Acclimating a Kuiter's Leopard Wrasse

[stklaw]

Hi there all. I have a new 10 week old 75 gal reef tank that I will be adding 2 wrasses to this TUE. One is a golden rhomboidalis male that I'm not concerned about, but the other addition will be a female Kuiters Leopard wrasse that will be shipped with a 2" bed of sand in the bag. I'm not quarantining her due to the additional stress; just acclimate and in the DT with the golden rhomboidalis. Has anyone acclimated a leopard wrasse shipped in sand&water and would you have any insight or suggestions on its acclimation & transfer considering the sand? Thanks!!

 

[Billdogg]

IMHO, your tank is too new for something like a Leopard wrasse. Their mission in the tank is to hunt down little things to eat. Because your system is so new, there really won't be anything for them. It is a beautiful fish. I really would suggest holding off on it for now.

As for the acclimation itself - I assume this is from a online vendor and so will have been in the bag for hours? If so, float the unopened bag to match the temp of your tank, and then quickly open it and put the fish directly into your system. Drip acclimating will just increase the stress to the fish.

 

[stklaw]

Thanks for the advice. I actually already ordered the pair so no turning back now. Nevertheless, my tank at 10 weeks old has a healthy refugim stocked with 4 bottles of algae barn 5280 live copepods. I can see them frolicking around in the DT. The fish are coming from LA California facility, and they informed me their leopards are all eating frozen mysis and brine shrimp. So I'm optimistic I have the pods to cover her munchies and get her interested. However what things (other pod types, live brine or glass shrimp??) could I add to the DT to increase success? Thx!

 

[Scurvy]

I would have agreed with @Billdogg and advised you wait. Keep a close on their eating habits. While you may see pods today a pair of leopards will decimate the population in a 75g tank fast. Supplementing food may be required sooner rather than later. FWIW Live Aquaria drops ships from wholesaler 's in CA so i doubt they would know what the fish were eating prior to sale.

 

[stklaw]

I appreciate both of you sharing your knowledge. I'm hopeful that in acclimating the golden rhomboidalis fairy wrasse at the same time will stress the Kuiters less and encourage it to eat frozen mysis/brine. The Kuiters should be the only copepod eater in the tank, as I decided I would prefer her over a Mandarin.
A question for Billdogg (or anyone in the know): you suggested temperature acclimation but not opening the bag for drip acclimation and putting her directly in the DT... is that because the stress and/or ammonia levels are a bigger concern than any subtle water differences? Should I acclimate the golden rhomboidalis wrasse the same way then? My 10-week old water parameters are spot-on, lots of copepods, and only a Randall's Shrimp and Citron Goby in there now.

 

[Billdogg]

You hit it right on the head. The ammonia in the bag will quickly become quite toxic when exposed to fresh air and saltwater. That is also one of the many reasons you should avoid the transfer of any of their water into your system. You can, however, check the salinity of the water in the bag using a syringe and small needle to pierce it and then put piece of tape over the hole while you temperature acclimate. For best results, the salinity in the tank they are headed to should be as close as possible as that in the bag. That is just one of the many reasons the use of a small QT is such a good idea. The other major thought is that if there are any diseases introduced with the new fish, you will end up treating all of your fish instead of just the new ones. If you are unable to do that, for whatever reason, you could contact the company you are getting them from and ask what they keep their tanks at. Any reputable company will be more than happy to supply that information to you.

HTH!

 

[cancun]

Hi there! I thought I would chime in....I have six Leopards in my tank....I have had them all for several years. I bought them all from the same LFS, so I made sure they were eatting when I brought them home. So that made things easier for me. Mine eat frozen mysis, Krill, fish eggs, and they love LRS Reef Frenzy. Get them to eat ASAP. Very important. A fish that eats is a fish that lives IMO.

Secondly, LA CA facility generally ships their fish at low salinity...1.018 or so. Keep that in mind as far as acclimation.

