kuiters leopard problem

so, to start, I've had this particular wrasse now for close to a year, was eating great, very active and didnt appear to be being harassed by any tank mates. It had come time for me to change the bulbs on my T5 fixture, and the day i changed the bulbs i had to turn off the lights in the middle of the day, which I've done plenty of times in the past BTW, and after chnaging the bulbs turned everything back on and wrasse had dove into the sand. I thought, "no big deal, he just got spooked and i'll see him tomorrow" and thought nothing of it. Well, It's now almost 3 weeks later, and he STILL hasnt come out. Not sure what to do at this point, I know you are never supposed to disturb them when they dive like this but i dont know how much longer it can go without starving to death. FWIW i do know it is still alive, I can see under my tank and know where it sleeps so i can actually see the wrasse and she is still twitching and moving around under the sand. Has anyone ever experienced this? It just seems crazy to me that an established wrasse would hide like this over just the changing of the bulbs.
 
Three weeks is a long time. He should've come out by now if he was only spooked. If you have a QT, I would suggest to get him in there with a bucket of sand. Need to isolate him somehow and observe what's going on.
 
well, i had thought about doing that, but it goes against everything i feel like i've ever read about leopards or wrasses in general...I feel like everyone always says under no circumstances should you dig them out, but i agree - it has been a long time and now i'm a bit worried.
 
If you do decide to catch and put in qt, I would only put in enough sand to barely cover the body so that it will be easily able to tell the lights are on when it is buried so that it can readjust its timing.
 
I still only see my leopard wrasse maybe once a week at most...I've had it for about 3-4 weeks, it took a week before he came out of the sand, then a week later he went into hiding and I would see him sparingly.. Last time I saw him he was doing fine and was not skinny, so he probably comes out when im not home.
 
Normally, with a new fish you would not go digging for it, but since this one has been established that behavior change is alerting us that something is not right. Getting him in the qt for observation/treatment isprobably the best course of action.
 
3 weeks, i honestly wouldn't dig him up. Just see what happens... over a month or so, its probably dead... small fish can't not eat for a month or more without dying...
 
I would ride it out. I have heard of them going longer than that. Imo if something is wrong, digging it out will likely be breaking the last leg. It is most likely coming out when you aren't there to see it. No one can watch their tank 24/7.

My question would be, do you quarantine new arrivals? I had a tank where I was fighting ich, & when ever there was a big out break, my wrasses would hide in the sand.

If you've ever seen ca1ore post here, he has a black leopard that was in the sand for about 2 months I think, & it's doing fine as of today.
 
If you've ever seen ca1ore post here, he has a black leopard that was in the sand for about 2 months I think, & it's doing fine as of today.

Yeah, mine stayed buried for 6 weeks - thought she was a goner for sure. Only explanation was she was getting spooked by an Achilles Tang that was also in the tank. Once the AT moved up she came out again. So, perhaps the light was just a coincidence and it was getting harassed?
 
Well guess who finally decided to show back up! Just came out yesterday in the evening, I did notice it was getting chased around by my potters leopard, but I never saw any aggression between the two prior to it diving in, I'm thinking that becuase it was gone for so long it was more like it was a new addition being harassed. I'm hoping it dies down by today so i can get her eating again. One thing that i noticed though, the colors are more pronounced than they were before - now i dont know if this is due to the new lighting(i changed my bulbs up a bit on my T5 unit which is what caused this whole fiasco) or if she's possibly started changing to a male.... Is it possible that these wrasses dive when making their change from male to female?
 
Glad it showed back up...PM 'iamwrasseman' on here. He's one of the premier wrasse experts on here & has helped me alot when I first started getting into wrasses. Good luck!
 
Well guess who finally decided to show back up! she's possibly started changing to a male.... Is it possible that these wrasses dive when making their change from male to female?

You were right the first time--they'll change from female to male; but not male to female (like a clownfish).
 
Ah, I read that ^ backwards myself when I replied.

A reversion from male to female is only possible if the transition to male was not completed. ie - still in sub-male/transitional male state, and never became a terminal male.
 
Yeah, sorry. Typo on my part. I know it was a female, maybe possibly changing to male. The red on the body is much more pronounced and the green tint on the head is very vivid now where before it was barely noticeable.
 
Wrasse are my favorite fish & I've always wanted a Kuiters. Glad it showed back up, may be changing sexes & get even more vivid coloring. Good luck!
 
p-37172-Kuiter-wrasse.jpg
 
It's odd, the body looks almost identical to the top photo but the it's getting the coloration of on the head the male on the bottom. I,really hopes it's making the change to a male! Would there be any problems with a large male potters wrasse in the tank?
 
Back
Top