Leopard Wrasse Sleep Schedule

[i cant think]

I would agree with you. My primary concern was with the health of my existing inhabitants first and foremost and I had observed the wrasse some but I would like to see the fish's personality beforehand next time.

She did not come out yesterday but I am not worried. Per @homer1475 's advice I will not be touching my light schedule at all and my sand bed minimally for the next few weeks and hopefully she gets used to things. There are plenty of pods for food and she did look good when i saw her the other day.

Regarding @homer1475 'srecommendations, is the Melagris the leopard of choice for pests? In retrospect it was silly of me to classify all "leopards" as pest eaters... does Negrosensis tend to go after pests?

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Negrosensis is supposedly a better pest hunter than other wrasses however is also another 50/50 wrasse.

 

[willisd]

Negrosensis is supposedly a better pest hunter than other wrasses however is also another 50/50 wrasse.

Thats great to hear. I am really fine with a couple of 50/50 pest eaters since I do know my mandarin goes after them. I just want as many possible predators possible... and I do love leopard wrassses.

When introducing a second leopard would it be a good idea to put in any additional wrasses at the same time to avoid any compatibility issues? I do have an acclimation box for new specimens that I would be able to use for fairy or flasher wrasses. Wrasses in general were an impossibility untill I had the lid made for my rimless tank and would like to see some more active swimmers.

 

[i cant think]

Thats great to hear. I am really fine with a couple of 50/50 pest eaters since I do know my mandarin goes after them. I just want as many possible predators possible... and I do love leopard wrassses.

When introducing a second leopard would it be a good idea to put in any additional wrasses at the same time to avoid any compatibility issues? I do have an acclimation box for new specimens that I would be able to use for fairy or flasher wrasses. Wrasses in general were an impossibility untill I had the lid made for my rimless tank and would like to see some more active swimmers.

Personally I’d add a second wrasse at the same time but that’s just because of my love for wrasses. If it’s a 4’ tank I’d add a larger species of fairy (Possibly C. roseafascia if I could find one).

 

[willisd]

Personally I’d add a second wrasse at the same time but that’s just because of my love for wrasses. If it’s a 4’ tank I’d add a larger species of fairy (Possibly C. roseafascia if I could find one).

It’s basically just a wider 180 at 6’ x 28” x 24” so I have plenty of room. The big older fish would probably intimidate some of the smaller species as well so I’ll stick to bigger options.

i have left a large area open in the center for free swimming it would be great to have more action there

 

[i cant think]

It’s basically just a wider 180 at 6’ x 28” x 24” so I have plenty of room. The big older fish would probably intimidate some of the smaller species as well so I’ll stick to bigger options.

i have left a large area open in the center for free swimming it would be great to have more action there

Definitely get some more wrasses in there!
They add some great action and colour
I’ll try get an FTS of my 4’ at some point this week to show you how much a wrasse gang can affect a tank.

 

[homer1475]

Melagris, blue star, ornate, black, moyers, kuiteri, gold nugget, and koyetrs all are about 50/50.

Those are all the leopards.(that I can think of, think I might be missing one?)

I would still add the negrosensis(black), but look into an H chrysus(yellow coris wrasse is it's common name), or an H, melanarus. Both are excellent pest hunters and will get along fine with most other wrasses, and 99% CUC safe.

 

[willisd]

Melagris, blue star, ornate, black, moyers, kuiteri, gold nugget, and koyetrs all are about 50/50.

Those are all the leopards.(that I can think of, think I might be missing one?)

I would still add the negrosensis(black), but look into an H chrysus(yellow coris wrasse is it's common name), or an H, melanarus. Both are excellent pest hunters and will get along fine with most other wrasses, and 99% CUC safe.

I had a melanarus for years to help with my bristleworms, I was honestly more worried about my ceriths and narssisus with him but it may be a really good active option.

i wasn’t aware that gold nugget was a possible predator or even in the leopard family. That is another option I have that I may consider introducing with the black. If I did that I’m sure I would need to up my pod order frequency so there is an abundance to go around. However currently there are so many I can see them from my tank web cam and the manderain is swimming out in the open like a pig eating them out of the water column so I know there are a ton.