You probably already know this, but Leopards could disappear into the sand for several days when first introduced. Never dig through the sand to look for him. If they are healthy they will come out when ready! Everyone else gave great advice also. I have 12 Wrasses, they are by far my favorite fish.

If you have trouble getting him to eat buy some Reef Frenzy.....they love it.... frozen flat pack...it even has a pic of a Melegris Leopard Wrasse on the packaging! LOL! Keep us updated on how they are doing once you get them too!!!! Also pics!

 

[stklaw]

You hit it right on the head. The ammonia in the bag will quickly become quite toxic when exposed to fresh air and saltwater. That is also one of the many reasons you should avoid the transfer of any of their water into your system. You can, however, check the salinity of the water in the bag using a syringe and small needle to pierce it and then put piece of tape over the hole while you temperature acclimate. For best results, the salinity in the tank they are headed to should be as close as possible as that in the bag. That is just one of the many reasons the use of a small QT is such a good idea. The other major thought is that if there are any diseases introduced with the new fish, you will end up treating all of your fish instead of just the new ones. If you are unable to do that, for whatever reason, you could contact the company you are getting them from and ask what they keep their tanks at. Any reputable company will be more than happy to supply that information to you.

HTH!

Hi there! I thought I would chime in....I have six Leopards in my tank....I have had them all for several years. I bought them all from the same LFS, so I made sure they were eatting when I brought them home. So that made things easier for me. Mine eat frozen mysis, Krill, fish eggs, and they love LRS Reef Frenzy. Get them to eat ASAP. Very important. A fish that eats is a fish that lives IMO.

Secondly, LA CA facility generally ships their fish at low salinity...1.018 or so. Keep that in mind as far as acclimation.

You probably already know this, but Leopards could disappear into the sand for several days when first introduced. Never dig through the sand to look for him. If they are healthy they will come out when ready! Everyone else gave great advice also. I have 12 Wrasses, they are by far my favorite fish.

If you have trouble getting him to eat buy some Reef Frenzy.....they love it.... frozen flat pack...it even has a pic of a Melegris Leopard Wrasse on the packaging! LOL! Keep us updated on how they are doing once you get them too!!!! Also pics!

Thanks for chiming in! It's cool to see people willing to share their levels of expertise with others for the health and longevity of our fish pets. Thanks for the follow up Billdogg as well. Based on your collective advice, I will probably approach this acclimation as follows: pick up wrasses at the UPS site when they open, float to temp acclimate for 30 minutes, cut open bag and gently pour her into a large net resting in a container of my DT water mainly to expell her ammonia-laden bag water. Then immediately to the DT. MY salinity is 1.023 so so I'm hopeful there's no real shock with water variations as long as I have the temps matched up and eliminate the ammonia factor. Last week I obtained an Adorned and a RH Solon Fairy wrasse from Live Aquaria to get my other tank [105g FOWLR] broke in and they came relatively unstressed and were happy as clams after a few hours in. I used drip acclimation too, but based on your replies I will get the Kuiter's Leopard in without dripping. I will certainly update after TUE with pics as well. Here's a pic of my two-sided tank I've been mentioning... Thanks again every1!

 

[Earl Karl]

In my experience, my number #1 rule of getting fish online is never get Leopard wrasses (unless it's a Moyeri, hardiest species of their genus). They do absolutely terrible from shipping. I believe @4FordFamily is like 0 for 1000000000000 with this species (kidding), but seriously you better pray to God a million times if you want that wrasse to do well.

I only get Leopard Wrasses locally, all of them do well. Only success I have with getting leopard wrasses online is the Moyeri.

 

[Earl Karl]

Also considering how new your tank is and the fact that you are asking for info AFTER you made your purchase... I will pray to God a million times as well that the wrasse lives and thrives in this tank. No fish should die under lack of preparation.

Also no QT? Yikes.

