Cleaner Wrasse

The Cleaner Wrasse, occurs singly, in pairs, and in groups. This unique fish forms a symbiotic relationship with other species by setting up a “cleaning station” to remove unwanted parasites that may have attached themselves. The Cleaner Wrasse will invite fish to their “cleaning station” by performing a calming up and down movement of their tails. These fish may even clean the inside of larger fish’s mouths and gills.

 The Cleaner Wrasse requires plenty of swimming room as they are very active fish, and should be housed with dissimilar shaped and colored fishes in the community marine aquarium. A tight fitting lid or canopy is a must as they can leap from open topped aquariums or into uncovered overflow boxes in reef ready style displays.

The Cleaner Wrasse must be fed small quantities of fresh, meaty food multiple times per day as they do not have the ability to eat large meals at one sitting.

Ideal offerings include small pieces of vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other smaller, meaty foods. Once fully adjusted to the home aquarium these fishes can also be offered a high quality marine flake and tiny marine pellet food to complement their staple diet of enriched frozen food.