Leopard Wrasse - Difficult?

[swigen]

So I know at least one of you (ahem...alovely) has some experience with this wrasse. Is it as difficult as many resources state? Once we get our bully six line out of the tank we'll be looking for a similarly colorful and active fish (but more peaceful) and we have our hearts set on the leopard wrasse after seeing acouple the last time we were in Memphis. Also, has anyone had one long enough to know how long it takes for them to switch from female to male?

Oh, I suppose if someones interested and I can catch the sucker, does anyone want a nice (looking) six line for say 20 bucks? Unfortunately Ill be in North Carolina all weekend so Ill miss the meeting but I do have to drop off a friend whos flying out of memphis on wednesday so I could bring it then.

Thanks

 

[Rendos]

Leopards do not fare well in transit. So getting a healthy one that is properly acclimated and eating is key. Some leopards are easier than others. Female bipartitus, and meleagris seem to me to be the easier of them. Black leopards, Choati, and Potters are a little more finicky. Once they are established in your tank and acclimated to the lighting schedule and feeding, they are a wonderful addition and quite hardy.

 

[alovely]

Leopards do not fare well in transit. So getting a healthy one that is properly acclimated and eating is key. Some leopards are easier than others. Female bipartitus, and meleagris seem to me to be the easier of them. Black leopards, Choati, and Potters are a little more finicky. Once they are established in your tank and acclimated to the lighting schedule and feeding, they are a wonderful addition and quite hardy.

+1 on the female bipartitus seems to be the one that most people have a success rate with. I will say the first couple of days mine wasn't eating he was only eating the copepods in the tank. I did start dosing w/ garlic though and now I got him even eating cyclopeeze. I would recommend feeding twice a day though because they have a high metabolism like seahorses unless you have an abundant supply of copepods then I would say you would be alright.

 

[swigen]

so what about these "bluestar" leopard wrasses I see? What species are they? I actually thought there was only one species of leopard wrasse. Memfish had some that looked exactly like yours Andrew with the "bluestar" on the breast area and these are the ones we are interested in. Im assuming that since they sleep in the sand its a good thing I have more than 4 in of sand covering the tank bottom.

It sounds like unless I find one thats in perfect condition I might be looking into other fish. What else would you suggest for a replacement for a six line? I have a maroon clown, yellow clown goby, mandarin dragonet and neon goby in a 50 gal. I think a flasher wrasse would be awesome but i dont see them often and Im not close enough to a retailer who could order me one. I also like dottybacks but Im assuming they would be more aggressive than the six line. Maybe I'll just stick with the basics and get a pair of dartfish. It just seems like my 50 is still so empty!

 

[luckyfish]

I have a bipartitus I picked up at Memfish months ago. I don't know if it is male or female (I don't like to stare). Brought him to Nashville and put him/her in my 180 and he was eating within a day. Great fish, active and will come to the front of the tank when people are looking. I got him probably close to full grown and he was eating in the store.

 

[gflat65]

Tim,

Post a pic and we can tell you.

The bluestar's are probably M. cyanogutattus. I picked one up a year or two ago, but it didn't last long (maybe a month). I'll hunt down some pics. Beautiful fish (though Potter's are my fav's). I've never had luck with female bipartitus, but had a male bipartitus for 9 months. Eating one day, dead the next... That one really hurt. I had a female meleagris for nearly three years, but she disappeared about two months ago (I suspect the mystery wrasse turned punk, but never saw any aggression...). Had another female meleagris for about a year and a half. It and a C. solorensis disappeared a week after adding some sand sifting stars (they were huge-4-5", and I should have known better). I have a male ornatus I picked up from Dave after the Memphis swap. Walked in the door and it was the first fish I saw. Couldn't leave it there.

As Richard said, getting one that hasn't been stressed nearly to death can be a challenge. They sleep in the sand, so when they are just shipped, they are generally on different time schedules. They are sleeping when you're lights are on and want to hunt when the lights are off (I think they mostly come from Vietnam and Africa). I've had them go two or three weeks before showing themselves, then disappear for another week or two, slowly making more and more appearances until they are acclimated. I try to adjust the lighting a little when I first get them, based on when I see them out. Make sure you have plenty of pods in the tank. I move cheato from the sump into the tank when I introduce a new one to ensure that a fresh load of pods are introduced. Not sure if it actually does anything, but it makes me feel better about it. Once they get acclimated, they'll usually start accepting frozen food. My male ornatus only seems to like Hikari bloodworms so far, but I'm hoping he'll decide to like the Arctipods I bought specifically for him. Only fish I've ever had that didn't eat it with gusto...

 

[gflat65]

This is the M. cyanoguttatus

Female M. bipartitus

Male M. bipartitus He was my pride...

Male M. ornatus (need to get some better pics-need slo mo button for wrasses)

Female M. meleagris

Prazi Pro is a good prophylactic for new additions, too, given with food.

 

[alovely]

wow great pics and swigen the one I got is a female bipartitus. There are several species of leopard wrasses some easier than others. I would suggest getting it from Memfish you can try ordering online but make sure you have a QT ready for it because many have worms. Gosh if I could find the article I would show you a really good read. Anyways... great fish a lot of color just make sure your lights don't come on too early my wrasse wakes up early and sleeps early.

 

[iamwrasseman]

you can get alot of good info on the "leopard wrasse primer" tread here on RC but most of the leopards are sensitive to the collection ,holding and shipping process as a whole to say the least . they have the best chance of survival with no QT and directly into the display tank along with a good treatment of prazi pro which is 100% reef safe . they stand a 75% better chance than going through the QT tank and its stress . i would suggest you take a few hours and read that tread because it will give you so much needed information as they really are difficult in certain areas .IMO the female bipartus are probably the best survivors but no matter what it really comes down to getting healthy unstressed specimens to start out with .live food in the beginning will also really help them have a better chance as they are tough at the beginning to get to eat . ck the tread out and i wish you the best as they are so very interesting to own and observe .