Hey everyone, i just got a female leopard wrasse in my tank, shes been in the tank for about a week, and was wondering if i could get a male could i house them together without issue? She is eating well and looking over all the rock work, though i would love to see if i couldn't get a male and maybe have a pair in the tank
Mixing leopard wrasses
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I got all mine online, I think the stress of shipping is what the issue was. I live in the middle of nowhere so I really don’t have an LFS. I’ve been doing this for over 25 years and I’ve never had an issue with fish. Online they come with no guarantee, they’re considered expert only fish. I put them in the tank and they disappeared in a couple of hours and I never see them again. They stress really easy that’s why I would be hesitant about adding another
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Steven91
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i've kept a black leopard wrasse before, for about a year when it decided to go carpet surfing (now have a good cover with no real holes in it) so hopefully i can emulate that success again and keep for longer than that
It depends on how large your tank is. If you have a 75+ tank with a fine sand bed, it is reasonable to keep a harem of Leopard Wrasse. As mentioned by other reefers, they are not the easiest wrasse to keep.
I have three females, after about 18 months, one of mine, the largest change sex. You can get a male, or other females. If you take good care of them, one will change sex.
My tank is large, 320 gallons. I was fortunate that the two male Leopards did not fight. I would recomend you stick to 1 species. Both of my males started out as small females in my tank.
M. meleagris Leopards:
Females:
Male
Male Nuptial coloration
M. negrosensis, Black Leopards Female:
Male
Male Nuptial coloration:
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Steven91
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It depends on how large your tank is. If you have a 75+ tank with a fine sand bed, it is reasonable to keep a harem of Leopard Wrasse. As mentioned by other reefers, they are not the easiest wrasse to keep.
I have three females, after about 18 months, one of mine, the largest change sex. You can get a male, or other females. If you take good care of them, one will change sex.
My tank is large, 320 gallons. I was fortunate that the two male Leopards did not fight. I would recomend you stick to 1 species. Both of my males started out as small females in my tank.
M. meleagris Leopards:
Females:
Male
Male Nuptial coloration
M. negrosensis, Black Leopards Female:
Male
Male Nuptial coloration:
I have a 120 tank, so I might just have to see what my lfs gets in. Also, they are all beautiful wrasses
My Black Leopards are smaller in size than Meleagris Leopards. The Black male, about 3.5 inches change sex first, but not agressive toward all of the leopards. The Meleagris Leopard change sex about 6 months later at about 4.5 inches.
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The easiest/safest way to go is with a female of a different species. Don't try to pair a species.
Those are awesome fish! I want one so bad, but now that I know the difficulty and the fact they are considered for xperts, I dont want to throw my money away and possibly cause the fish his life! Probably just get a 6 line!
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Steven91
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biggest advice i can give on keeping them...is make sure they are eating, makes life so much easier. if you have a lfs ask them to feed it in front of you, if eating its almost a sure win
eatbreakfast
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Males ship much worse females. I would advise getting a few females and let them figure it out.
