HELP! I accidently bought an Ornate Leopard Wrasse!!

[Christam1433]

Hello,
I have a 45 gal bow front tank that has been running for just over 3 months. I have had 2 small clownfish in it for the past 6 weeks. Yesterday my kids and I drove the 1.5 hrs to our local fish store to get our next fish. We spent at least 2 hours at the store talking about the tank, its set up, what fish we have, when we are wanting to start corals,, etc, and were led to a beautiful wrasse that we eventually decided to purchase after I was able to see it eat (one SMALL intake of flake/pellet). I purchased frozen mysis to feed it and brought it home to our QT. He did not eat last night , just hid in a corner between the glass and a PVC pipe that I have in the tank. Today he ate a little bit and as the day went on he has come out and is swimming around more. This afternoon I finally has time to sit down and do some research about our new fish. The first thing I learned is that my new fish is NOT the easy to care for wrasse that I was led to believe. It is actually an Ornate Leopard Wrasse. EXPERT level only!!! Any suggestions on how to care for this fish are GREATLY appreciated. Clearly I will be only feeding mysis from this point on. Do I need to order some copepods for my DT for when I move him over? Is mysis twice a day going to be enough? I do not have a sump. There is no room for one in the cabinet below the tank so I am running a HOB Fluval C4. Any hlp/ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

 

[redfishbluefish]

@evolved is an expert on Wrasses....hopefully he can add some advice.

 

[Zach W]

Do you have any sand in there? I believe this species needs sand to bury itself in.

 

[motortrendz]

They need a sand bed to sleep and hide in for starters. If you take a small tubberware container and fill it with sand and put it in the qt it will allow the fiah somewhere to hide and destress.

 

[Christam1433]

They need a sand bed to sleep and hide in for starters. If you take a small tubberware container and fill it with sand and put it in the qt it will allow the fiah somewhere to hide and destress.

I have added a bowl of sand. anything else I should do?

 

[motortrendz]

Give it time now. Let the wrasse relax.
Heres a pic of mine.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I have added a bowl of sand. anything else I should do?

I believe that the hardest part of caring for a leopard wrasse is getting them to eat initially. if yours is already eating then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

 

[ajhudson15]

I believe that the hardest part of caring for a leopard wrasse is getting them to eat initially. if yours is already eating then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Sand bedfor sure. Over your place him in the dt it's possible he will borrow inti the sand for sometimes up to a week before your see him again. Don't go digging around for him as you can injure him. Copepods maybe your best friend for a short time when he goes to the dt

 

[PSU4ME]

Sand as they have said as you want him to rest......you’ll want to deworm him once he starts eating good. Praziquantel I believe

 

[Christam1433]

They need a sand bed to sleep and hide in for starters. If you take a small tubberware container and fill it with sand and put it in the qt it will allow the fiah somewhere to hide and destress.

I have added a bowl of sand. Is there anything else I should do?

 

[ajhudson15]

I always put large PVC in my qt when I do wrasse so they can hide a little without having to burrow

 

[tautog83]

Always do that research before even thinking about buying anything at your lfs. Theres a phone in your pocket at all times . It's like saying I accidentally had an affair ..lol anyways like previously stated get some sand in there so he can bury at night and careful with copper . Trust me that lfs wants to get rid of that leopard asap because it can be finicky fish .

 

[rcillig]

I got 3 Ornate Wrasses and all 3 of them hid for a few days at min, the last one hid for 3 1/2 days before she came out to eat.. They need sand and a few inches of it. They are great fish and you will love her, I'm sure you got a female. If you ever need to dig for them like moving rocks or anything use your fingers to find them not any kind of tool. Just lightly drag your fingers through the sand and when you find them they will relocate asap.

 

[Tamberav]

My finicky Wrasse seem to love fresh live clam (that I freeze and chop) and live worms. I would probably try to wean it on a food even better than mysis like LRS frozen.

They are prone to flukes and internal worms so if it's eating but not maintaining a good weight or if you see stringy white poop....that is a good indicator.

 

[Katrina71]

She's beautiful. Good luck with your QT.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Theres a phone in your pocket at all times . It's like saying I accidentally had an affair

So a common mistake........

 

[JasonK84]

So a common mistake........

Common-yes, mistake-definitely not.

@Christam1433
If a fish came home with you it was no accident. I’ve never had a leopard wrasse but I did accidentally order a Moorish Idol a couple of months ago. Actually, it wasn’t by accident.

The wrasse is a beautiful fish! Hope it does well for you and it’s a good sign that it’s eating. That’s hurdle 1.

 

[Marco S]

I have no experience with Wrasses, (besides a Harlequin Tusk) so I will leave comments on your specific fish to the ones who do.

I do want to say that when you see, "Expert Only" on a fish care guide for a fish, it just means that they have special requirements that need to be met. I do not believe it actually takes an expert to keep those fish, just someone willing to meet those requirements. If you cannot meet them, you should NOT get that fish.

For example, I got an Achilles Tang, (along with 4 other Tangs) and it is for Experts Only. I did do my research and found that over and over sites were saying that they are finicky eaters, need to be feed multiple times a day, are prone to Ich, (just like every other Tang) need lots of swimming space and strong varied flow. I checked all those boxes and made sure it was eating before purchase and QT'd it for over a month before introducing it to my display tank. I did have some issues with aggression that I have solved and it has been healthy and growing for over a year now. I am not an expert and just started my saltwater journey a little over a year ago so it did not take an expert to keep this fish, just someone willing to meet the requirements to keep it. ;Happy

Good luck with your beautiful Wrasse and always do research before adding anything into your tank.

 

[Christam1433]

Always do that research before even thinking about buying anything at your lfs. Theres a phone in your pocket at all times . It's like saying I accidentally had an affair ..lol anyways like previously stated get some sand in there so he can bury at night and careful with copper . Trust me that lfs wants to get rid of that leopard asap because it can be finicky fish .

Actually, there was not a phone in my pocket. And I thought I was being diligent with the amount of time spent and questions that we asked.

 

[biecacka]

Also recommend a lid over the tank as they can be jumpers.
Good luck!

corey