 

[4FordFamily]

In my experience, my number #1 rule of getting fish online is never get Leopard wrasses (unless it's a Moyeri, hardiest species of their genus). They do absolutely terrible from shipping. I believe @4FordFamily is like 0 for 1000000000000 with this species (kidding), but seriously you better pray to God a million times if you want that wrasse to do well.

I only get Leopard Wrasses locally, all of them do well. Only success I have with getting leopard wrasses online is the Moyeri.

Lol I have had some success with others the one I am 0/5 for is Kuiteri and 1/3 on choati and it died a year later for no apparent reason.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Some advice on acclimating your two fish. The first comment is do not put a fish that was shipped at 1.017/1.018 directly into water that is 1.023 or above. Fish have a very easy time adapting to a rapid decrease in salinity, but a rapid increase in specific gravity of over 0.003 or so can be deadly.

Considering the expense of the kuiter's (and its rarity), I'd strongly suggest getting a 20g high from Petco, plopping a heater and a sponge filter in it, adding a soft-ball sized rock from your display, and a 6" diameter tupperware container full of sand thoroughly rinsed in saltwater from your display. Bring the specific gravity down to 1.017 (or matching the shipping water), and acclimate the fishes to 1.026 over the course of a week. Not only will that be a lot less risky from the standpoint of a rapid rise in specific gravity, you will have a much smaller volume of water to watch to see if they're eating.

Never, ever net a fish. They need their slime coat, and a net damages that coat. Instead, when you get the fish, acclimate the bag to the temperature of the tank it's going into, test the water for its specific gravity as described by Billdogg, gently pour the entire contents of the bag into a bucket, and quickly capture the fish with your bare hand and transfer it into clean water of the same specific gravity and temp.

 

[Earl Karl]

Lol I have had some success with others the one I am 0/5 for is Kuiteri and 1/3 on choati and it died a year later for no apparent reason.

Oof, that's a lot of money down the drain... sucks that a beautiful species is so delicate, I would love me some more leopard wrasses.

 

[TexAgReefer]

In my experience, my number #1 rule of getting fish online is never get Leopard wrasses (unless it's a Moyeri, hardiest species of their genus). They do absolutely terrible from shipping. I believe @4FordFamily is like 0 for 1000000000000 with this species (kidding), but seriously you better pray to God a million times if you want that wrasse to do well.

I only get Leopard Wrasses locally, all of them do well. Only success I have with getting leopard wrasses online is the Moyeri.

I got a leopard wrasse from LA and had no issues. Put her in an acclimation box with a small bowl of sand for 5 days to get her eating. Ate frozen like a champ and has been doing amazing (3 months now).

 

[Earl Karl]

I got a leopard wrasse from LA and had no issues. Put her in an acclimation box with a small bowl of sand for 5 days to get her eating. Ate frozen like a champ and has been doing amazing (3 months now).

Try the tougher to keep Leopards like Kuiteri. WHOLE nother level.

 

[cancun]

I agree with the salinity issue.... raising salinity too quickly is almost 100% fatal, at least it has been for me. Just something to be aware of.

I have never tried a Kuiteri, because my LFS that I buy my Wrasses from has a hard time getting them in. With six Leopards I don't think they would appreciate another one....LOL. I tried a large black leopard and my large blue star leopard killed him. I have two blue stars, 2 Melegris, and 2 Moyers. I added at different times. Not the best pic, but a few of them.

One Melegris I got about a year ago was the smallest Leopard I have ever seen. He was a tad over a 1/2 inch long. Like newly hatched. My LFS asked me if I wanted to take him because they couldn't believe they were sent a fish that small. So I took him. He was so tiny, but swimming happily around their coral tank. He even ate mysis when they fed the tank. He is now about 2 inches long. Love the little tike.... LOL!

