For everyone against the cleaner wrasse

Jayp5117

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So I did a bunch of research on the cleaner wrasse and saw alot of people who are against adding them into our home aquariums. While I was out at A reef creation in buffalo he told me he keeps 1 in every tank. So I went out on a limb and bought one and couldn't be happier. This fish has tons of personality, I catch him cleaning my tang from time to time but other that that he follows me around when I'm around the tank or in the tank. He is probably one of the most social fishes I've ever had he swims through my hand and fingers and tries to clean me from time to time as well. I would suggest one of these guys to everyone in an established tank. He eats everything I put in the tank including sheets of purple nori
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Faisal27

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Make sure you feed it multiple times a Day and have a tight lid on .. these fish will look good one month and die in a day for no reason .. after it happened to hundreds and hundreds of people with no reason for the fish dying .. that’s why they say stay away from it
 
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Jayp5117

Jayp5117

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Yea I feed at least twice a day plus nori and I on weekends I try a little bit more. I do have a good lid on there as well. First 2 days he wouldn't really eat but bow he is a crazy eater, only been in there for a couple weeks now though
 

Faisal27

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I have a 10 foot 500 gallon tank with around 15 Fish total and like 8 shrimps .. 8 of them being tangs .. When people see my tank they always tell me ur way undertsocked and after actually reading articles about tangs and Fish behavior and how to keep them alive for 10+ years I now know that I have reached my limit and no more fish should be added .. there are some stuff that doesn’t make sense to us but we have to trust what people tell us after 30 years in the hobby .. to me in the picture the tank looks full to other people they wonder when I will start livestocking the aquarium .. I learned to listen to peoples experiences and not any rule about Fish per gallons or fish per foot

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Faisal27

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Yea I feed at least twice a day plus nori and I on weekends I try a little bit more. I do have a good lid on there as well. First 2 days he wouldn't really eat but bow he is a crazy eater, only been in there for a couple weeks now though
I really hope that u find a way to keep it healthy and living so I can actually learn from you and apply it to my aquarium .. good luck buddy
 
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Jayp5117

Jayp5117

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I'm not saying I know anything more than anyone but currently he has been an awesome addition to the tank and has been doing great, maybe in the future I'll say yea you where right but I hope that's not the case. I never add a fish in the thoughts of them dying so I monitor and make sure this guy and my other fish are healthy and happy.
 

Faisal27

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I'm not saying I know anything more than anyone but currently he has been an awesome addition to the tank and has been doing great, maybe in the future I'll say yea you where right but I hope that's not the case. I never add a fish in the thoughts of them dying so I monitor and make sure this guy and my other fish are healthy and happy.
Yeah I know what you mean I was just saying the fact that people say don’t keep it applies to me when people say how many tangs or Fish I should have.. this fish has been kept alive in the aquarium before and I really do hope you find a way to do it also so I just hope you keep us updated cause I want one for my tangs for cleaning purposes and just paranoid about a fish dying on me .. so if you manage to do it I would like a report day by day from you pls pls pls so I can get one .. I’m just trying to help you I swear and meant nothing wrong .. good luck
 
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Jayp5117

Jayp5117

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Yeah I know what you mean I was just saying the fact that people say don’t keep it applies to me when people say how many tangs or Fish I should have.. this fish has been kept alive in the aquarium before and I really do hope you find a way to do it also so I just hope you keep us updated cause I want one for my tangs for cleaning purposes and just paranoid about a fish dying on me .. so if you manage to do it I would like a report day by day from you pls pls pls so I can get one .. I’m just trying to help you I swear and meant nothing wrong .. good luck
I hear you, normally I wouldn't have even taken a chance on one but when I talked to the owner of a reef creation which is the only LFS I trust in my proximity and he keeps them and told me just to keep it fed and should be ok I found the fattest one and took it home. I will keep an update to how he Is doing.
 

Faisal27

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I hear you, normally I wouldn't have even taken a chance on one but when I talked to the owner of a reef creation which is the only LFS I trust in my proximity and he keeps them and told me just to keep it fed and should be ok I found the fattest one and took it home. I will keep an update to how he Is doing.
Thx bro .. yeah fatest one is always the best one
 

JaimeAdams

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We have had one at work for 2 years in our 300g display. I have friends in the club that have them. In my experiences with them the problem is that 90% of them do not do well. The other 10% are great fish and do really well. My morals wish that it was the other way around. You probably lucked out and got one of the good ones.
 

ca1ore

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I have not had any particular issues keeping the African blue streak cleaner, though there are other species that are much more difficult. You must have a tight fitting lid though.
 

mort

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For me acclimation and longevity problems aside, I still wouldn't have one simply because of their natural function and how useful they are to wild fish populations.
People were arguing about a paper a few years ago where cleaners were removed from an area and because the cleaner stations disappeared, the fish moved on and the area became barren. I didn't read the paper at the time so can comment on exact details or findings but often the keeping of them is only part of the tale.
 

eatbreakfast

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For me acclimation and longevity problems aside, I still wouldn't have one simply because of their natural function and how useful they are to wild fish populations.
People were arguing about a paper a few years ago where cleaners were removed from an area and because the cleaner stations disappeared, the fish moved on and the area became barren. I didn't read the paper at the time so can comment on exact details or findings but often the keeping of them is only part of the tale.
That paper is one in a series of papers in a long term study, that has been running for over 10years now.

Based on diversity of species and size of the specimens present, reefs with cleaner wrasses were significantly healthier than reefs without cleaner wrasses. However, the researchers have to remove the wrasses weekly because cleaner wrasse reef recruitment occurs quickly.

So even though cleaner wrasses are removed for ornamental collection, they are replaced quickly. Also, reefs reach a capacity for how many cleaner wrasses they can support, as established cleaner wrasses will drive away competition.
 

mort

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That paper is one in a series of papers in a long term study, that has been running for over 10years now.

Based on diversity of species and size of the specimens present, reefs with cleaner wrasses were significantly healthier than reefs without cleaner wrasses. However, the researchers have to remove the wrasses weekly because cleaner wrasse reef recruitment occurs quickly.

So even though cleaner wrasses are removed for ornamental collection, they are replaced quickly. Also, reefs reach a capacity for how many cleaner wrasses they can support, as established cleaner wrasses will drive away competition.

Very interesting thanks. I didn't think it would be a simple "remove them and the area dies" type situation.

It is surprising how many clients they naturally service in a day though and how people think they will be happy with a couple of tangs to look after. I think it was at the waikiki where they removed a pair of hawaiian from a tank with hundreds of fish because they had another pair in there and they thought they were overstocked with them. Also explains why starving ones go so mental relentlessly chasing other fish.

Although I'm biased and would happily talk anyone out of one I have seen people have good success long term with blue streaked but also seen wholesalers pulling out the dead ones.
It's a personal choice at the end of the day and wish the op the best of luck with this fascinating species.
 

danreefman

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This hobby is to be explored. Just keep doing your thing. Don't listen to anybody.
When I do my own thing and not what the stores tell me, my tank flourishes.
Sorry for derailing, just can't stand when people try to talk people out of a thought that is now a reality.
Enjoy your fish. He/she looks happy. If it dies go buy another.

no fear=get what you want
 

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