Cleaner Wrasse

[SHARPiE]

Got a new tankmate!
Say hello to Mr/Ms Cleaner Wrasse.
VERY active (hard to get a good shot), eating live brine ravenously, QTed for 5 weeks.

Also - this sea star isn't new (2 months now), but thought I'd add a photo never the less.

 

[austinsdad]

Got a cleaner wrasse that eats food. I'm impressed.

 

[SHARPiE]

Got a cleaner wrasse that eats food. I'm impressed.

I spent weeks reading up on these (while the wrasse was being QTed). I noticed a lot of people struggling to get the wrasse to eat. I said to the LFS, I would NOT take it if it wouldn't eat in front of me. They put a little bit of live brine in and he went NUTS! Got him home and drip acclimated him for 45 mins, put him in. Did a little feed today, and he was eating!
WooHoo!

 

[severum mama]

I absolutely love cleaner wrasses. That said, I will never purchase one because the labroides perform such a valuable service in the wild that I believe they are better left there. I hope your fish is the exception to the survival rate in captivity rule- best of luck with it!

 

[FLFishFanatic]

Awesome find! Good luck, they are challenging in captivity, but you've got a good one.

 

[melosu58]

I agree best of luck with it. They dont last too much longer that 4 months though. I could never get mine to last more than two or three months. Nice looking star. What kind is it?

 

[SHARPiE]

For some reason, these only show as thumbnails for me -
So here are the links to the full shot:

ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing
ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

When I bought the Star, it had a description of "Red Sea Star". Not sure exactly what kind it is - any ideas identifying it?

 

[melosu58]

Red Sea Star

 

[dkpate]

Congrats! He's very pretty!

 

[Mitchell0605]

Nice Sharpie!

 

[SHARPiE]

After doing lots of research, I almost couldn't believe what just happened.

The Wrasse has gone straight from live brine, to frozen mysis!!
The next step is pellet food.
This is amazing!

Will try and get a video up if I can work out how...

 

[Mitchell0605]

Awesome Sharpie keep up the good work.

 

[SHARPiE]

Think I have some bad news.
Last time I saw the Cleaner was Friday evening - He was chowing down on Mysis. He wasn't being chased or hassled by any of the tank mates. Zero signs of disease or lethargy.

Its now Tuesday afternoon and I haven't seen him since...

Parameters are fine:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
pH - 8.2
SG - 1.025

I'm going to monitor the ammonia over the next few days and see if there's a spike. If so - my thoughts may be confirmed. I guess I should have heeded the advice I have seen about these not lasting very long...

 

[thincat]

Look around your tank. They are carpet surfers to the max.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Bit late if he is carpet surfing.

 

[SHARPiE]

Just did a feed - no carpet surfers - plus I've got a hooded tank.

Quite worried now - he's missed a couple of feedings.
I think I should plan for the worst.

 

[dkpate]

Oh no! I hope he's just hiding.

 

[austinsdad]

In a 42g tank with LR, you won't likely see any ammonia spike. Besides, if you've got hermits, you'll likely never find any evidence anyway.