Cleaner Wrasse??

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Myka

I would have to go ahead and agree with Naesco, although sending the message a little more diplomatically would likely result in more positive responses.

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Putting these "typically difficult to keep" fish in the hands of uneducated, inexperienced, or careless reefkeepers is really sad. When you've been around forums for a long time it gets tiring to read repetitive threads like, "What's wrong with my CBB?".

Unfortunately, with these forums, too many people like to just regurgitate popular or politically correct opinion, rather than provide constructive advice based on direct experience. Certainly CBB's and Cleaner Wrasse require more knowledge, care and attention than a Damsel or Angel. But that doesn't mean no one should ever keep these fish as Naesco advocates, and now Myka with her endorsement of Naesco.

In the case of CBB's, there is plenty of good information available about these fish, and how to set up a proper QT environment that suits the fish's behavior and feeding requirements. Both Daniella and myself (and others) have posted extensively about this.

I know far less about Cleaner Wrasse (but probably more than those that just say don't buy them), but would like to learn more. I would like to see more posts (like Daniella's) about how to do it successfully, and also what not to do. Personally, I am not ready to buy a Cleaner Wrasse (and don't know if I ever will), but I do appreciate hearing from those that have been successful, and those who have not (to try and find out why).

I am sure both Naesco and Myka mean well, but they would have a lot more credibility with me, if they advised caution and knowledge with these fish rather than just say "The chances of a cleaner wrasse surviving more than a week or two are almost nil". That statement is just not true.

Instead, I wish more of our "trusted experts" on this forum would advocate proper QT practices, that are appropriate to the specific fish (and coral). QT is not just about preventing disease, but also about acclimatizing and getting your fish strong and healthy before moving them to the display tank.

For me, it's more "tiring" to read over and over about newbies (and sometimes "experts", too) and how their fish are sick and dying because of ich and velvet (although often mistaken for ich). Saying to just just feed garlic instead of QT, is most irresponsible, IMO. And I am speaking from direct experience here, when I got burned initially by listening to the "experts" and going through the horrible ich in my display tank experience. Since then, I have gone QT (hypo only, no copper) with 100% success rates.

So hopefully, we can see more posts about what to do (and not to do) with keeping Cleaner Wrasse, and other other "difficult to keep" fish. There is no substitute for direct experience when it comes to knowledge.