black ich.......HELP!!!!

[GregAW]

Labroides dimidiatus or the blue streaked/striped cleaner wrasse.

Thanks, How many can you keep together?

 

[Amphiprion]

They occur singly, in monogamous pairs, and in small haremic groups in the wild. A pair is more feasible in aquaria, but heed all the potential drawbacks to these fish as discussed above. They are hermaphrodites, btw.

 

[GregAW]

They occur singly, in monogamous pairs, and in small haremic groups in the wild. A pair is more feasible in aquaria, but heed all the potential drawbacks to these fish as discussed above. They are hermaphrodites, btw.

I won't look at these for a while. But I'll remember and be cautious. Thanks

 

[Reefscape]

First off Reefscape.. how about reading my entire sentance.. You say "rather than stating someone is wrong..", but my words were actually "your wrong only because you are generalizing..." BIG difference between calling someone flat out wrong and calling someone wrong due to a simple mistake of grouping all into one (you know, like says all of "X" race is bad because this one person from "X" race killed a family member, so that means everyone in that persons race is bad.)

See, this is where we are going to differ on opinions. My personal experience is that I have never known anyone locally to have any problems with this specific cleaner wrasse. If we are going by survival rates of fish in my local reef club as deciding factor of what fish should or should not be kept in an aquarium, then I will say I have heard and seen many many times more tangs die in the aquarium than I have cleaner wrasses. Does that mean I should be telling people that tangs are not a suitable fish for anyone to keep? No.

Let me ask you.. when you personally know 20 people just in your little geographic area that has all have pefect success with their cleaner wrasses, but yet, over 50% of these people have lost a Tang, angel, anthias, chromis, clowns, etc in the same tank and time period that they have had the cleaner wrasse, wouldn't you start to think that "hey, maybe these cleaner wrasses are not as delicate as people led me to believe because my own personal experience is telling me otherwise." My point being, don't just spout off stuff you read in a book as absolute truth. Poll your local reef club on their experience... have your own personal experience as well. If you notice, when I post, I post my experiences.. not things I have read in a book and repeat as fact. I understand 20 is not a large number, but 20/20 success stories IS a good indication. When I see 10 people just in my very small geographic area have a specific fish for over 3 years without a single loss and one person over 5 years.. to me, that says that is a pretty hardy fish. The whole "leave the fish in the wild were it belongs" statement is just BS. That can be said for ANY fish... and the bluestreak cleaner wrasse is not on any endangered list, heck, it was one of the top 10 most imported fish in the EU a few years back. While it may not be the hardiest of fish out there, it sure beats alot of others (dragonettes come to mind).

CPD - I see what your saying, and I understand why you are saying it.. Your CAPSLOCKING also helped out. "MOST AQUARIST ARE WELL ADVISED TO AVOID CLEANER WRASSES", most people would advise against skydiving as well, but plenty of people still do it with great success . If your going to get on a high horse about taking something out of the wild that provides a service to others in the wild, why aren't you doing the same for cleaner shrimp as well? Do they not provide very similar services to the wild as the cleaner wrasse? Personally, I chose the cleaner wrasse over the cleaner shrimp because of the mortality rate of cleaner shrimp vs cleaner wrasses.

Yes, as a matter of fact, i do have the experience with this fish, and seen first hand the mortality rates which go with its reputation. I believe that holds me in good stead to stand by my thoughts and to agree with articles that state they suffer from a high motality rate in captivity.

I bid continued good luck to the 20 people who have them successfully, however, that is but a mere tiny portion when you look at the larger picture, which is what i stated in my previous post.

Thanks..

 

[saltydunc]

This fish is the best cleaner to use...tank bred ..hardy and a great fish into the bargain...the neon goby.. had him for about 2 weeks now and he does a great job of cleaning my fish.
Ive kept a cleaner wrasse and it was eating fine and looked fat and happy then one day he just died for no apparent reason after about 1 year...maybe he was a good age when i got him i don't know.
Heres the little guy in action on my orange shoulder tang.

 

[GregAW]

Are you sure of the name of that fish? I've been looking at online fish stores and can't seem to find anything named that in the goby line. Looks more like a Orange Shoulder Tang - Acanthurus olivaceus. I'm just guessing.

 

[Catpicklesdog]

The goby is circled

These are Neon Gobies

 

[saltydunc]

thanks catpicklesdog

 

[GregAW]

Thanks, I didn't even see that.

 

[1wizz]

This thread has made me laugh and made me cry, it just go to prove the amount of different experiences and heartfelt opinions of all fish keepers when talking about suitable fish and their habitats.
I think we all do our best and after 5 years in the hobby I'm still learning and willing to listen, trying to take on board all points of view.
As for my two pennies worth, it states in one of the articles about surviving cleaner wrasses stripping their hosts protective mucus away, bring about more problems for the host causing probable premature death.
Ace you say your club members have suffered loses of fish more often than they have lost cleaners could there be any connection?
I also believe a glass box of any size is poor substitute for the ocean and thank all the advances in science and technology for helping make my little slice of the reef possible.
And also you guys/girls too, I like many others find my friends here invaluable..............