The pods may actually impact how soon I see the blue star as well since she has such an easy food supply whenever she pops out for an easy snack. When I saw her Monday she did not look
skinny.

 

[willisd]

So a bit of an update.

i was able to locate some very well adjusted common Leopard wrasse specimens locally and purchased 1 female about a week ago. My hope was that this new specimen may help the other adjust and it was reccomended earlier as a better possible

i did a longer drip acclimation since this was a local specimen and introduced him in. He didn’t immediatly jump in the sand and my flame angel did seem to chase him a little and he dove into the sand. I was immediately worried that the flame was already doing this sort of behavior to the other wrasse which is why I had not seen it.

the very next day after introducing the new wrasse was out and picking flatworms and pods off the rocks. There has been some posturing from the blue tang and flame angel. To help fix this issue and fill in some aquascaping holes I located a large peice of tonga rock I have introduced to reset territories. This has largely helped and the new wrasse (dirk) is so confident and adjusted he does not seemed bother by any aggression or bullying by existing fish. He just simply dodged and keeps on going on his way.

what else is great is he does seem to have had a positive impact on the resident blue star (Luka) who was out and swimming with him in the morning and early afternoon Friday before I introduced the new rock. I would really really like to see him again soon to be sure he wasn’t injured in the sand putting in the rock but I made sure to sift my hands through all sand where the rock was going and not to touch the existing scape.

I’m attaching a video of some of the initial interaction of the 2 wrasses and even a little flame angel action. Since adding the new rock interactions of this level with the flame / new leopard are drastically reduced and it’s more of a minor brush away vs chase

What was at first concerning for me was the flashing that the leopard was doing during this. I at first thought it may be flukes and did not see anything from further investigation and he has not done any of this flashing behavior since. He also did not seem to be actively scratching himself in any way on the rocks on his gill areas. Is this possibly a male and not female, or if it is flukes I guess I’ll be Figuring out how to treat the whole DT soon enough. However I have seen no behavior like this from the wrasse or any other fish since which makes me think it was something else

 

[i cant think]

So a bit of an update.

i was able to locate some very well adjusted common Leopard wrasse specimens locally and purchased 1 female about a week ago. My hope was that this new specimen may help the other adjust and it was reccomended earlier as a better possible

i did a longer drip acclimation since this was a local specimen and introduced him in. He didn’t immediatly jump in the sand and my flame angel did seem to chase him a little and he dove into the sand. I was immediately worried that the flame was already doing this sort of behavior to the other wrasse which is why I had not seen it.

the very next day after introducing the new wrasse was out and picking flatworms and pods off the rocks. There has been some posturing from the blue tang and flame angel. To help fix this issue and fill in some aquascaping holes I located a large peice of tonga rock I have introduced to reset territories. This has largely helped and the new wrasse (dirk) is so confident and adjusted he does not seemed bother by any aggression or bullying by existing fish. He just simply dodged and keeps on going on his way.

what else is great is he does seem to have had a positive impact on the resident blue star (Luka) who was out and swimming with him in the morning and early afternoon Friday before I introduced the new rock. I would really really like to see him again soon to be sure he wasn’t injured in the sand putting in the rock but I made sure to sift my hands through all sand where the rock was going and not to touch the existing scape.

I’m attaching a video of some of the initial interaction of the 2 wrasses and even a little flame angel action. Since adding the new rock interactions of this level with the flame / new leopard are drastically reduced and it’s more of a minor brush away vs chase

What was at first concerning for me was the flashing that the leopard was doing during this. I at first thought it may be flukes and did not see anything from further investigation and he has not done any of this flashing behavior since. He also did not seem to be actively scratching himself in any way on the rocks on his gill areas. Is this possibly a male and not female, or if it is flukes I guess I’ll be Figuring out how to treat the whole DT soon enough. However I have seen no behavior like this from the wrasse or any other fish since which makes me think it was something else

I cant see the video on my phone so do you have a photo of the wrasse?

