For those who have QT'd Leopard Wrasses

[ihavecrabs]

My three female Blue Star Leopard Wrasses came in today. They have been acclimated and dropped into QT.

Two of the three were heads down in the corner of the bag before dropping them in (I expected this) but the third was swimming in circles looking up at me. upside down and then would right himself back up.

Is this normal behavior?

All three are swimming around in the QT tank at the moment. They are sticking close to the top of the tank.

Thoughts?

@4FordFamily @Humblefish @melypr1985

 

[ihavecrabs]

 

[ZachR32]

Could have a broken back or swim bladder issues. Keep monitoring

 

[ihavecrabs]

Could have a broken back or swim bladder issues. Keep monitoring

They all have the ability to swim well but are choosing to stay towards the top. Odd behavior, but I suppose if I was tossed around in a box full of water, I might be walking in circles too.

 

[Kamden Uelton]

Do they have sand to burrow in? When I got my first Leopard Wrasse he dove into the sand immediately... I have never seen them swim at the surface before.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Do they have sand to burrow in? When I got my first Leopard Wrasse he dove into the sand immediately... I have never seen them swim at the surface before.

They do, but they haven't quite figured out it is in the tupperware container

Two of the three are now at the bottom. One has her head between a PVC wye to hide and the other is swimming in circles at the bottom like they do before diving into the sand.

 

[HotRocks]

I do have experience with them. They always act very strange upon arrival. The one having trouble staying upright may indeed have a swim bladder issue.

They usually head straight for the pvc IME, I would just keep an eye on them and give it a little time.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I do have experience with them. They always act very strange upon arrival. The one having trouble staying upright may indeed have a swim bladder issue.

They usually head straight for the pvc IME, I would just keep an eye on them and give it a little time.

I figured that was the case. Thanks for confirming.

 

[HotRocks]

I figured that was the case. Thanks for confirming.

Just out of Curiosity, where did you get them?

I ask because I just got 2 on Saturday, one of which did not make it 48 hours, which I attribute to shipping. Mine came from LA

 

[maroun.c]

How long were they in shipping? This sounds like ammonia toxicity. Did u acclimate them slowly?

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I had blue star in qt twice my next try will be my last as they did not make it before think it may just be my luck.
When they arrive they do well they always go straight to the pvc or if they find the sand. They would last about two weeks and then they just die on me the ones I got look like they came in with some kind of internal parasites as I did see stringy poop my next batch will go straight GC as this is my new method of qt since I noticed most of my leopards comes in with some kind of internal parasite.

 

[ngoodermuth]

They are not great shippers, and can act strange for the first 3-4 days after you get them. Mine usually find the sand after a day or two, so I wouldn’t worry about them not burrowing right away.

The swimming at the surface is probably just them freaking out a bit...but it doesn’t hurt to add an extra air stone if you’re worried.
I would make sure they are in a quiet, low-traffic area and just leave them be for a bit.

IME leopards are pretty disease resistant, and much more likely to die from shipping stress or injury. So, while I do treat all my fish prophylactically...with leopards I spend a week or two only focused on getting them acclimated to QT and eating. I’ll usually sacrifice a piece or two of live rock from my display sump while they adjust.

Once they are acting normally and will eat with a gusto, they usually tolerate any treatments pretty well. They are particularly prone to internal parasites and flukes, so in addition to copper I also treat for those.

 

[ihavecrabs]

They are not great shippers, and can act strange for the first 3-4 days after you get them. Mine usually find the sand after a day or two, so I wouldn’t worry about them not burrowing right away.

The swimming at the surface is probably just them freaking out a bit...but it doesn’t hurt to add an extra air stone if you’re worried.
I would make sure they are in a quiet, low-traffic area and just leave them be for a bit.

IME leopards are pretty disease resistant, and much more likely to die from shipping stress or injury. So, while I do treat all my fish prophylactically...with leopards I spend a week or two only focused on getting them acclimated to QT and eating. I’ll usually sacrifice a piece or two of live rock from my display sump while they adjust.

Once they are acting normally and will eat with a gusto, they usually tolerate any treatments pretty well. They are particularly prone to internal parasites and flukes, so in addition to copper I also treat for those.

Interesting. I was actually going to do TTM on these guys. Would you suggest I change my approach or will thus suffice with a combination of Prazi and metro/focus once I get them eating.

