Female Blue Star Leopard Wrasse

[Jordan Wright]

I am thinking about getting a female blue star leopard wrasse from liveaquaria. I have a 55g with about a 2 inch sand bed. On liveaquaria it says that they are expert only, i read that some say that is only because they don’t do well with the shipping process? So if i get one, should i quarantine her? Also heard that they can be picky eaters, I already have mysis and brine shrimp, what type of flakes do they like? Also one last question haha, if i get one female will she turn into a male or just stay female ?

 

[ZoWhat]

Run away....

The chance of this thing living past 1 week is about 5%

Leopards are exxxxxxxtremely sensitive. They go into starvation mode when stressed.

Any new environment is a challenge bc they only accept LIVE FOOD.

Many times they only eat at night bc they are scared to death they'll be eaten during the day. So they bury themselves in the sand.

At LiveAquaria they prob feed it Live Food just to keep it long enough to get a 300+% profit on you.

Run away! I'm telling ya these are one of the hardest fish to acclimate and keep alive.

.

 

[MasonK24]

mine dove into the sand 5 mins after i put it in. that was around 2 years ago. havent seen it since. they can be kept successfully but you have to be super careful on how you introduce them, hence the expert only title.

 

[Jordan Wright]

Run away....

The chance of this thing living past 1 week is about 5%

Leopards are exxxxxxxtremely sensitive. They go into starvation mode when stressed.

Any new environment is a challenge bc they only accept LIVE FOOD.

Many times they only eat at night bc they are scared to death they'll be eaten during the day. So they bury themselves in the sand.

At LiveAquaria they prob feed it Live Food just to keep it long enough to get a 300+% profit on you.

Run away! I'm telling ya these are one of the hardest fish to acclimate and keep alive.

.

thanks for the info! it’s crazy because i see so many people have them but i guess you just have to get lucky

 

[jmichaelh7]

Dude

literally tried 2 times recently. Both times they arrived dead.

they reimbursed me for shipping and the cost but after I called and complained.

the second time they said no and just reimbursed the cost.

it sucks to see these fish show up DOA. My LFS stated they are super sensitive to own let alone shipping

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

The key is to get it to eat frozen. Mine lasted three weeks. It just would not eat enough to gain weight.

 

[Jordan Wright]

mine dove into the sand 5 mins after i put it in. that was around 2 years ago. havent seen it since. they can be kept successfully but you have to be super careful on how you introduce them, hence the expert only title.

Dude

literally tried 2 times recently. Both times they arrived dead.

they reimbursed me for shipping and the cost but after I called and complained.

the second time they said no and just reimbursed the cost.

it sucks to see these fish show up DOA. My LFS stated they are super sensitive to own let alone shipping

oh wow sorry about that, but thanks for
letting me know.

 

[Jordan Wright]

The key is to get it to eat frozen. Mine lasted three weeks. It just would not eat enough to gain weight.

they sound very picky. will
probably look into different wrasses

 

[Jordan Wright]

are all leopard wrasses like this? or are some easier to keep

 

[jmichaelh7]

are all leopard wrasses like this? or are some easier to keep

I was told they are difficult until they acclimate in dt and eat regularly

which makes it my dream fish

 

[Maritimer]

I've tried three or four blue-stars, of which one made it through QT and into my display, and remains there today. She's still a female, though she's as big (about 3 - 3.5") as any male I can remember seeing in an aquarium store, and she eats anything I throw in the water: LRS, pellets, flake, nori . . . I'm sure she takes 'pods as well - I rarely, if ever, see one around the tank, which is a 220 gallon.

I did find them a challenge to get through QT; they'd come down with bacterial infections, and I think I lost a couple to Uronema ... and that's why I QT. I kept a tray of sand (recycled Chinese food takeout container) of fine silica sand in the QT for sleeping, which the blue-stars used readily.

They're a challenge - but not so utterly impossible as some folks will claim.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I've tried three or four blue-stars, of which one made it through QT and into my display, and remains there today. She's still a female, though she's as big (about 3 - 3.5") as any male I can remember seeing in an aquarium store, and she eats anything I throw in the water: LRS, pellets, flake, nori . . . I'm sure she takes 'pods as well - I rarely, if ever, see one around the tank, which is a 220 gallon.

I did find them a challenge to get through QT; they'd come down with bacterial infections, and I think I lost a couple to Uronema ... and that's why I QT. I kept a tray of sand (recycled Chinese food takeout container) of fine silica sand in the QT for sleeping, which the blue-stars used readily.

They're a challenge - but not so utterly impossible as some folks will claim.

My LFS doesn’t even get them so to take that many chances is impossible . I think San Jose ca is nearest which is about 4 hours or LA.

