Leopard wrasse

morgan175 · Jan 22, 2018

Been thinking of trying my hand at leopard wrasse. I redid my 180 and all I have in it is a cbb and a pair of clowns. Tank is 1.5 old. I added about 50 lbs new rock for more hiding spots. Thinking of adding 3 females. Anyone have any suggestions. I’ve heard they are very hard to take care of.

KMench · Jan 22, 2018

I have an ornate leopard wrasse who I've never managed to train to eat frozen foods. I've tried everything under the sun with no avail. With that said, mine is in a 75G tank with a Mandarin goby and they are both fat and happy living off the pods in the tank. I dose phyto and also have a culture of pods I use to keep them fed. I would imagine in a 180, worst case as long as you can get them through their QT that your pod population should be good as long as your not running ULNS.

Make sure to QT them and treat for flukes, since they can be very prevalent in the Leopard Wrasses. QT in a tank with a small container of sand since they are sand-burrowing wrasses. Most people say they have luck starting them off on foods using live blackworms, or ova. When picking out your wrasse if buying it at a LFS, make sure to check it's mouth carefully. Some fish sustain damage to their mouths either trying to dive into the glass bottom or during shipping. If they have damage to their mouths, it's sad but take a pass and wait for a better specimen since they have a poor prognosis

KMench · Jan 22, 2018

Also, it's not uncommon for them to bury in the sand for several days when you first get them. I've read people who even have them bury for over a week!

ReefQueen · Jan 22, 2018

One of my favorite wrasses! I tried once and after making it all the way through TTM and QT she darted into a maxi mini the second I added her to the DT

. I will say that she ate anything I threw in the QT and only hid in the sand for the first day. I say go for it!

Brautumn · Jan 22, 2018

To me there not hard at all and never had a problem with them eating from day one and never hid when introduced to the tank. We started with a trio of meleagris leopard over 2 years ago, 2 ornate leopards and added a choates leopard over a month ago. There is no aggression between them or any of our other fish which include 2 other wrasses, anthias, angel and clowns.

eatbreakfast · Jan 22, 2018

They don't ship well, but once they make it past the first two weeks they can be quite Hardy. I have found ornatus and bipartitus to be the hardiest species.

mfinn · Jan 22, 2018

Try and find a local store that has them or will order them for you. As mentioned, they don't ship well.
Do run them through quarantine.
Get the first foods in advance and ready to go.
I like using Tigger pods as a first food. Pretty easy for them.
I also have on hand nutramar ova, ROE, and Hikari mysis in the cubes. ( smaller mysis).

Hogan · Jan 22, 2018

Have the pet store feed and see how interested in the food they are there.

jdemarco · Jan 22, 2018

Best bet is to find a fellow reefer who is selling an established and acclimated leopard. They take extra effort and time to get acclimated and finding an already established specimen is most direct route to success. Sand bed is a must both in DT and QT. Witnessing a female transition to male in your tank is definitely a special occurrence.

Phlynamjax · Jan 23, 2018

I agree with above. However, I am not sure sand bed is required for QT. I currently have Chaoti, Melgaris, Bluestar and Orante. I QT all of them without the sand in QT. Sand might help, but I prefer seeing my fish in QT so I went without it and didn't notice any issues.

eatbreakfast · Jan 23, 2018

I don't provide sand the first days so they get used to lighting schedule, then only use small containers of sand so the sand doesn't absorb any meds.

morgan175 · Jan 23, 2018

Well I hope you all check this again. I feed lrs and rods also mysis. I’m wondering if this will cover me. I also go rods eggs. Does anyone’s eat pellets.

Phlynamjax · Jan 23, 2018

All mine eat pellets like crazy. Generally, I don't have problem getting them to eat. Hard part is getting them to stay alive first couple weeks.

DracoKat · Jan 23, 2018

My leopard eats pellets and frozen.she is extremly friendly, even lets me pet her.

Had her for over a year now, one of my favorites!

Flippers4pups · Jan 23, 2018

My bipartitus came from an established reef, so it ate right off the bat. Eats like a pig. Loves LRS reef frenzy.

mfinn · Jan 23, 2018

morgan175 said:
Well I hope you all check this again. I feed lrs and rods also mysis. I’m wondering if this will cover me. I also go rods eggs. Does anyone’s eat pellets.

I haven't tried lrs or rods on new wrasses in quarantine.
The Rods eggs may work and mysis. Like I said earlier I use the Hikari mysis in cubes because they are smaller than most. ( that I've seen)
A couple of my wrasses eat pellets, but only after a few months in my care. I doubt if new ones will consistently eat them.
I would check around at your local fish stores and see if anyone cares Tigger Pods. A bottle or 2 certainly can help them start eating in their new tank.

morgan175 · Jan 23, 2018

mfinn said:
I haven't tried lrs or rods on new wrasses in quarantine.
The Rods eggs may work and mysis. Like I said earlier I use the Hikari mysis in cubes because they are smaller than most. ( that I've seen)
A couple of my wrasses eat pellets, but only after a few months in my care. I doubt if new ones will consistently eat them.
I would check around at your local fish stores and see if anyone cares Tigger Pods. A bottle or 2 certainly can help them start eating in their new tank.

Been looking at algae barn. Do you suggest not dumbing the whole container in but some over a period of a week. Dumb question after opening fridge with lid on?

mfinn · Jan 23, 2018

morgan175 said:
Been looking at algae barn. Do you suggest not dumbing the whole container in but some over a period of a week. Dumb question after opening fridge with lid on?

When I use Tigger Pods ( Reef Nutrition) I store it in the refrigerator with the cap open and use one bottle over 3-4 days. I use it as the first feeding in the morning.
I like the ease of the small bottle and large pods.
Algae Barn does have the tig pods and for $30 you get a heck of a lot more than the one I normally use.
And yes, I would store them in the refrigerator too.

I order my Tigger Pods straight from Reef Nutrition and usually order ROE at the same time. It's another good food.
I give my 233 a shot of it in the afternoon for all the fish.

4FordFamily · Jan 23, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
They don't ship well, but once they make it past the first two weeks they can be quite Hardy. I have found ornatus and bipartitus to be the hardiest species.

I agree with all of this.