 

[homer1475]

Both still female.

My leopards will "flash" the sand like this sometimes. Then they turn around and eat whatever they "flashed" up.

Normal behavior as long as it's not constant, which might indicate gill flukes. Just keep an eye on them. Angels can be touchy at times, but they all seem to be getting along.

Good luck with the pair, just need to fatten them up a bit, and they will be fine.


EDIT:
Come to think of it, all my sand dwelling wrasses do this to "flashing" to some degree from time to time.

 

[willisd]

Both still female.

My leopards will "flash" the sand like this sometimes. Then they turn around and eat whatever they "flashed" up.

Normal behavior as long as it's not constant, which might indicate gill flukes. Just keep an eye on them. Angels can be touchy at times, but they all seem to be getting along.

Good luck with the pair, just need to fatten them up a bit, and they will be fine.


EDIT:
Come to think of it, all my sand dwelling wrasses do this to "flashing" to some degree from time to time.

Great thank you homer I am putting in another big load of pod this week before leaving on vacation to insure a large amount of natural food. I am also going to get my auto feeder setup to give some additional pellets during the day while I am gone in addition to the frozen feedings.

The meleagris is already super active and eating pods/flatworms like crazy so it looks like i'm on the good half of the 50% for her. From watching on my webcam through out the day the flame angel can be a little intimidating, i suspect the blue star isn't quite as bold as the more adjusted meleagris and hopefully she is out to eat and forage more soon.

 

[willisd]

As a very belated update to this I do have new news.

the second leopard I added from the LFS is still doing great and I suspect already transitioning to a male. He’s starting to get more green than white on his color pattern and acting somewhat more aggressively.

The blue star has started coming out after 6 weeks but is super thin and I am struggling to get it to eat. I have tried a number of different food options in garlic and I can get some nibbles but nothing consistent and she is hiding in the corner and occasionally laying on the sand or half burying looking weak. I fear it is just a matter of time before she passes on.

In further bad news I am now seeing what I suspect may be flukes in the gills of my flame angel and I have seen some strange scratching behavior from her. I am super mad at myself that I may have let this into my system and now may need to take action. I am thinking this may also explain some of the blue stars degrading condition.

i am reading they prazi pro is fairly “reef safe” but does kill bristleworms and tube worms. I have no tube worms so this is fine but in my attempts to feed this wrasse I have gained some bristles. What sort of risk am I looking at doing a prazi pro treatment, and do I need to worry about the wrasses specifically with the dosage regimen?

i will likely post a second thread for this but wanted to get everyone’s thoughts here first

 

[i cant think]

As a very belated update to this I do have new news.

the second leopard I added from the LFS is still doing great and I suspect already transitioning to a male. He’s starting to get more green than white on his color pattern and acting somewhat more aggressively.

The blue star has started coming out after 6 weeks but is super thin and I am struggling to get it to eat. I have tried a number of different food options in garlic and I can get some nibbles but nothing consistent and she is hiding in the corner and occasionally laying on the sand or half burying looking weak. I fear it is just a matter of time before she passes on.

In further bad news I am now seeing what I suspect may be flukes in the gills of my flame angel and I have seen some strange scratching behavior from her. I am super mad at myself that I may have let this into my system and now may need to take action. I am thinking this may also explain some of the blue stars degrading condition.

i am reading they prazi pro is fairly “reef safe” but does kill bristleworms and tube worms. I have no tube worms so this is fine but in my attempts to feed this wrasse I have gained some bristles. What sort of risk am I looking at doing a prazi pro treatment, and do I need to worry about the wrasses specifically with the dosage regimen?

i will likely post a second thread for this but wanted to get everyone’s thoughts here first

Try setup a second QT tank for the Angel. If possible try get photos of the Blue Star so we can see what it is (Sometimes a disease hides in plain sight). To me I’d suspect an internal parasite - Look for any white stringy poo.

