QTing Leopard Wrasses

[Humblefish]

I'm currently QTing 3 different Leopard Wrasses (Meleagris, Ornate, Moyeri), and these fish are seriously kicking my butt.

Anyway, here are some things I've figured out:

1. Don't buy a Leopard Wrasse unless you see it eating prepared foods. Otherwise, you might be forced to feed it live pods, live brine, live blackworms, etc. during QT. Some Leopards WILL NOT EAT AT ALL IN QT.
2. Sand is a must when QTing these fish. Either on the bottom of the QT or in a glass (pyrex) bowl. Without sand, they will likely damage their mouth by constantly biting/rubbing it on the bottom of the QT.
3. Feeding them can be tricky, especially if they stay constantly buried. (It's not unusual for a Leopard Wrasse to remain in the sand for days or even weeks at a time. ) I've had pretty good luck catching them out of the sand just before my bedtime (tank has already been dark for hours), and tossing in a little food then.
4. Do not QT them with aggressive tank mates. Only with passive tank mates.
5. Have a tight fitting lid to prevent them from jumping out (same goes for any wrasse.)
6. Same requirements described above also apply to keeping a Leopard Wrasse in your DT: Tight fitting lid, lots of pods, deep sand bed, nonaggressive tank mates, etc.

Feel free to chime in with any tips you might have; @evolved @eatbreakfast @4FordFamily @HotRocks probably have some good points to share.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

White worms did the trick for me with the last bluestar that I had in qt kept her coming out now she’s healthy and beautiful in my display. finally this was going to be my last try with these so I pulled out all the tricks. Will go for two more on my next order.

 

[FDAWG]

Are planning on any treatments?

 

[FDAWG]

.

 

[Humblefish]

Are planning on any treatments?

Currently in Copper Power @ 1.75ppm + API General Cure.

However, I had to pull the Moyeri out of medication early in order to feed live pods + he has intestinal worms. Currently experimenting with dosing fenbendazole for his worm issues because he is not eating prepared foods, so I cannot food soak any meds.

 

[FDAWG]

Currently in Copper Power @ 1.75ppm + API General Cure.

However, I had to pull the Moyeri out of medication early in order to feed live pods + he has intestinal worms.

How did you know it had intestinal worms?

 

[Humblefish]

How did you know it had intestinal worms?

White stringy poo; scope ID confirmed cestodes/tapeworms.

 

[kraftyyz]

i had aragonite sand and it was absorbing the copper. are you having issues with your sand and copper?

 

[Humblefish]

i had aragonite sand and it was absorbing the copper. are you having issues with your sand and copper?

Zero issues with copper absorption; using dry Caribsea Fiji Pink (0.5 - 1.5mm). Rinse that stuff thoroughly before using it.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Zero issues with copper absorption; using dry Caribsea Fiji Pink (0.5 - 1.5mm). Rinse that stuff thoroughly before using it.

Serious question @Humblefish do you feel that it’s a must that new leopards go through copper ? I found that most of them that I get come with internal parasites and worms and not ich or velvet for a matter of fact most of the wrasses I get.

 

[Humblefish]

Serious question @Humblefish do you feel that it’s a must that new leopards go through copper ? I found that most of them that I get come with internal parasites and worms and not ich or velvet for a matter of fact most of the wrasses I get.

In general, wrasses are external parasite resistant, but that doesn't mean a trophont or two can't harbor inside the gills unseen. Which is enough to infect an entire DT, and kill your other fish.

 

[PGT253]

In general, wrasses are external parasite resistant, but that doesn't mean a trophont or two can't harbor inside the gills unseen. Which is enough to infect an entire DT, and kill your other fish.

And you can drop a FW molly or two in QT with the leopards for ich/velvet detection. I added 2, so far no white spots on the mollies.

 

[Humblefish]

And you can drop a FW molly or two in QT with the leopards for ich/velvet detection. I added 2, so far no white spots on the mollies.

True!

 

[deedubz]

Currently in Copper Power @ 1.75ppm + API General Cure.

However, I had to pull the Moyeri out of medication early in order to feed live pods + he has intestinal worms. Currently experimenting with dosing fenbendazole for his worm issues because he is not eating prepared foods, so I cannot food soak any meds.

I've seen you bring up fenbendazole a couple times now. What exactly is it, where would YOU buy it, and how do you dose it? I did a quick Google (very quick and very lazy) search. A place called "allivet" had some but the website looked really primitive. Other than that it was just adds for prazi, melafix, etc.

Went back and searched "fenbendazole for fish" and got more hits. Is this an RX drug, or is there a particular brand you'd recommend?

 

[ihavecrabs]

I second white worms and brine shrimp.

The three blue star leopard wrasses I have in QT at the moment also had concerns eating at first. They would not touch cyclopeeze or mysis.

I enticed them with a weeks worth of brine shrimp with a little frozen mix of mysis and cyclopeeze. That got them picking at the frozen food but to ensure they were eating enough, I have been feeding white worms every few days and let me say, those wrasse go nuts for white worms.