They are beautiful fish I’ve watched YouTube videos on their maintenance

 

[Jordan Wright]

I've tried three or four blue-stars, of which one made it through QT and into my display, and remains there today. She's still a female, though she's as big (about 3 - 3.5") as any male I can remember seeing in an aquarium store, and she eats anything I throw in the water: LRS, pellets, flake, nori . . . I'm sure she takes 'pods as well - I rarely, if ever, see one around the tank, which is a 220 gallon.

I did find them a challenge to get through QT; they'd come down with bacterial infections, and I think I lost a couple to Uronema ... and that's why I QT. I kept a tray of sand (recycled Chinese food takeout container) of fine silica sand in the QT for sleeping, which the blue-stars used readily.

They're a challenge - but not so utterly impossible as some folks will claim.

thanks for the info!

 

[Tamberav]

Can you get them at a LFS?

If you MUST order online... wait till TSM has them. They will be conditioned and TSM ships wayyy better then LA. My blue star leopard is from LA but I ordered 3 and 1 survived shipping and she looked terrible... was getting stuck to the overflow but pulled through. I bought the rest of mine from the LFS and they all survive.

I have several leopards and they have mostly been easy keepers but I buy them at my LFS so I buy the ones that survive the shipping process and eating in the store. I even put them through hybrid TTM.

Now fairy wrasses I can not keep... they are just too spazzy and end up with spinal injuries.

 

[Subnautica]

I think should chime in. I took the risk and got one from Loveaquaria a year ago. I bought the small size but somehow they gave me a medium one. I complained and they gave me a $70 refund (LOL).

But the thing is, my wrasse is Extremely hardy. You know what, I bought her when my tank was new and she's survived all the ugly stages the tank has been through. She eata everything I put in the tank. She gets along well with other fish. and she tolerates my stupid decisions. I'm surprised many people had trouble with this fish but I guess I'm just lucky.


This is when I just bought her (October 2019)

And this is her today:

 

[Jordan Wright]

Can you get them at a LFS?

If you MUST order online... wait till TSM has them. They will be conditioned and TSM ships wayyy better then LA. My blue star leopard is from LA but I ordered 3 and 1 survived shipping and she looked terrible... was getting stuck to the overflow but pulled through. I bought the rest of mine from the LFS and they all survive.

I have several leopards and they have mostly been easy keepers but I buy them at my LFS so I buy the ones that survive the shipping process and eating in the store. I even put them through hybrid TTM.

Now fairy wrasses I can not keep... they are just too spazzy and end up with spinal injuries.

i’ve seen some at the lax aquarium so hopefully when i go back they look healthy, put sand in the bag, and i’ll ask them to feed her. i’m not much of a risk taker and don’t like loosing fish:/

 

[ajjw0828]

I've got a Male ornate leopard wrasse that's been in my tank about a year and a half. Eats anything. Great fish.

 

[Jordan Wright]

I think should chime in. I took the risk and got one from Loveaquaria a year ago. I bought the small size but somehow they gave me a medium one. I complained and they gave me a $70 refund (LOL).

But the thing is, my wrasse is Extremely hardy. You know what, I bought her when my tank was new and she's survived all the ugly stages the tank has been through. She eata everything I put in the tank. She gets along well with other fish. and she tolerates my stupid decisions. I'm surprised many people had trouble with this fish but I guess I'm just lucky.


This is when I just bought her (October 2019)

And this is her today:

nice! they are my new favorite fish if i try one hopefully i get lucky!

 

[Subnautica]

I've got a Male ornate leopard wrasse that's been in my tank about a year and a half. Eats anything. Great fish.

I want an Ornate so bad. They are better looking than the Blue Star for sure.

 

[ca1ore]

Leopard wrasses ARE listed as expert only for a reason. They don't ship particularly well and can be tricky to acclimate. Not a lot you can do about the former, but there are things you can do about the latter. I've kept a few dozen leopards of various species over the years. Probably 10% are DOA. When I just dumped them into the scrum that is my display, the survival rate was terrible .... maybe one out of ten that had survived shipping. So, I devised a QT protocol specifically for leopard wrasses that jumped that to a success rate of eight out of ten. Unless you are going to do something like that, or can find an established fish from a local reefer, I would not bother. The other thing to keep in mind is that they are often very thin, and if they show any pinching behind the head they are a gonner.

One myth about leopards that is oft' perpetuated is the need for live foods. They are NOT obligate pod eaters like mandarins. Of the many I have kept, only one refused to take calanus/brine/mysis. It may take a few days, but live pods are not necessary.

Female leopard alone probably won't change gender. I had a female blue star female that changed gender overnight after 3 years in my tank. Why or what prompted it I cannot say.