Leopard wrasse experience wanted

[Headache]

I just scored a beautiful young leopard wrasse for 12.50 who ive had my eye on for several weeks. Its healthy, and eating, but i want to make sure i feed it properly.

Thusfar, ive seen her picking on the LR, and she has readily eaten the marine cuisine frozen food ive been feeding, although i want to make sure im providing a properly balanced diet.

To summarize, diet includes hunting for pods, and brine/mysis frozen. Should i be supplementing with anything else?

I know these fish can be delicate, so i want to give her the very best chance i can.

Further, can people relate their experience with these fish?

TY



P.S. ill post a pick when i can get batteries for the cam lol.

 

[flfireman1]

If you have seen this wrasse at the store for several weeks and its eating then you should be fine. In my experience with these fish the ones that seem to die on me are the ones that Ive bought after just a few days at the LFS. The two I have were bought after they had been at the LFS for several weeks. I have an african leopard (divided leopard wrasse) and a regular new guinea fowl leopard. Mine are even eating pellet now and eat the nori when the tangs break it up.
Good luck... leopards are absolutely one of my favorite fish.

 

[Mark]

They don't do will with shipping or even transporting from the LFS. But once they are acclimated to your tank, they are quite hardy. I was fortunate to inherit one from a friend who was downsizing. Mine loves New Life Spectrum Pellets. We moved the leopard from her tank to mine in a bucket with sand. It burried in the sand for the car ride. I think when I move in the future, I will use this method again to transport the fish.

 

[Headache]

excellent info, very encouraging!

any compatibility issues with other fish? wrasses? etc?

 

[snorvich]

Good info Mark. Any ideas on how to get one and have it ship successfully?

 

[flfireman1]

What I did with mine was put a down payment at the LFS for one. When they received a couple they held one for me. It took about two attempts but the ones that dont ship well usually die within a week or so. After they kept it for about a week and it started eating live brine they called me and I picked her up. But you have to have a LFS that will work with you.

The other thing to make the ride home a little more comfortable was. They double bagged it and closed the bag with a rubberband as they do normally. They then flipped the bag upside down so the water and fish are in the closed rubber band ara. They then put this part in another same size fish bag and I transported her that way. In this fashion there are no corners for the fish to hurt itself in.

They are notorious for trying to hide in corners and damage their mouths.

 

[flfireman1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12273869#post12273869 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Headache
any compatibility issues with other fish? wrasses? etc?

In my tank they are probably the most peaceful fish. THey just go about their buisness of looking for food along the rocks. Dont bother any of the inverts (shrimp, snails). Just a great fish.

 

[ACBlinky]

If you've found a leopard that's eating, you're more than halfway home already. As Mark said, they're actually pretty hardy fish once they've adapted to tank life; it's the shipping that generally does them in.

I feed my Potter's a homemade frozen food consisting of fresh/frozen fish & shellfish, flakes, pellets, dried seaweeds, garlic, Selcon and vitamins, and she also picks at the tang's nori clip and hunts pods all day long. I've only had her for a few weeks and she's already getting very fat

I haven't notice any compatibility issues, and I have some large, pushy fish (tang, Lamarck's angel, clowns) in my tank. The Potter's popped out of the sand the day after I introduced her to the tank (she spent the first afternoon and night in the sand) and acted like she owned the place from day one. Leopards have plucky little personalities and seem to get along well with most other fish -- if confronted, they just excuse themselves and go back to hunting pods.

 

[redhdmedic]

our leopard is a fabulous tankmate...we've had him for a little over 18 mos now, he started out in our 75 and has moved into our 215 about 8 mos ago. He gets along great with tankmates including porc. puffer, foxface, emp. angel, djardini sailfin tang, purple tang, powder brown tang, bi-color angel, and 3 bar gobies...along with various crabs and snails...he picks around all day looking for pods and greedily eats the Spectrum pellets and also picks away at the nori sheets...good luck!

 

[cloak]

Here's a good article.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/hcs3/index.php

 

[reef_doug]

I have a black leopard wrasse (Melagris) and she is doing great. Once they are eating then they are fairly hardy. Mine is eating pellets in addition to homemade and frozen.

They also love NutraMar OVA prawn eggs.

 

[LargeAngels]

I got lucky with my second one. LFS got a blue star leopard in from Quality Marine. It looked really alert so I took him home. Has done great ever since eating everything. The first one didn't eat well and eventuall died. He wasn't as alert or healthy looking as the second.

 

[Texsun]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12276166#post12276166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Good info Mark. Any ideas on how to get one and have it ship successfully?

Ask them to ship with a small amount of sand to allow the leopard to burrow.

The Reefkeeping article and advise so far are spot on. The beak's condition and swimming activity are pretty good indicators of health and ultimate success. Once acclimated, they pretty much anything - flake, pellets, mysis... and are a perfect tankmate.

 

[Mark]

I agree with Texsun, and little sand in the bag would help I think.

 

[LargeAngels]

In regards to shipping with sand here is Live Aquaria's response.

"Thank you for your post and great questions on the Leopard Wrasse. When we ship the specimens we do not add sand to the shipping bag. By adding sand we do not believe that it improves the quality of the specimen. We believe that this can be detrimental to the fish, as they may swallow the sand during shipping or the sand may cause abrasions to the body of the fish. "

 

[Mark]

My only concern with sand, is that it increases the bacteria in the bag. And bacteria consumes oxygen. But, I think that can be overcome by oversizing the bag, and making sure there is plenty of air. Then again, if the ups guy decides to flip the box a few times, the wrasse could get injured with sand.