Blue star leopard wrasse struggling

[ReefRusty]

My blue star leopard wrasse which I've had for 4 weeks now and today it appears to be very sluggish and slow and unable to bury himself. He was eating but wont even look at foot today. Any thoughts?



Hope the video works

 

[ReefRusty]

Assumed he was settled and not stressed as he stays out from around 9am till 8pm before he burrows under the sand again for the night. This has been for around 2 weeks

 

[ReefRusty]

Off to work night shift so fingers crossed she makes it through the night.

 

[Wen]

Off to work night shift so fingers crossed she makes it through the night.

Sorry about the wrasse.
It is very, very thin...what and how often do you feed?
It’s just too weak to bury itself due to lack of nutrients. ...possibly Internal parasites???

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My blue star leopard wrasse which I've had for 4 weeks now and today it appears to be very sluggish and slow and unable to bury himself. He was eating but wont even look at foot today. Any thoughts?



Hope the video works

As @Wen said, the wrasse is too thin. This a a very tough species to work with. I don’t know if the issue is internal parasites or lack of proper food or both, but a lot of these wrasses end up this way. Once hey get to this stage, they have used their liver for energy and they can’t be brought back around, sorry.
Jay

 

[ReefRusty]

Thanks guys, fish are fed pellets daily x 3 times and every 2nd day mysis shrimp mixture. Every one else is looking fat so definitely not a lack of food supply.

 

[dedragon]

it matters if the specific fish is actively eating the food you are putting into the dt, leopard wrasses are tough to get eating.

 

[ReefRusty]

Yeah so I've read, appears it's not floating, looks like it had managed to bury it self which could be a good sign. Cant find it anywhere at this stage.

 

[ReefRusty]

Unfortunately she has passed away. What a shame was a beautiful fish. Thanks to those who responded with helping me

 

[reefingaz]

Unfortunately she has passed away. What a shame was a beautiful fish. Thanks to those who responded with helping me

Sorry about that, those are my favorite fish. I have a pair and feel the best success with leopards is once they are eating keep them to a mix of good frozen food. I limit the pellets and only do LRS and mysis and they love Nori with my tangs and Spirulina flakes. But all my fish 90% of their diet is LRS and they are all fat and going on 6 yrs in my tank. It’s tough to get a leopard eating with pellets. Maybe try another??

 

[ReefRusty]

Sorry about that, those are my favorite fish. I have a pair and feel the best success with leopards is once they are eating keep them to a mix of good frozen food. I limit the pellets and only do LRS and mysis and they love Nori with my tangs and Spirulina flakes. But all my fish 90% of their diet is LRS and they are all fat and going on 6 yrs in my tank. It’s tough to get a leopard eating with pellets. Maybe try another??

Yeah would love to try another once the wife settles down. Lol it was eating mysis mixture from day 1 but honestly went down hill within 24-48hrs

 

[vetteguy53081]

To note, it was an inadequate diet and what others eat does not always satisfy needs of particular fish. As leopard wrasses bury themselves in the sand, they rarely develop external parasites. The sand prevents the pests from... With the adaptation of their upper teeth and canines, leopards happily remove pest snails that often feed on Tridacna While they do forage over live rock throughout the day. The picky nature of this fish and the frequent feeding schedule needed often leads to the early demise of these spotted fish.

Recommended foods are:

• Finely chopped shrimp
• Frozen mysis or brine shrimp
• Live baby brine shrimp
• Black worms
• Copepods
• Prepared foods, such as pellet and flake
• Seaweed, also known as nori
• Vitamin enriched foods for those fading in color

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah would love to try another once the wife settles down. Lol it was eating mysis mixture from day 1 but honestly went down hill within 24-48hrs

It needs 2-3 inches of Fine or very fine sand. If too course, it quickly retreats from burrowing which it does the same time every night