Cleaner Wrasse

Care Summary

The Cleaner Wrasse is one of the most fascinating fish in the ocean but one of the most challenging in captivity; most specimens starve within months because their diet is almost entirely external parasites from client fish. A very large, mature reef with a diverse fish population and a genuine cleaning station may sustain one long-term, but it is not a reliable outcome; this is not a beginner fish regardless of its price. They will eventually accept frozen mysis and small meaty foods, but transitioning can take weeks of patient target feeding; in the meantime they are burning through limited reserves. If you keep one, never combine it with a Mimic Tang that has adopted its coloration; the mimic's advantage disappears and it becomes vulnerable to predator confusion in the display.