Cleaner Wrasse? - Update

[reeferaddict]

Lucky bugger! Hope you're getting to see the real thing when you're there...

I have searched for diet info and again there's nothing conclusive besides they know they eat parasites, pods, and other mocrofauna.

What percentage of their diet needs to be this to maintain them is one of the things I think the hobbyist will have to observe, which makes a forum like this a perfect place to compare results... i.e. Fish population and type ratios & comparisons.

Mine only tends to clean my PB Tang, Purple Tang, Copperband, Flame Angel, and every once in a while a chromis. All the rest, (4 percs, 2 firefish, 6 line & Leopard wrasses, 2 gobies, and an Engineer goby), either don't need cleaning or go to one of the 3 cleaner shrimp. I have observed my Fire Shrimp cleaning both the PB and Purple tangs. It may be that I would need to add more tangs down the road, but time will tell I guess.

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by reeferaddict

I have searched for diet info and again there's nothing conclusive besides they know they eat parasites, pods, and other mocrofauna.

What percentage of their diet needs to be this to maintain them is one of the things I think the hobbyist will have to observe..

We need to remember that food is absorbed at the molecular level. Be it in fish, humans, or plants. Therefore any food eaten by an animal that has the necessary nutrients is fine to support the animal. The source of the nutrient is immaterial (that goes for the organic food freaks as well) Therefore the natural diet of parasites, dead skin etc. can very well be substituted by Mysis, or even flake food, as it all contains the same nutrients. IMO there is no such thing as an obligate feeder. If the animal will accept a substitute it will be fine.

This should keep the thread going.

[reeferaddict]

OMG a different way of thinking!

I can't wait to see the comments on this. These are the things we hobbyists are responsible to observe. I read in Coral magazine that the last MACNA conference suffered greatly due to the suppression of unconventional thinking by the die hards.

I want more current information than 1973, even 1996... The amount that communication has grown alone in the past 10 years has led to an unprecedented amount of information exchange. Surely we must be able amongst ourselves be able to come to a definitive conclusion regarding this and other sensitive ecological issues in the near future.

[j83]

Bob, I would have to agree with what your saying as it makes complete sense. I just have seen it first hand that out of the blue they have just died. Maybe coincidental, who knows.

Reeferaddict, I agree that there should be more current info out there than what has been stated in the past. Dwelling on old info is not the best way to come to conclusions.

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by Bob_I

This should keep the thread going.

Ya got that right!

When it comes to the Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), I think it's more than just providing nutrients within foods that the fish will accept. I think it's also more than providing nutrients from the parasites of other fishes. So, in short, it's more than providing nutrition. Period.

There is a social dynamic going on between the Cleaner Wrasse and the fishes it tends to. I'm not so sure that only one or two hosts to the Cleaner Wrasse can fulfill the social demands of the fish.

To qoute Scott W. Michael from "Marine Fishes", on the Cleaner Wrasse..."....this species will fare poorly unless kept with a large community of fishes from which it can browse mucus and parasites".

In the wild, I'm sure there is an element of trust between the Cleaner and it's hosts. Something along the lines of "I won't eat you, heck I may even protect you, if you clean these damn bugs off me".
This probably goes on all day long, with the Cleaner having numerous hosts.

Put a Cleaner in an aquarium with, say, two potential hosts and the Cleaner has them both spit polished in a day or two, with maybe only the odd parasite to nibble on from then on.

So now this full time worker is all of a sudden barely part time and probably feeling a tad inadequate and maybe even feeling vulnerable because the trust element isn't as strong.

Over a short period, the fish just says "I can't take this anymore. I need to Clean fish on a regular basis so that I can get my sense of security back." But of course that doesn't happen and the fish dies.

JMHO.

Cheers,

[albert_dao]

Did any of you even heed dunl's comment?

[reeferaddict]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Did any of you even heed dunl's comment?

Originally Posted by dunl

Maybe we need to shift the focus a little bit - what is the actual lifespan of these animals? Not what you have experienced, but the actual, factual, lifespan?

Exactly... anyone with any info on this?

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by reeferaddict

Exactly... anyone with any info on this?

Sorry. I don't know. I would have to research that.
However, short of research, just because it is common knowledge that they die prematurely in captivity leads me to believe that they live longer than at least one year in the wild.

[albert_dao]

Well, you know something, I had one for over three years up until six months ago. This fish is NOT impossible to keep. But, that said, I do believe it should be purchased with the same amount of caution that one purchases other risky buys like Moorish Idols, Achilles Tangs and PBT''s (which, evidently, are ALSO not impossible to keep as once thought).

[christyf5]

http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ANI...aldb.asp?id=69

Cleaner wrasses can live about four years in protected environments. Their lifespan in their natural environment is unknown.