Robert Fenner.
Some readers get ****ed off because they are going to do what they want to do anyway.
Others are going to re think their purchase and that is the reason I post.