purchase size of leopard wrasse

mtfish · Feb 21, 2018

I am one for three on leopard wrasse (M meleagris) in QT. All were purchased from Live Aquaria and came in under 1.5 inches in length. Would I be better off getting a larger female, or is it just luck of the draw having success with these fish? The one is doing well and eating live food, and hopefully frozen soon. Hurts to lose any fish.

ca1ore · Feb 21, 2018

I've actually had better luck with the smaller ones, though none ship particularly well. The thing to look out for is any pinching behind the head. Once that happens they just don't make it. Also keep in mind with Meleagris is that they don't 'harem' quite as amicably as other leopard species. I got a pair of small females recently (also from LA) and it was quite clear that one was going to end up killing the other. Had to separate them, though the more aggressive female gets along fine with a similarly sized black leopard.

eatbreakfast · Feb 22, 2018

I have found that large leopards ship the worst, but tiny ones are blow that. Small to md ones seem to do the best, around 2.5-3", but none ship well.

mfinn · Feb 22, 2018

I added 4 of the smallest leopards I have ever seen to my 233 a couple months ago. One was about 1" and the others were closer to 3/4"
When I got them from LA, I thought, no way will they survive.
But they went through a month and a half in quarantine.
They were so small that when I used a acclimation box in the main tank, they all just slipped out the vent holes and cracks between the doors and the box.
Fortunately the large female bipartitus completely leaves them alone.

Triggreef · Feb 22, 2018

I've quarantined so many leopards its crazy. Mostly losses until I learned a better way. Began trying in a 20g set up just for leopards, with sand and live rock. Thought was to get them acclimated to aquarium life and treat with prazi and observe. Seldom made it past a month with any. Total fail.

Then I converted a 72g to a cycled quarantine for wrasses. Lots of live rock. Let explode with pods first. To the point of them being all over glass and everything. That's where I had the bulk of my success. Able to treat with prazi that way. And I gave them about 3 to 6 months or so to adjust to aquarium life well. Then a 20g tank transfer method just to be sure ich was not present, and into tank. No issues with ttm after fish was fully acclimated to life at my house. Turn 1 out of 4 ratio to 3 out of 4 or even closer to 4 for 4.

If you think leopards are difficult, wait til you try tamarin wrasses.

Triggreef · Feb 22, 2018

Oh, as far as purchase size. Never noticed any difference. Had small ones make it as well as larger ones. Only difference is larger ones might turn male faster.

I like the idea of smaller ones better though. Pods last longer, and their life span is only like 5 years ago I always figured a smaller one I would have longer.

mtfish · Feb 22, 2018

Thanks for all the responses. I have moved the one remaining wrasse over to a permanent QT that is loaded with pods that I have a yellow tail tamarin in now. The yellow tail has been in there since August. I need to get both fish eating frozen before I move them to DT. I too like smaller fish so I get to watch them grow up and hopefully they are with me longer. If I try for more leopards, I will stick with the small females.

Phlynamjax · Feb 22, 2018

I generally buy medium size leopard wrasses. I QTed all of them in bare bottom. I currently have 4 in my DT all eating pellets and doing great. My oldest one is 2.5 years old. I used to only buy them through online vendor because of guarantee. My logic was that one day I will get one to live. However, They ship so poorly that I got burned out by the QT process. It was so tiring and exhausting. Now I only buy them from LFS. I only buy them if they were in store for at least 2 weeks and eats aggressively. This made my QT process so much easier and less stressful. Leopard wrasses are common and I can easily find them at the LFS.

Kyl · Feb 23, 2018

My two Blue Star leopards came in tiny, about 1-1/4, maybe 1-1/2" max. They both initially did great, then after about a week of therapeutic copper one buried and never came back except for near the end and doing the swimming spins of death for a few hours. The survivor isn't much bigger than when it was purchased, but went through four weeks of therapeutic copper like a champ and eats everything, even flake.

I'm not sure if that helps much, but I'm 1/2 on leopards, and they were both at the LFS for 2-3 weeks and eating well, looked somewhat plump.