There is a lot of misunderstood premises about cleaner wrasses and a lot of information that has been updated by science and has not caught up with aquarists, as well as changes in their capturing, shipping and care that have advanced making them far more suitable, though not without meeting certain criteria, in aquaria.
Okay, I'm going to rant for a minute... Hang tight. :)
Cleaner wrasses should be avoided for reef aquaria.
For more than one reason:
- Some studies have shown removal of this species from wild reefs negatively impacts the health of the reef
- In their wild environment, these fish set up "cleaning stations" which other reef fish come to be cleaned, and have dead scales/tissue removed from them
The studies citing the impact of their removal do not take into account reef recruitment of post larval juveniles. Established cleaners do not tolerate rivals near their cleaning stations, so juveniles that try to settle are chased away, in many cases not able to find a suitable location. So when mature cleaners are removed they are replaced quite quickly.
- They have exceptionally poor survival rates in aquaria
- For every success story, there are hundreds of failures
Many of the failures with this fish are due to the fact that they are frequently sold as a cure-all for disease and parasites in aquaria, which is far from the truth. In many cases where there is failure it is going to a tank with sub standard husbandry, as it is being placed with sick fish and poor water quality without enough properly sized fish for it to "clean". But in tanks with proper husbandry, as we can see from this thread, they can be kept successfully by a large percentage of those that attempt them.
- It may not be possible to sustain them on prepared foods alone
- IMO, they still need some amount of dead tissue/scales from other fish in their diet
And that's an important point; a misnomer and a common misconception.
These fish primarily clean dead tissue/scales from fish, not actual parasites. It's the dead tissue which is their primary diet.
This is true, that prepared foods alone do not sustain them and that dead tissue/scales are important, but their preferred, and most nutritious food is actually mucus from the other fish's slime coat. So being in a tank with enough other fish is paramount for aquarium survival.
If you must own a cleaner wrasse, these are some important points:
Only buy the species Labroides dimidiatus collected via Africa. For some reason, probably which lies in collection methods, those collected from Africa fair better in captivity.
Due to improved collection from the Philippines and Indonesia I have found it is no longer necessary to only source cleaner wrasses from Africa. In the past those other nations were notorious for cyanide collection and poor care of fishes prior to transport. Shipments from these locales have had much greater success in recent years, not just with cleaner wrasses, but with all fish
You need a large tank (150+ gallons) with several larger fish. By it's own nature, the cleaner wrasse will attempt to "clean" (feed from) the fish in the tank. It's going to pester some fish, and could even stress some to death. If there are several large fish which will tolerate being cleaned, your chances of success will improve. The more large fish, the better. If you lack large fish, or only have 1-2 large fish, the cleaner may prove to be too stressful towards your tank's inhabitants.
This is probably the volume needed, though this is a principle and not a rule, each tank is different.
DO NOT BUY A "HAWAIIAN CLEANER WRASSE" (Labroides phthirophagus)
This species has an extremely poor survival rate in aquaria. Think 0.1%. I know of only two people who have ever spoken of long term (>1 year) success with this species.
This cleaner does have lower survival rates than L. dimidiatus, though IME it is about 50/50, still low enough where I personally wont try one. But I have found that many of the delicate Hawaiian fish have a worse record in captivity than their congeners, take for example the potters wrasse compared to other leopard wrasses as well as the potters angel compared to other dwarf angels.
I had stayed away from and discouraged others from keeping as well for many years in a misguided belief that they were obligate cleaners that needed to eat parasites and what not. After finally having one now for several months I stand by my belief that they are indeed obligate cleaners but not as I'd originally understood. IMHO, they need to be actively cleaning others not actively eating parasites. Having enough fish, especially larger and more accommodating species like Tangs satisfy there hard-wiring desire to service. Now a favorite Fish in my Reeftank and is satisfied in its needs in having 5 Tangs, 4 Anthias, 4 Wrasses and an Angel who all are willing to daily cleaning/inspection.
Cheers, Todd
They are primarily looking for the mucus of the slime coat, as studies have shown it is their preferred food source.
