My 4 Line Cleaner Wrasse Is Cleaning Ich

[fishlette]

as a lot of you would have seen in my other thread, im having a little issue with white spot. i got home this afternoon and my new little flame angel has some spots on her/him ??? anyway, i took all my corals out and took them to the shop and when i got back, my 4 line cleaner wrasse was cleaning all the white spots off the angel and there was a line up behind it i cant see it on anyone now.

i had read in a few places and even been told by a couple of people that they dont clean ich

anyone know anything about this?

 

[SkiFletch]

got pics of the little bugger? There are a few wrasse species that clean ich, so I'm not too surprised

 

[ox5477]

One of natures cool little tricks, having species that clean other species. It still amazes me to watch a discovery channel or BBC show on a reef ecosystem and how little cleaning stations exist in the ocean where fish come from everywhere to be cleaned of parasites. Its awesome to see these little small fish that could be snacks for big fish like sharks but they are totally left alone as sort of a courtesy of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Nature is so fascinating sometimes

 

[AK77]

That's cool. You should try taking a video of it and uploading it if you can.

A lot of creatures have symbiotic relationships with other species as its mutually beneficial, like the remora fish and sharks. The cleaner wrasse gets some tidbits to eat, and the infected fish get parasites removed.

I'd still watch the other fish though, as the tomites of the ich parasite will most likely still be water borne and so possibly will reinfect the fish. Ich has a habit of luring you into a false sense of security as the white spots apparently vanish - which is usually means they have just bursts and are beginning the life cycle again.

 

[shibby]

watchign cleaning wrasses clean is good at work one cleans the clown tang in the big tank and my arm when i got to clean that tank !! they pinch there not massaging like cleaner shrimp and for that reason expect your fish to flair up and chase the wrasse round the tank a few times!!

 

[Matty P]

Just wondering if banana wrasse or red sea cleaner wrasses clean ich?

 

[shibby]

red sea cleaner from what ive read should, banana wrasses though i dont think they will. they usually will clean the fish regardless of ich but from what ive seen they usually only go for fish bigger then them to clean!

 

[fishlette]

ive attached a pic of him. unfortunately, i didnt get any pics of it happening but it was pretty cool. the flame angel was laying on its side and everything to help out the wrasse will try and get some video if it happens again.

i have been looking up on the net about him though and it appears he is not a 4 line wrasse. the pics i can find look nothing like my guy im sure someone here can tell me what he is

 

[Maximus]

I'll have a guess at a red sea cleaner wrass, Larabicus quadrilineatus??

 

[fishlette]

I'll have a guess at a red sea cleaner wrass, Larabicus quadrilineatus??

hey, thanks thats the one

i got some video of him running his station this afternoon but when i downloaded it to the computer and played it, it kept stalling a few seconds into the vid. will take another one if i can on the other camera and see if that helps

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, that's exactly it, those wrasses clean fish naturally in the wild... They're actually difficult to get to eat frozen. Does yours eat prepared foods?

 

[shibby]

all the cleaner wrasses ive come across e.g. at work, eat frozen and eat all types of frozen, i didnt think they were hard to get to feed?!....

 

[fishlette]

Yup, that's exactly it, those wrasses clean fish naturally in the wild... They're actually difficult to get to eat frozen. Does yours eat prepared foods?

i have found him to be very interested in the frozen foods except for when he has duties to attend to over the last few days since he has been cleaning everyone, he hasnt really been to interested in feeding

the only prepared food he has accepted over the last few days is cyclop-eeze. he absolutely loves it speaking of which, if anyone has any fussy fish who are hard to feed, try and track down some cyclop-eeze. i dont know what countries have it, i just know we have only just got it here and its awesome. its kinda like brine shrimp only its a variety of mico-crustaceans and the fish, shrimp...anything, eats them. the take only a few seconds in the water before you can see them actually swimming around. so far i have seen prawn shaped things and beetle shaped things and lobster shaped things i have been told by the guy that supplies them that even mandarins go nuts for the stuff. it is a little in the expensive side, around $60 for an average size tin, but the stuff would last forever. there must be millions and millions in every can i was having trouble getting a few fish to eat, mainly the new ones but the cyclop-eeze makes everyone go into a feeding frenzy lol

 

[norite]

That's excellent. I used to have a cleaner wrasse in my first marine setup, many many moons ago...it was fascinating to watch it pick 'n clean the other fish in the tank, and the fish would stay totally still while it did its job.

I now have a cleaner shrimp, and my yellow tang is a regular customer...it's cool to watch her stay motionless while the shrimp hops onto her and starts picking away....

 

[Matty P]

I've got a red sea cleaner wrasse too but i've never seen it clean any of my fish (Only seen my cleaner shrimps clean other fish). My RSCW has accepted all the foods i've given him, flake, frozen, live, cyclopeeze, etc.