I picked up a female blue star leopard wrasse about 24 hours ago and she seemed fine and lively in the lfs. Soon as I got home I noticed she was just lying there in the bag. I drip acclimated her for almost and hour and when I decided to put her in the tank I noticed she was kind of almost floating upwards but straightened herself out fine. I put her into my main tank. I didn't QT because he's the only fish in there now. Immediately she went straight to the sand and dug herself under a rock. Today I just got off work and I could see her tail sticking out from under the rock I thought she was dead. I lifted the rock and she immediately went under the sand. What I'm concerned with his how she was floating almost sideways. And it breathing hard and then today when I found her she was sleeping sideways on top the sand under the rock. I tried feeding with garlic but under that sand she didn't even budge. Should I be concerned with the way she swam? And how long can she live under the sand without eating or coming out?
Wrasse help
- Thread starter alonso24k
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I would give it a few days, they typically go under the sand for a few days, then start coming out slowly during the day. Dont try to get it out of the sand. That's just going to stress him more. They feed on pods so there feeding when your not looking. Do you have a good pod populatipn, also did you see this wrasse eat frozen food in the store?
Yeah I figured I would leave him under the sand . Yes I have plenty of pods due to not having any fish. I can see them crawling on the glass all day long since no one there to scare them. Also I have a crazy population of very tiny snails which I was told they eat. I did not see him eat in store because when I got there they were closing in about 10 minutes. The store I went to does a "fish of the week" and they order like 20-30 of that weeks fish for cheap. I got him for 30$, I'm guess because they do this he arrived only a day or two before I got her and is probably extremely stressed out. I've been eyeing this fish since I set up my tank but wanted to make sure my tank was established. My tank is about 8 months old I had a clown but he jumped. I purchased two other clown which are in QT now that's why I added the wrasse straight into the DT
Thats about the normal price for them. They are a difficult fish and don't ship well. It could take a few tries before you can get one that survives long term. Also generally I treat any leopards I get with 2 doses of prazi 5 days apart as they are very prone to flukes.
Salty1962
Wrasse and SPS Lover
I hope you have a cover for your tank, wrasses love to turf surf!
Let it settle in for a few days, if it's healthy it should be ok. My Leopards took 4-5 days before they stayed out during the day, when it gets acclimated you'll be able to set your clock when they come out and go to bed!
Let it settle in for a few days, if it's healthy it should be ok. My Leopards took 4-5 days before they stayed out during the day, when it gets acclimated you'll be able to set your clock when they come out and go to bed!
I swear they were in the 30 dollar range from Live aquaria. But then i was buying these guys a couple year's ago. I like the meleagris a little better. They do not give the male justice in the l.a. pic. It acctually looks just like my sig. Like there's batteries in there.
eatbreakfast
Fish Nerd
Leave it alone. Fidgeting with it will do more harm than good.
The swimming is concerning, in most cases it is not a good sign.
Dosing prazi is a good idea. It can be dosed to the display.
The swimming is concerning, in most cases it is not a good sign.
Dosing prazi is a good idea. It can be dosed to the display.
I am so glad to see somebody else recognize how nice male meleagris look. Pics just don't do it justice. IMO it is the nicest looking male leopard.
Every time someone comes over, fish person or not, they gasp and say omg what kind of fish is that?!
Favorite fish i have period and i have a ton. He's also not aggressive at all and he's huge. 3 other leopards in with him including a male potters Leopard, female meleagris, and female bipart. Had a male ornate too but had to move him to another tank because he wouldn't tolerate the potters.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
Your male meleagris is beautiful! Did you purchase it as a female?
Yes. The change was almost overnight too. One morning i had a new fish out of no where. Colors got brighter over a couple weeks but most of it was Over night.
Wilsoni
Well-Known Member
Wow that's pretty incredible! I would loved to have seen the transition. Did you have another female in the tank at the time or was the transition spontaneous?
Yup there was another smaller female. She is still in there.
