blue streak
 

hello all i have a Question i am a little worried as i picked up a blue streak wrasse yesterday at Redcoral (love that place) i add him around 5:00pm and he was swimming with my tang and clowns like they knew each other...and this morn after the lights came on... no sign of him !!!???? any ideas
Thanks
Shawn

He could be hiding.
What you bought was a cleaner wrasse. They have a dismal survival record If you find the body, return it to Redcoral for a full credit. They should not be bringing them in.

LFS buy them because they create interest in prospective hobbyists who observe them cleaning fish. They attract people into the hobby just like watching clowns bury themselves in anemone do.
The reality is most of them do not survive in the LFS tanks and an honest LFS will tell you that.

They are best left in the ocean doing the good job they do cleaning other fish.

i knew it was a cleaner wrasse when i bought it i wanted to get him for my tangs as they love a cleaning i was just wondering if any one has any ideas to coach him out of hiding

Only problem is once he has cleaned everything unless he's eating prepared foods he's going to starve to death :neutral:. I would bring him back to Redcoral, have to agree with naesco they should be left in the ocean or only specially ordered in for people with 1000g tanks and 100's of fish. I don't know if this is true for cleaner wrasses but my Red Corris Wrasse sleeps in the sand maybe he's just chillin there?
Levi

Btw how are the Frogspawn/ Pagoda? Thanks for picking them all up last night!

There doing great thanks and the frog is all opened up ....
But the cleaner was eating mysis and rottis last night well anyway i just hope hes taking it easy for now .....

I thought about returning the cleaner but i will never find him in a 6 footer with 220 lbs of LR....and the lfs is an hour drive and we got 5 " of snow and ice in the last 2 days and its -14 so i don't think i will be taking him back

Ahah, ya good luck with that. I have a 5 inch corris wrasse in a 4 foot tank, only way to catch him/ get rid of him is to purchase a 8 inch frog fish :neutral:.
Levi

haha he came out ..he did have a big day yesterday prally slept in

Shawn;

It was great seeing you again the other day thanks for dropping by.

The cleaner Wrasse sleeps in the sand and will surprise you will by popping out some time today.

If you can catch him I would take him back without a question .

I will be getting in tank bred and raised neon gobys that have been known for cleaning which should satisfy naesco and mr. elite.

Talk to you soon.
Thanks
Kevin

Kudos to you Kevin for bringing is tank bred and raised neon gobies which provide the same cleaning abilities as the cleaner wrasse.
Wayne

Tank raised FTW :lol:! If the cleaner is eating prepared foods then you should be fine.

Thanks again Kevin ... He did pop out and surprise me ...and i think i will keep him as he seems to be doing great as my two tags keep taking turns to get in front of the cleaner ..and is such a nice fish to watch ....

fyi we saw one of the others that came in the same shipment eat brine today.

For a number of good reasons there are a many varieties f livestock that are unsuitable for captivity. Specialized diets, growing to too large a size, easy susceptibility to disease, poor adjustment to aquarium conditions, being too dangerous, too rare, or performing a needed function in the wild among other traits preclude certain species being attractive to aquarists.

Unfortunately this list includes specimens that are regularly offered to the hobby. Why? The answer not surprisingly is someone will buy them. I would like to believe that mainstream aquarists are an informed, conscientious lot dealing from a position of knowledge with intelligent, honest dealers, wholesalers, transhippers... all the way back to the collectors and breeders. Alas, I must be dreaming. How much do any of us know re what we do? Is it enough to have the means and desire to "buy" what you want?

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.

The above is from http://wetwebmedia.com/labroide.htm
Robert Fenner

I think a lot has changed with feeding since articles were posted on wetwebmedia. There is now a larger range of foods available since the last article that was referenced. I find most cleaner wrasses now accept some frozen food. I have two, and I've had one of them for 2 years and the other is over a year.

Although progress has been made with special foods and understanding certain fish's requirements like the mandarin goby as an example, that is not the case for cleaner wrasse and other species like the Gold Rim tang (A. nigercans).
They require something in their diet which at this point is unknown.
There are cleaner wrasse from the Indian Ocean area and Africa what have better survival rates but they are not yet available here.