 

[SaltyT]

^ agree. Pics of the blue star under white light would be helpful.

 

[willisd]

I am attaching a couple of photos along with a video of the blue star during feeding where eventually see her eat a small mysis.

Catching the flame angel may be an adventure / impossibility but I will see what I can do. My fear is if my angel has it my main tank must be at risk and the others may have it too.

 

[SaltyT]

I am attaching a couple of photos along with a video of the blue star during feeding where eventually see her eat a small mysis.

Catching the flame angel may be an adventure / impossibility but I will see what I can do. My fear is if my angel has it my main tank must be at risk and the others may have it too.

I can’t open the video, but I can see in the pics that she’s very thin. Once a wrasse is thin enough to show pinching behind the head like she is it’s usually too late to save them.

Your post sounds like you’ve had the blue star for 6 weeks. Did she eat when you fed the tank during those 6 weeks or was she buried for most of it?

 

[i cant think]

I am attaching a couple of photos along with a video of the blue star during feeding where eventually see her eat a small mysis.

Catching the flame angel may be an adventure / impossibility but I will see what I can do. My fear is if my angel has it my main tank must be at risk and the others may have it too.

The photos are relatively hard to see however she doesn’t seem overly skinny in my opinion.

After taking a closer look at the pictures I can definitely see the skinny part and I agree with the above. Usually when a wrasse shows the pinching that’s often seen as a sign the wrasse won’t make it much longer.

 

[ninjamyst]

Leopard wrasse are notoriously hard to get eating. I always observe new leopard wrasse in my nano tank that's usually fishless. That way I can get it to eat by itself first using live black worms, frozen mysis, and then LRS.

They are not great for pests though. Yellow coris is much better along than other wrasse of that species.

Flukes are very common with wrasse. Luckily, prazipro is reef safe. I usually dose prazipro in my nano observation tank regardless of fish showing symptoms. I even dosed it in my 200g display when I also accidentally let it into my display. It came in through a yellow wrasse because I was in a hurry with family visiting and didn't qt. No issue from prazipro besides my skimmer going nuts even after running carbon. Took almost two weeks before skimmer returned to normal. I have SPS, LPS, softies, and anemones and none were affected by prazipro.

 

[willisd]

I think from looking at a reef central post what I may be looking at is my angels Gil spike. This is a photo from the other thread

Again not my photo, but here is a still I was able to grab from a video so it is only decent quality but better than the previous picture

As far as the wrasse goes I made the mistake of purchasing an online pre quarantined and now know my mistake not being able to first observe it.


I am wondering if it didn’t eat enough medicated food in whatever QT process that it still has internal parasites.

I threw the kitchen sink at it with fish eggs, tons of pods, live brine, mysis, mixed offerings you name it and garlic mysis in tiny pieces is all I can get it to take and not vigorously like the other leopard had been.

im worried what to do if keeping it in the tank risks him dying under the sand and spreading parasites or even dying out in the open and contaminating the other residents.

i do agree for the wrasse it’s is likely beyond the point of no return

 

[i cant think]

I think from looking at a reef central post what I may be looking at is my angels Gil spike. This is a photo from the other thread

Again not my photo, but here is a still I was able to grab from a video so it is only decent quality but better than the previous picture

As far as the wrasse goes I made the mistake of purchasing an online pre quarantined and now know my mistake not being able to first observe it.


I am wondering if it didn’t eat enough medicated food in whatever QT process that it still has internal parasites.

I threw the kitchen sink at it with fish eggs, tons of pods, live brine, mysis, mixed offerings you name it and garlic mysis in tiny pieces is all I can get it to take and not vigorously like the other leopard had been.

im worried what to do if keeping it in the tank risks him dying under the sand and spreading parasites or even dying out in the open and contaminating the other residents.

i do agree for the wrasse it’s is likely beyond the point of no return

What you are looking at is the angels gill spine, the flashing does make me suspect an internal parasite though.