Available Again: Captive-bred Cleaner Wrasse

It has been years since the first captive-bred cleaner wrasses were created, by accident, during an angelfish-rearing effort at Bali Aquarich. Now, captive-bred Cleaner Wrasses are here again and available in very limited quantities via larval-rearing efforts at Biota's facilities. — It has been years since the first captive-bred Cleaner Wrasses were created, by accident, during an angelfish-rearing effort at Bali Aquarich. Now, captive-bred Cleaner Wrasses are here again and available in very limited quantities via larval-rearing efforts at Biota’s facilities.

The Biota captive-bred Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) is a great worker fish in aquariums. They pick and clean pests and parasites off larger fish and will even create specific cleaning stations.

As wild-caught, this species is notoriously difficult to keep in captivity because they don’t adapt well to aquarium life and they don’t like to eat prepared foods, instead preferring to clean large fish. It’s also difficult to know the age of a wild adult and if it is at the end of its lifespan.

Captive breeding solves these problems. Our Biota Cleaner Wrasses eat a variety of prepared pellets like EasyReefs DKI pellets and frozen foods. Being born in captivity, they’re well adapted to aquarium life, and we know the exact age of these young fish so they will live their full lifespan in your tank.

Being a member of the wrasse family, they do require a sand bed so they can bury if stressed or create their mucus cocoon for nightly sleeping. Be sure to provide an escape-proof lid, since these fish will actively search for gaps in the aquarium’s cover to jump out.

A Biota representative shared that “We’ve had more requests for cleaner wrasse than any other fish. We’re very excited to be adding the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse to our catalog.”

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