Cleaner wrasse ?

[cowboyswife]

Is it ok to have 2 cleaner wrasses in a 55g? Would they fight or anything?




And yeah, Brannon just pulled a foot long bristle worm out of his tank. I gagged.

[InLimbo87]

IMO, these fish should be kept out of the aquarium

Here's a good article on them:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/labroide.htm

[InLimbo87]

Nice avatar BTW.. :lol:

[chrisstie]

If by chance you mean cleaner gobies, I wouldn't recommend it unless you can get a pair you know for sure is male and female. Usually they will fight conspecifics especially of the same sex.

If you're looking for cleaners you could always go with a cleaner shrimp and a goby or a few shrimp, just depends on your preference. Just would hate to see ya get two gobies that would fight - sometimes they'll pair up in a holding tank in a store but its very hard tot ell if its a true pair. Sometimes when you take them home they are more relaxed in a more natural atmosphere and if it was 2 of the same sex they may begin to fight then and not in a holding tank. I know its weird but eh hope it helps :)

[Swirlygig]

I have had my cleaner wrasse for 2yrs now...he is doing awesome...However that is a great article...I wish I knew that when I bought mine...

[Swirlygig]

Also, IMO yes they would fight!

[sytanek]

Well, staying away from them isn't going to happen....we already have two of them, lol. I know the issues with them, but I tell you what my tangs are very thankful for them. We have been battling ick, and tried hypo and formalin, both resulting in the tangs quitting eating and coming close to death, with the addition of the cleaner wrasse, all three of my tangs have become ick free and look healthier than ever.

We'll keep the two apart though, thanks for the comments. :)

[sytanek]

eh, the cleaner shrimp is lazy compared to the wrasse. He used to be eager about cleaning absolutely everything, now that I need him to, he could care less about cleaning anything. go figure.

[cowboyswife]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11068619#post11068619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InLimbo87
Nice avatar BTW.. :lol:

Thanks! I LOVE Jeff Dunham!! No other comedian makes me laugh that hard!

[jade2122]

Jeff dunham is absolutely amazing. saw him at the Improv the other month, my stomach hurt for days from laughter

[cowboyswife]

He is going to be in Daytona on December 29th, but we will be out of town. I bet he is amazing live!!!

[lifesworksataol]

if you need a home for one let me know - i was going to go buy one tomorrow. - is that the same article that said they are from the wild and we are messing up the reefs? if so, i thought they are breed in captivity now?

[Me No Nemo]

Cleaner gobies are bred in captivity. Cleaner wrasses aren't. They are always wild caught.

[lifesworksataol]

cool - thanks for the info - we had fun with you and tom on the trip! hope you both go on more outings with us :-D

[chrisstie]

The irony is to my eyes they look similar but the gobies are unmistakeable with their little suction cup on the bottom- but they both have the blue and black streaking.

ORA often has the blue and the gold versions sent out.. i can't imagine raising a fish thats still relatively so tiny as an adult ;p

[Me No Nemo]

Thanks, we had a great time with you guys as well! Can't wait for the next trip.

Christie, the wrasses are typically larger than the gobies and have a more streamlined look, it that makes sense.

[chrisstie]

Oh I know if I saw two next to each other I'd easily be able to tell but if I glance at the TV when they have one of the Blue Planet things on from a distance they really look similar. I think the gobies have bit more lack of color on them too some "clear spots" where the wrasses have more.. black i think.

I just think its ironic that two fish end up looking really similar and serving a similar purpose from two totally different families

[lifesworksataol]

i have heard that cleaner shrimp cant be aqua cultured either and all are taken from the wild?

[Me No Nemo]

I don't have anyone offering tank raised cleaner shrimp right now. Peppermints, yes, but not the rest.

[lifesworksataol]

its funny how people get mad when you buy the wrasses, but not cleaner shrimp.

[Me No Nemo]

Well, I think the situation here is to educate, not really being "mad". The concerns are that cleaner shrimp are very plentiful and repopulate easily. Plus they have a very good survival rate in aquariums, whereas cleaner wrasses have a poor survival rate and provide a vital role in the ocean, much more so than the shrimp. It's important to keep conservation issues at the forefront when we choose animals for our tanks. The import of animals is based, obviously, on how they sell. The more informed aquarists are regarding the animals we keep, the more informed we are as buyers. If no one buys certain animals due to their vulnerability and importance in the ocean, then they won't be collected and exported.

[Me No Nemo]

Here's another link regarding the wrasses and their survivability in tanks.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/wrasses/CleanerWrasse.php

[InLimbo87]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11079432#post11079432 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Me No Nemo
Well, I think the situation here is to educate, not really being "mad". The concerns are that cleaner shrimp are very plentiful and repopulate easily. Plus they have a very good survival rate in aquariums, whereas cleaner wrasses have a poor survival rate and provide a vital role in the ocean, much more so than the shrimp. It's important to keep conservation issues at the forefront when we choose animals for our tanks. The import of animals is based, obviously, on how they sell. The more informed aquarists are regarding the animals we keep, the more informed we are as buyers. If no one buys certain animals due to their vulnerability and importance in the ocean, then they won't be collected and exported.

Amen Marcye :D

[jsl6v8]

Marcye as ever keeping the environment and our impact in front. Bravo.

[lifesworksataol]

i dont understand why they cant raise then. they let loose there babies in my tank all the time. i know they are small, but they have to eat something in the wild to grow. why is it so hard?

[jsl6v8]

I know when we did an ORA tour they mentioned that a lot of the reason for not tank raising some fish is the cost benefit issue, can make more money raising other fish, some fish just aren't as desirable and therefore aren't captive bred.

[Me No Nemo]

I think that, especially with the civil war that's now going on in Sri Lanka, it would be to someone's benefit to raise skunk cleaners, but I haven't heard of anyone doing so. Perhaps it takes too long for them to mature or they can't find what to feed them when they first hatch. I'd love more info if anyone can find any.

[ichthyman]

Shrimp Breeding Successes at Tropical Marine Centre (http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/hatchery/latest-developments.asp)

[thor32766]

thats really sweet info. Anything that can help reduce what we take from the wild would be great!

[lifesworksataol]

i agree

[Me No Nemo]

Thanks John. Hope they'll be offering them soon.

[chrisstie]

There's a great book out there called Raising and training your peppermint shrimp (or something close) and its got a little cowboy riding and lasso'ing a shrimp

This has great information about the kind of set up you need for shrimps but the challenging part IS the long larval stages.

Fish like banggais and jawfish are mouth brooders so when you have babies they are ready to go on tiny brine shrimp eggs\newly hatched and will soon grow large enough to get cyclopeez and eventually mysis in a decent amount of time.

I'd love to have a tank like a jelly tank to attempt to rear shrimp in- but you need flow gentle enough so as to not smash the little guys against the glass. Very interesting stuff to read on.

When i've worked on my career for a little while and can afford to i think i would enjoy attempting to setup a little fish nursery.

What I find ironic is that clownfish are SO easy to breed compared to other fish but in the wild they breed so often that the clown population in the wild isn't adversely affected even if we had heavy wild collection practices versus aquaculturing.

I really hope to see more efforts focused on the ones like Banggais whos wild population is a concern, and hope that the interest in fish like these would go up as well as awareness and places like ORA could profitably breed the species that need all the help they can get