blue star leopard not thrilled in QT

[formsix]

My female blue star leopard (bipartitus) arrived from LA yesterday and seems to be in good health. I temp acclimated her for 15 minutes, quickly drip acclimated her for another 15, and plopped her into a 10 gallon uncycled QT with a dish of sand.

She immediately started attacking her reflection on the glass, I turned off all the lights, and she calmed down. Slept a little in the sand, but has mostly been hanging out toward the bottom of the tank. However, today, she keeps repeatedly attacking her reflection, and even swimming straight up and popping a good 2-3 inches above the water line (tank isn't filled to the very top, but there is a cover so no worries of her jumping out). So -- good news is that she's active and healthy enough to put up a fight. Bad news is that she keeps freaking out.

Can't tell if she's eating yet -- I gave her some ROE and I think she ate a few but not 100% sure (she retreats when I'm close, so trying to observe from a distance). I also put a cupful of water from my DT that I shook some chaeto into, and she seemed to react -- maybe eating a few pods? Her mouth looks fine, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, I'm thinking about pulling her from the QT and putting her into my DT. Really worried that her periodic frantic bouts in the QT are doing more harm than the QT is good. My DT is 75 gallons with all peaceful inhabitants, so she won't really need to compete for food, and there are also plenty of pods.

OTOH, I did want to dose her with prazi before she went into the DT... but that's probably less important than having a non-frantic fish. Ugh, any advice?

I am slowly raising the salinity of the QT (1.020 now) up now to match the DT's 1.025 so I could move her by the end of the day if I wanted... can't decide.

 

[small alien]

I would move the fish to the dt if it was me and the fish had no signs of disease. It's a gamble either way. Good luck.

 

[formsix]

I would move the fish to the dt if it was me and the fish had no signs of disease. It's a gamble either way. Good luck.

Thanks. That's what I'm leaning toward, and working on slowly bumping up the salinity of the QT using DT water.

I'm also bummed because I just found the starry blenny dead -- he arrived yesterday in the same LA shipment and was in a different 20g QT with a Carberryi Anthias (who is doing just fine). I think I handled all of the acclimation and QT by the book (or at least by one of the agreed upon methods!), but I guess the shipping was to much for the poor guy. Figured he would be the easiest of the 3 fish I got though, so it's a bit upsetting

 

[formsix]

I put her in the DT and she immediately dove into the sand. I'll take that as a decent sign, because she only went in the tupperware in the QT once or twice. Now we'll see if she ever resurfaces. I think this is her best chance, so fingers crossed she makes it.

 

[evolved]

In the future, you could have curbed this behavior by putting white paper on the exterior of the QT to cut the reflection.

 

[Holyreefer]

Leopard wrasse due to its sensitivity would a QT really be required with this fish?

 

[formsix]

In the future, you could have curbed this behavior by putting white paper on the exterior of the QT to cut the reflection.

Thanks! I actually tried that on 2 sides but didn't think it was helping so I stopped. Next time I'll stick with it, and maybe also spread a fine layer of sand across the bottom of the tank to cut down that reflection (I did have a tupperware of sand in the tank). I had the QT in my dining room -- it's quiet and I kept the lights off, but a small bit of light gets in, so I couldn't eliminate the reflections altogether. I could maybe put it in the basement next time for total darkness.

Poor fish was really stressed though -- she would chill at the bottom of the tank, then quickly swim straight up, and skip across the surface of the water. I've never seen a fish do that before, and it was a bit unnerving.

I haven't seen her since she went into my DT Saturday afternoon and shot straight into the sand. Tank parameters are normal and everything else looks good, so just waiting to see if she makes it.

 

[formsix]

Leopard wrasse due to its sensitivity would a QT really be required with this fish?

There doesn't seem to be a consensus. Some people think it's best to put them straight into the DT which is presumably more stable and full of hiding places and pods. Other people want to keep them in a QT to try to get them eating and fatten them up before moving them to the DT, and sometimes also dose with prazipro. I think an established QT is probably the best compromise, but I don't have one of those yet.

My 75g tank is peaceful and only has 4 young smallish fish so I'm not worried about her getting harassed or getting out-competed for food. If that was the case I would have been more reluctant to put her in the DT. But I think those are the main factors people are weighing when deciding how to try and acclimate these delicate fish.

 

[kelrn98]

Updates?

 

[formsix]

Updates?

Sorry, I posted the sad update elsewhere, but the wrasse jumped out of the (covered) tank. She hid for 5 days, and then Friday morning (the day she jumped) my boyfriend spotted her out, but she was lying on the sand and breathing heavily. That morning I had also heard her (or so I thought) -- that sound she had made in the QT when she skittered across the top of the water. None of my other fish have ever done anything like that.

Sometime during the day she managed to jump out I have a rimless tank with a 1/4" mesh screen cover. She either pushed the entire cover up, or slipped out of the little space in the front where the tank bows out -- there is loose mesh there, but easier to push up. Or she flipped into the overflow, down the emergency drain, and then jumped 6" up and out of the refugium. Either way it was a bit of a freak accident, but I've been trying to fortify the tank and am upset about what happened. I think it's likely that she wouldn't have made it even if she didn't jump -- between the frantic behavior and her listlessness -- but I still feel terrible.

Coincidentally, my LFS just happened to get some leopard wrasses in over this weekend, and after much deliberation I did pick up a new addition yesterday -- a little black leopard who is already eating frozen and spent a few hours yesterday picking pods off my rocks. I'll post more about her in another thread, but things are already off to a much more positive start with this one.

 

[evolved]

or slipped out of the little space in the front where the tank bows out -- there is loose mesh there, but easier to push up.

I'll wager on this as the path of escape. Sorry to hear.

 

[Holyreefer]

Sorry, I posted the sad update elsewhere, but the wrasse jumped out of the (covered) tank. She hid for 5 days, and then Friday morning (the day she jumped) my boyfriend spotted her out, but she was lying on the sand and breathing heavily. That morning I had also heard her (or so I thought) -- that sound she had made in the QT when she skittered across the top of the water. None of my other fish have ever done anything like that.



Sometime during the day she managed to jump out I have a rimless tank with a 1/4" mesh screen cover. She either pushed the entire cover up, or slipped out of the little space in the front where the tank bows out -- there is loose mesh there, but easier to push up. Or she flipped into the overflow, down the emergency drain, and then jumped 6" up and out of the refugium. Either way it was a bit of a freak accident, but I've been trying to fortify the tank and am upset about what happened. I think it's likely that she wouldn't have made it even if she didn't jump -- between the frantic behavior and her listlessness -- but I still feel terrible.



Coincidentally, my LFS just happened to get some leopard wrasses in over this weekend, and after much deliberation I did pick up a new addition yesterday -- a little black leopard who is already eating frozen and spent a few hours yesterday picking pods off my rocks. I'll post more about her in another thread, but things are already off to a much more positive start with this one.

Would you Qt this fish again or just add to display tank?