Black Leopard Pair

[skyrne_isk]

Just wanted to share:

I picked up a hard-luck male and female a year or so ago that were on their last legs at the LFS and unfortunately didn't make it. I had never really noticed how fantastic these fish look (and don't you tell me they are plain). After seeing the wild pair I was stunned at the blues and reds that rimmed the scales on the male's head, just amazing. I had never realized just how stunning these leopards were - even when compared to their relatives. Even though my male does not have anything near adult colors, his fins are starting to get the red tint I recall - good signs!

So after a year of trying and utter frustration at how badly they ship, I finally ended up with a pair that survived - these two have been with me now for about three months - eating prepared foods and all!

So for all those who have waited a long time to get that one (or two!) fish you had to have and finally did (or maybe haven't!) - feels good.

Enjoy!

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[snorvich]

Very nice. I may have a pair of these coming as well.

 

[tqpolo]

Where are you guys buying them from?

 

[skyrne_isk]

Best of luck! I picked up three just in case on this go around and wound up with two.

Very nice. I may have a pair of these coming as well.

 

[skyrne_isk]

Where are you guys buying them from?

Bluezoo once, which all arrived alive but none survived. They sat on them for a week plus before shipping, but it did not help.

This time around straight out of the bag from Premium Aquatics, which is local for me.

 

[jim.crunk]

Nice! I was at a lfs yesterday and they had several although not mated pairs. I considered one but didnt jump because I didnt know anything about em.
Your clown looks awsome too.

 

[EllieSuz]

Is it tough to quarantine these fish since they need sand?

 

[snorvich]

Is it tough to quarantine these fish since they need sand?

I do not prophylactically treat mandarins or leopard wrasses. I do observe them for a full five weeks in an environment with live rock and sand, however.

 

[skyrne_isk]

I do not prophylactically treat mandarins or leopard wrasses. I do observe them for a full five weeks in an environment with live rock and sand, however.

Agreed on this. Like mandarins, wrasses do not typically carry diseases. This does not mean QT can be skipped. Ideally, you can introduce them into an established tank by themselves. Short of that, you may take a calculated risk by limiting their tankmates to other healthy, established, and disease-resistant fish as I don't imagine many of us keep an established tank around without fish for very long. You can see the clowns I have them in with as well as the radiant wrasse - they were the first additions to this tank.

One thing worth mentioning on what I did different this time around:

I have found that their small mouths and shy nature can make feeding an initial challenge as they would swim away from a full-size mysis shrimp not recognizing it as food. Getting them to eat protein-rich prepared foods is important - a matter of a couple days in many cases. As odd as it may seem, I initially took the frozen cubes of mysis and shaved them like garlic. This made the mysis almost the size of cyclopeeze - the smaller size food they took to and within another week or so they were on formula two and angel formula.


Also, when I have brought in leopards that stay hidden most of the time it is usually a bad sign - though some report not seeing them for more than a week with no problems. Early on, the male might only come out for an hour or two so I have tried to keep feeding multiple times throughout the day to keep the window for feeding open as long as possible. I cannot stress the import of regular feeding when you do not have a monster refugium. Since they are in the tank in my office, I have this luxury. I noticed on some days he would only be out from maybe 8AM to noon. If I had meetings all morning - they didn't get to eat at all that day. By feeding small amounts throughout the day I have helped stretch the male to be out until at least 3 or so. The female is out as long as the lights are on not sure why such the difference.

 

[nonimmigrant]

I've actually never QT'd my Halichoeres nor Anampses more than 2 days in a 0.60 Cupramine treated tank. I know that I'll get frowned on, but my logic is that I have never (knock on wood) had either species infected with external parasites in 10+ years. I also believe that with the mucus layer of the specie that any external parasite will be scraped off when they hit the sand bed. I'm particularly sensitive to Anampses. I have two A. meleagrides, one A. melanarus, and two A. lennardi on the way. My new additions all go after the live rock for a few days, then wise up to the clams that are fed to the Copperband, and then go after everything after a week to 10 days. The one thing I'd tell you is that Amapses in particular are prone to internal parasites and it's a real ***** to treat them in a large tank effectively. I had to pull a 4" female A. meleagrides out of my SPS tank and re-QT it after she got real skinny despite eating a normal amount of mixed food. She's been treated for about 3 weeks now and is gaining weight again. I'll move her once she's torpedo fat again.

 

[skyrne_isk]

I've actually never QT'd my Halichoeres nor Anampses more than 2 days in a 0.60 Cupramine treated tank. I know that I'll get frowned on, but my logic is that I have never (knock on wood) had either species infected with external parasites in 10+ years. I also believe that with the mucus layer of the specie that any external parasite will be scraped off when they hit the sand bed. I'm particularly sensitive to Anampses. I have two A. meleagrides, one A. melanarus, and two A. lennardi on the way. My new additions all go after the live rock for a few days, then wise up to the clams that are fed to the Copperband, and then go after everything after a week to 10 days. The one thing I'd tell you is that Amapses in particular are prone to internal parasites and it's a real ***** to treat them in a large tank effectively. I had to pull a 4" female A. meleagrides out of my SPS tank and re-QT it after she got real skinny despite eating a normal amount of mixed food. She's been treated for about 3 weeks now and is gaining weight again. I'll move her once she's torpedo fat again.

I have a pair A. meleagrides in there, too. What did you treat with, Prazipro?