help~~~

[akumanohi]

help~~ my doc fish easy to die... wad should i do to help them to survive strongly?!?!?!

[scooter blenny]

err..... give it good quality water and good food....

[Achilles Tang]

I usually recommend people NOT to buy doctorfishes as they acclimatize badly and are parasite obligates (meaning that once parasites run out as the main source of food... they die).

Rarely does one come across specimens known to eat aquarium food and that is if they survive the acclimatization process in the first place.

Also, doctorfishes when removed from the reef, badly affect the fish population which in turn badly affect the reef.

They are better left in the sea. I recommend cleaner shrimps as the better alternative if you want to get them to pick parasites off your fishes.

[lightningstrike]

from what i've learnt, doctorfish only hv a lifespan of about 3 mths....... from the day u buy from lfs.......

[sinner]

they take meaty food also

[sinner]

ooh geez! i'm a HERMIT!!!

[fangtooth]

heard from an'expert' at a lfs giving tips to another costumer---

water dirty nevermind, some fish will get sick, so this doctors fish will

eat the disease.so they wont die.

[ReDDeviLs]

i think doctor fish really feeds on parasites..

my new tank got lots of fishes with ich,and its still alive for almost 3wks compare to the old tank which only survive 2days..

[osmosis]

yes... agree... my doctors also died very soon... but i think the feed on red shrimp also(sea monkey.)

[akumanohi]

jk,andy here... erm... so guys~ any more ways to help doc fish to live?? erm... 1 of my rusty angel have parasites on its body but the doc fishes jus eat abit of it and dun wanna care my rusty alreadi... how? or it is like tt???

[terryansimon]

how you know it has parasites on your body? the parasites that it consumes are mostly microscopic. they don't really makan ich. I think.

[bwilly]

this blue doc thrive on eating parasites on fishes, esp when in the wild. I saw some doc. if your tank does not have sufficient fishes to substain its diet, it will slowly wither n die.

difficult to maintain one of the fish.

[ai[k²]wan]

get a neon goby

[Terryz_]

Mine eat flake too...

[ai[k²]wan]

i prefer ppl to keep cleaner wrasses out of their tanks, leave them to the sea, where they are happy and the other fishes are happy. imagine one day when only a few doctor fishes left in the sea, they charge the fishes expensively hor.. ( 10 pieces of pods for 1 treatment ) haha u will see fishes brushing themselves all the way on the sand bed.

[Dong gu]

i think it shld be left in the wild. there certain fish u can keep but not all. pls do us a favor n stop buying them. get their twin bro instead. looks similar except that it's not a certified doc.

[acce]

i'm lucky mine feed on brine & mysis too, even tried eating pellets .

[Dispar_Anthias]

Unless you know how to provide the needs for doctor, IMo try not to keep them.. I have a both a red sea and a normal cleaner wrasse for more than 11 months already