Cleaner wrasse

[pandora32]

Will a cleaner wrasse pick at ick off the fish? What exactly is it they eat and what happens if theres nothing left for it to pick off the fish? Should i just leave the cleaner wrasses in the store/ocean or do they do good in an established reef? Me and the wife keep looking at them but i really dont know enough about them to risk its life.

 

[NC2WA]

Pandora, read Lee's sticky, great info: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/cleaner-fishes-invertebrates-picky-fishes-55205/

 

[user 26995]

Yeah, I questioned getting a cleaner wrasse once because my tangs were going up to a hawk fish and lying over to get cleaned. So I thought I would get a cleaner wrasse for them. Lee mentioned that they could do more harm to the tangs than good, picking at them. So I didn't get one.
They are pretty fish. I noticed some other wrasses will do some cleaning of fish, like the coris.

 

[Derbird]

+1 about the wrasse. But cleaner shrimp do a respectable job and are an interesting addition to the tank

 

[pandora32]

Just read the sticky. Dont ask me how i missed it...lol. I think ill just skip on the wrasse. I have 2 cleaner shrimp and 2 fire shrimp. Think maybe ill just get a couple more cleaners.

 

[Rea17]

+1 on Lee's thread.

I know you already made up your mind, but if anyone else out there is considering them I wouldn't recommend it. I happen to have one in my tank (I got him as part of a tear-down a couple years ago and tossed him in before I knew better), and my tangs have never been too thrilled with his presence. He rarely tries to clean anyone (which is good), but when he does it results in the tang chasing him until he can dart out of sight. He certainly doesn't rely on cleaning as a food source, as many cleaner wrasses seem to. This guy readily accepts spectrum pellets, flakes, mysis, anything small enough to fit into his mouth. He is actually the first one to the seaweed clip when it goes in the tank as well. He's a nice little fish, but I have heard enough cleaner wrasse horror stories that I will never own one again after this guy passes. They are especially bad in small systems with few large fish - I have seen one seriously damage a friend's yellow tang due to over cleaning and constant picking. The wrasse had to be removed quickly in that instance. IME they are just not a good idea.

Also +1 on the cleaner shrimp if you just like to watch the behavior