 

[cancun]

Thanks for chiming in! It's cool to see people willing to share their levels of expertise with others for the health and longevity of our fish pets. Thanks for the follow up Billdogg as well. Based on your collective advice, I will probably approach this acclimation as follows: pick up wrasses at the UPS site when they open, float to temp acclimate for 30 minutes, cut open bag and gently pour her into a large net resting in a container of my DT water mainly to expell her ammonia-laden bag water. Then immediately to the DT. MY salinity is 1.023 so so I'm hopeful there's no real shock with water variations as long as I have the temps matched up and eliminate the ammonia factor. Last week I obtained an Adorned and a RH Solon Fairy wrasse from Live Aquaria to get my other tank [105g FOWLR] broke in and they came relatively unstressed and were happy as clams after a few hours in. I used drip acclimation too, but based on your replies I will get the Kuiter's Leopard in without dripping. I will certainly update after TUE with pics as well. Here's a pic of my two-sided tank I've been mentioning... Thanks again every1!

That tank looks nice! We are all here to help for sure. Please keep us updated and if you have any more questions along the way please ask!!!

 

[stklaw]

Also considering how new your tank is and the fact that you are asking for info AFTER you made your purchase... I will pray to God a million times as well that the wrasse lives and thrives in this tank. No fish should die under lack of preparation.

Also no QT? Yikes.

So after Earl Karl's input and the messages sent from others, I have responses. Earl, i felt that in asking for additional acclimation and early care advice 4 days before the fish arrives was showing preparation. I could wait a half year, but then I'm adding her to a tank with more food competition and more fish with territory and temperament that might stress her when right now she'd be top fish with a fairy wrasse buddy going in at the same time. But I appreciate that I've received a lot of good input in both directions to best prepare. It allows me to know exactly what to do, what to avoid, what to perhaps add now or what to pick up before then. It has changed my plans for Sunday now... I will be going to my LFS an hour away to pick up some live black worms and brine shrimp for her. So yes I understand that adding a Leopard Wrasse at any time is difficult due to their poor shipping history and getting it through stress enough to eat. I only have one LFS within 60 miles of me and they dont mess with Leopards...and if they did then it would have to go through an extra shipping stress and acclimation situation 2 weeks after they received it that way. It might get harrassed or sick at the shop as well. So online isn't necessarily my best bet, but its my only bet. I realize that ordering thru Live Aquaria (or any overnight shipping) adds additional stress. I also understand many of you quarantine. I have a friend who owns and operates an aquarium maintenance business. He's coming over TUE morning for the acclimation (and some other care/maintenance stuff to do). He says he doesnt quarantine unless he sees something glaring or necessary to do so. I may quarantine in the future with other fish. But right now I'm more concerned about further stressing out an already stressed out fish in quarantine, when I have her DT full of things that "should" alleviate her stress (open swimming, lots of LR with copepods abound, no other competition for food or harrassers to mess with her, a nice 2-2.5" sandbed, and perfect 10 week old water with no nuisance algaes, etc). I guess some might think I'm not prepared enough for the Kuiter's, but with what I have in place and the intangibles, the LAST thing I want to regret is if she dies in a small QT from stress or starvation or something else, when had I acclimated her into her permanent home maybe she would have flourished like other examples I've heard right here on R2R posts. So I appreciate everyone's input and personal experiences, even if I have a few doubters. I sure hope she surprises the heck out of earl this time ; )
With all of that said, I still want as much advice as possible regarding this direct acclimation. My "current" plan would be to float acclimate for temperature, open bag and immediately dump out most of its water. Then combine her in an acclimation box with my DT water adjusted with RO water to bring the salinity down to where it is closer to the 1.020 that LA ships at. Then every couple minutes add some of my DT water to continue to allow it to adjust to increased salinity. Then perhaps after 10 minutes or so of that add her to her new home - the DT

That tank looks nice! We are all here to help for sure. Please keep us updated and if you have any more questions along the way please ask!!!

Thanks for the compliment Cancun. I wanted 2 tanks and them to be centerpieces of the room, so I had a 6x2x2 made with an acrylic divider so that I could have 2 seperate sides, one FOWLR and one reef. The overflows are centered on the divider and both lead to 2 seperate sump systems. Here's a pic of the "living reef" side that my Kuiters will be going into...just a Randall's shrimp Goby and citron in there now.