All three are healthy and eat like pigs now. If I haven't seen one inns few days around feeding time, I usually use a turkey baster to interrupt their sleep [emoji53] to get them a little food. Only had to do this a handful of times.

 

[HotRocks]

I'm currently QTing 3 different Leopard Wrasses (Meleagris, Ornate, Moyeri), and these fish are seriously kicking my butt.

Anyway, here are some things I've figured out:

1. Don't buy a Leopard Wrasse unless you see it eating prepared foods. Otherwise, you might be forced to feed it live pods, live brine, live blackworms, etc. during QT. Some Leopards WILL NOT EAT AT ALL IN QT.
2. Sand is a must when QTing these fish. Either on the bottom of the QT or in a glass (pyrex) bowl. Without sand, they will likely damage their mouth by constantly biting/rubbing it on the bottom of the QT.
3. Feeding them can be tricky, especially if they stay constantly buried. (It's not unusual for a Leopard Wrasse to remain in the sand for days or even weeks at a time. ) I've had pretty good luck catching them out of the sand just before my bedtime (tank has already been dark for hours), and tossing in a little food then.
4. Do not QT them with aggressive tank mates. Only with passive tank mates.
5. Have a tight fitting lid to prevent them from jumping out (same goes for any wrasse.)
6. Same requirements described above also apply to keeping a Leopard Wrasse in your DT: Tight fitting lid, lots of pods, deep sand bed, nonaggressive tank mates, etc.

Feel free to chime in with any tips you might have; @evolved @eatbreakfast @4FordFamily @HotRocks probably have some good points to share.

Sorry I don't have alot to add as you pretty much covered it!

Having multiple food sources on hand is highly recommended. It seems that outside of disease, one of the largest challenges is getting them to start eating.

The other factor is that at least IME they don't ship well. With online ordering who knows how well/what they were eating, how long they were at the facility, how were they collected etc.

They are by far one of the most difficult genus I have dealt with.

 

[Humblefish]

I've seen you bring up fenbendazole a couple times now. What exactly is it, where would YOU buy it, and how do you dose it? I did a quick Google (very quick and very lazy) search. A place called "allivet" had some but the website looked really primitive. Other than that it was just adds for prazi, melafix, etc.

Went back and searched "fenbendazole for fish" and got more hits. Is this an RX drug, or is there a particular brand you'd recommend?

I am experimenting with fenbendazole to use on fish with prazi resistant monogeneans (flukes) and prazi/metro resistant internal parasites. I bought mine from here: http://fishchemical.com/FULL-PRODUCT-LIST-FENBENDAZOLE-22943.Item.html

Below are some links with further info:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23488766

http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao/12/d012p185.pdf

https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/60980/8/02whole.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/public...on_of_Cultured_Tiger_Puffer_Takifugu_rubripes

 

[deedubz]

I am experimenting with fenbendazole to use on fish with prazi resistant monogeneans (flukes) and prazi/metro resistant internal parasites. I bought mine from here: http://fishchemical.com/FULL-PRODUCT-LIST-FENBENDAZOLE-22943.Item.html

Below are some links with further info:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23488766

http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao/12/d012p185.pdf

https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/60980/8/02whole.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/public...on_of_Cultured_Tiger_Puffer_Takifugu_rubripes

Awesome. Thank you! That'd be so awesome if it worked for prazi resistant flukes too. Hypo worked for me but a medication would be so much easier than having to deal with salinity AND pH fluctuations

 

[Kyl]

Zero issues with copper absorption; using dry Caribsea Fiji Pink (0.5 - 1.5mm). Rinse that stuff thoroughly before using it.

Question for you @Humblefish . I have two identical 20L QT's, the only difference between the tanks is the one with a blue star leopard has an 8" pyrex glass bowl in it with about 1.5" of fiji pink sand. I'm losing about 0.03-0.05ppm every day in coppersafe potency with this tank, and it has required 23.5 ml vs 18 ml Cu of the other tank so far to maintain both at 1.71-1.75 (same copper bottle, dosed at the exact same time every day during ramp ups). The sand was not brand new, but was rinsed a number of times and stored dry for about 8 months. Wondering if that would have any impact, as otherwise both tanks are exactly the same (aquaclear 50, 1 cup of Seachem matrix, same number of pvc fittings, same heater, evaporation rates, etc).

 

[Humblefish]

Question for you @Humblefish . I have two identical 20L QT's, the only difference between the tanks is the one with a blue star leopard has an 8" pyrex glass bowl in it with about 1.5" of fiji pink sand. I'm losing about 0.03-0.05ppm every day in coppersafe potency with this tank, and it has required 23.5 ml vs 18 ml Cu of the other tank so far to maintain both at 1.71-1.75 (same copper bottle, dosed at the exact same time every day during ramp ups). The sand was not brand new, but was rinsed a number of times and stored dry for about 8 months. Wondering if that would have any impact, as otherwise both tanks are exactly the same (aquaclear 50, 1 cup of Seachem matrix, same number of pvc fittings, same heater, evaporation rates, etc).

How long has the copper been in the tank? Most forms of copper will begin to precipitate out after a few months.