Also, what foods have you had the most luck with?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Just out of Curiosity, where did you get them?

I ask because I just got 2 on Saturday, one of which did not make it 48 hours, which I attribute to shipping. Mine came from LA

Same. LA.

They have been fantastic so far. I had a cardinalfish, three dart fish, Midas Benny, royal gamma, and two gobies go through QT after receiving from them.

Now onto more challenging fish [emoji4]

 

[ihavecrabs]

How long were they in shipping? This sounds like ammonia toxicity. Did u acclimate them slowly?

They were in shipping since being packed (post 5pm yesterday?) To 10am this morning.

My salinity and temp was matched when received this morning and I followed up with their quick acclimation process. After temp acclimation open bag and proceed to add .5 cup every 4-5min until it fills the bag twice.

Bag water was disposed of.

 

[HotRocks]

They were in shipping since being packed (post 5pm yesterday?) To 10am this morning.

My salinity and temp was matched when received this morning and I followed up with their quick acclimation process. After temp acclimation open bag and proceed to add .5 cup every 4-5min until it fills the bag twice.

Bag water was disposed of.

I do the same thing, pretty much.

They are not great shippers, and can act strange for the first 3-4 days after you get them. Mine usually find the sand after a day or two, so I wouldn’t worry about them not burrowing right away.

The swimming at the surface is probably just them freaking out a bit...but it doesn’t hurt to add an extra air stone if you’re worried.
I would make sure they are in a quiet, low-traffic area and just leave them be for a bit.

IME leopards are pretty disease resistant, and much more likely to die from shipping stress or injury. So, while I do treat all my fish prophylactically...with leopards I spend a week or two only focused on getting them acclimated to QT and eating. I’ll usually sacrifice a piece or two of live rock from my display sump while they adjust.

Once they are acting normally and will eat with a gusto, they usually tolerate any treatments pretty well. They are particularly prone to internal parasites and flukes, so in addition to copper I also treat for those.

I also pretty much follow this same exact protocol. Seems to work well. My order may be a bit different, arriving at the same end result.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Interesting. I was actually going to do TTM on these guys. Would you suggest I change my approach or will thus suffice with a combination of Prazi and metro/focus once I get them eating.

Also, what foods have you had the most luck with?

Honestly, I haven’t had very good luck with TTM and wrasses. Also, I think it’s a PITA in general [emoji23] so, although I do believe it has it’s place... I don’t really use it much.

The downside of using TTM vs. copper prophylactically- especially with wrasses which are notorious “carriers” of parasites- is that it only addresses ich, and not velvet, which can be hidden unnoticed in the gills until it’s released in your display to wreak havoc. There’s a reason that wrasses are often the last fish standing in tank wipeouts.

Regarding foods, I’ve actually had good luck with frozen cyclops as a first food. Also, brine shrimp, live blackworms, and nutrimar ova.

If all else fails, freshly hatched baby brine usually do the trick. Just be careful how much you feed, it’s easy to throw off the limited bio-filter in a QT by over feeding baby brine.

Once they start eating, they will eat pretty much anything. At least mine do [emoji12]

 

[ngoodermuth]

I should note, that even though I’ve never had an issue with leopard wrasses in copper personally... I raise it at least half as quickly as the directions suggest. Usually 4-5 days to get to therapeutic.

 

[Kyl]

I had two that did well in QT for about three weeks, then one of them buried for about four days and then came out swimming in circles upside down. End was pretty quick after that, less than six hours. The other went through a month of copper and is in observation still, eats everything and is very healthy looking.

 

[Kyl]

Honestly, I haven’t had very good luck with TTM and wrasses. Also, I think it’s a PITA in general [emoji23] so, although I do believe it has it’s place... I don’t really use it much.

I've found my losses higher with TTM than copper, to the point that I don't TTM anymore (and that velvet is in the retail channel frequently now). I think the stress of coming home, then being dumped in the tank and moved every three days is just too much for some livestock, especially wrasses. So far my only loss with an initial acclimation then slow copper ramp has been the one leopard wrasse out of about nine other fish. I think with some of the goings on over the Hanna HR checker now, copper will solidify as my primary go-to since CP is so hard to find a script / rx for locally.