. Would any of you advise doing it a bit differently or does this sound like a nice plan? My friend (aquarium maintenance company guy) has his thoughts too, but in preparation for this important and delicate addition, I wanted to also ask you, the R2R community. Thank you all!

 

[cancun]

So after Earl Karl's input and the messages sent from others, I have responses. Earl, i felt that in asking for additional acclimation and early care advice 4 days before the fish arrives was showing preparation. I could wait a half year, but then I'm adding her to a tank with more food competition and more fish with territory and temperament that might stress her when right now she'd be top fish with a fairy wrasse buddy going in at the same time. But I appreciate that I've received a lot of good input in both directions to best prepare. It allows me to know exactly what to do, what to avoid, what to perhaps add now or what to pick up before then. It has changed my plans for Sunday now... I will be going to my LFS an hour away to pick up some live black worms and brine shrimp for her. So yes I understand that adding a Leopard Wrasse at any time is difficult due to their poor shipping history and getting it through stress enough to eat. I only have one LFS within 60 miles of me and they dont mess with Leopards...and if they did then it would have to go through an extra shipping stress and acclimation situation 2 weeks after they received it that way. It might get harrassed or sick at the shop as well. So online isn't necessarily my best bet, but its my only bet. I realize that ordering thru Live Aquaria (or any overnight shipping) adds additional stress. I also understand many of you quarantine. I have a friend who owns and operates an aquarium maintenance business. He's coming over TUE morning for the acclimation (and some other care/maintenance stuff to do). He says he doesnt quarantine unless he sees something glaring or necessary to do so. I may quarantine in the future with other fish. But right now I'm more concerned about further stressing out an already stressed out fish in quarantine, when I have her DT full of things that "should" alleviate her stress (open swimming, lots of LR with copepods abound, no other competition for food or harrassers to mess with her, a nice 2-2.5" sandbed, and perfect 10 week old water with no nuisance algaes, etc). I guess some might think I'm not prepared enough for the Kuiter's, but with what I have in place and the intangibles, the LAST thing I want to regret is if she dies in a small QT from stress or starvation or something else, when had I acclimated her into her permanent home maybe she would have flourished like other examples I've heard right here on R2R posts. So I appreciate everyone's input and personal experiences, even if I have a few doubters. I sure hope she surprises the heck out of earl this time ; )
With all of that said, I still want as much advice as possible regarding this direct acclimation. My "current" plan would be to float acclimate for temperature, open bag and immediately dump out most of its water. Then combine her in an acclimation box with my DT water adjusted with RO water to bring the salinity down to where it is closer to the 1.020 that LA ships at. Then every couple minutes add some of my DT water to continue to allow it to adjust to increased salinity. Then perhaps after 10 minutes or so of that add her to her new home - the DT

Thanks for the compliment Cancun. I wanted 2 tanks and them to be centerpieces of the room, so I had a 6x2x2 made with an acrylic divider so that I could have 2 seperate sides, one FOWLR and one reef. The overflows are centered on the divider and both lead to 2 seperate sump systems. Here's a pic of the "living reef" side that my Kuiters will be going into...just a Randall's shrimp Goby and citron in there now.

. Would any of you advise doing it a bit differently or does this sound like a nice plan? My friend (aquarium maintenance company guy) has his thoughts too, but in preparation for this important and delicate addition, I wanted to also ask you, the R2R community. Thank you all!

Wow! What a great idea! One reef and one side Fowler! More pics when you get time!

 

[stklaw]

Wow! What a great idea! One reef and one side Fowler! More pics when you get time!

Thanks, glad you like it. Midwest Custom Aquarium made it... under $1500 yet! I thought it was a nice price anyway. Here's a few more pics. And my other 2 wrasses i got thru LA last week, playin hide-and-seek the first night.