Leopard Wrasse Primer

[Yurivd]

These wrasse are fairly common in our local waters. Based on the feedback I got on various forums, this one included, its a Halechoeres, not a Marcropharyngodon.

Here is a pic of a supermale, I caught a year ago.
Released it again, was too big for my systems.

I just had a look in wrasses & parrotfishes reef fishes series by Scott W. Micheal
On page 202 there is a male halichoeres binotopsis that look the same as this fish

 

[longranger]

Got lucky. Had a friend pick up 4 meleagris females from the wholesaler for me. All look perfect. No damage or near dead fish. Were surprisingly easy to acclimate after their long journey. This time I went straight to the DT. That was yesterday afternoon. When I fed the tank before going to work they were all still sandnapping. If they come out they will find lots of pods on the rocks and sand. Fingers crossed.:inlove:

 

[Lions Kin]

I have only had mine 4 weeks but I'll continue to update.

1. Macropharyngodon meleagris
2. LFS
3. Straight to tank
4. 75 reef, 8 months old-ish
5. First attempt, had been at the lfs for a couple weeks, brought him home and he picked at the rocks constantly for a week and a half, but didn't notice prepared foods. Got him to eat Cyclops first, now eats anything I put in.

 

[Rabidgoose]

Thanks for the responses. Are bipartitus more durable than meleagris or about the same? I am thinking about trying one more time with the bipartitus.chuck

Updating:

I ended up ordering 3 bipartitus of which only one survived. The other 2 were basically dead on arrival but the remaining one is doing well. She is eating everything I put in the tank save pellets. I am optimistic about her long term survival.

A couple of questions: While I won't order anymore online I am looking locally for a couple more leopards, if I add one or two more bipartitus females with the existing one will they get along? How about other leopard species, will they coexist with the established bipartitus?

thanks........chuck

A quick pic of my little girl.....

 

[longranger]

Rabidgoose I have the same question regarding mixing of subspecies in the same tank. Have 3 Meleagris girls on 5th day in tank. All are eating and looking good. They are really cute. Actually make a pretty good school fish. Anyway my LFS is running a special on Bipartis this weekend. I am tempted and have room but do not want to create a problem.

 

[Rabidgoose]

Rabidgoose I have the same question regarding mixing of subspecies in the same tank. Have 3 Meleagris girls on 5th day in tank. All are eating and looking good. They are really cute. Actually make a pretty good school fish. Anyway my LFS is running a special on Bipartis this weekend. I am tempted and have room but do not want to create a problem.

I suspect these questions has been addressed at some point but I simply don't recall. I read the entire thread some time ago but with age came loss of retention. The upside is I hide my own Easter eggs. Hopefully someone will chime in at some point.

Good luck with your meleagris
chuck

 

[mclain75]

We've had my Leopard for a good 4 months now. She's doing great too, loves to keep the coral clean and if a hermit crab "gives birth" yeah well...feeding frenzy! WE keep her in the DBS tank (55g long with LR, Mangroves, Chaeto), when we need a coral cleaned from the DT (mind you DT & DBS are plumbed together) we transfer, she does her job and goes about living her life. Great fish IMO!

{Mrs. McLain75}

 

[KCombs]

• Species of leopard pair juvie Macropharyngodon meleagris
• Source (LFS, online, etc) LFS ($15/ea !!!)
• Method of introduction: quarantine, 3wks
• Tank set up: 150G FOWLR -ish (w/few EASY softies)
• How many other attempts 1st attempt, I think these fish were succesfull because:
  • they were not in the LFS very long
  • they seem more comfortable as a pair
  • were healthy from get go
  • ate commercial (frozen food) from day 1

Note: I also think you must be consistent with your day/night cycles and feeding "station" ...these fish seem very tuned in/sensitive to lighting, hiding places and places where food is...basically these are very "habit forming" fish; semi-sensitive to abrubt changes ...my fish don't seem particularly finicky although they have yet to even sniff at pellets

 

[Mike S]

Does anybody's leopard wrasse sleep in their rock work instead of the sand? I noticed recently that mine is doing this. Otherwise it seems to be acting normal... He's very active and eating everything that I put in the tank.

 

[cas1069]

I suspect these questions has been addressed at some point but I simply don't recall. I read the entire thread some time ago but with age came loss of retention. The upside is I hide my own Easter eggs. Hopefully someone will chime in at some point.

Good luck with your meleagris
chuck

young females can be added in schools its the male that will cause problems just keep in mind the size of your tank and the other fish you have

 

[iamwrasseman]

yes i do have one female that spends most of the night on top of the sand bed in a nook of the rockwork . also i have a pretty big african rainbow coris wrasse that just plays daed at night and sprawls out on the sand bed wherever he feel sleepy

 

[jason2459]

Been a long time since I've had a chance to get in RC and update but figured I'd stop in here and update my leopard status while I updated my journal.

My Potter's decided he wants to be the only leapard in my tank and I made the decision to keep him and relocate my kuiter's and bipart back to the LFS before more death occurred. I have not tried any more leopards and wont as long as I have this Potter's who I decided to keep instead of the others. He doesn't bother anything else in the tank but I just love his colors and patterns. Plus he was the first one I got. I just think I'm unfortunate I have an abnormally aggressive one.

Here's a video I took last night and sorry it's not focused only on the Potter's. But does show off all the other wrasses I've acquired as well which all are getting along well now.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lnKyOsSJJQE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You can up the resolution if you have the bandwidth to 1080p HD. No, doesn't make my tank look better. Yes, that's how quite my tank is.

Wrasses include:
Potter's Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon geoffroyi)
Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis)
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus carpenteri)
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri)
Blue Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus cyaneus)
Pyles Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus pylei)
Hawaiian Flame Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus jordani)
Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)

 

[r-balljunkie]

1. Macropharyngodon too lazy to look up.

2. off the reef, ocean side at around 40'. Marshall Islands

3. Straight to tank after finishing up one more dive...1 1/2 hours total time

4. 58 reef, 2 years + 5. First attempt, wasn't really looking for him, looking for mysteries down deeper, on my way back up.....kinda like 2:00 am at the bar, got what i could, plus some cool anthias.


eating frozen mysids right away. housed with three other types of wrasses, very peaceful and inquisitive.

 

[iamwrasseman]

thats a little guy there ! thanks for sharing

 

[kpg007]

I have had a Macropharyngodon meleagris for about 4 years and he is one of my favorite fish. In that time it turned from female to male and has grown to be an impressive fish. I was at the LFS today and they had a small female in that was happly picking away at the substrate on the bottom of the tank. For only $15, I had to have her! Question - do I need any special 'date nights' for the two or should I just dump her right in? The tank is a 150g

 

[Arkayology]

I have had a Macropharyngodon meleagris for about 4 years and he is one of my favorite fish. In that time it turned from female to male and has grown to be an impressive fish. I was at the LFS today and they had a small female in that was happly picking away at the substrate on the bottom of the tank. For only $15, I had to have her! Question - do I need any special 'date nights' for the two or should I just dump her right in? The tank is a 150g

From my experience, there may some initial aggression for the first few days, but this shouldn't last long. Since your tank is large, I wouldn't hesitate to put it into the DT and let them work it out.

 

[javsku]

I agree with SoCalDude. My large female is starting to turn into a male so I picked a small female recently. I put her right into the display. My larger female would just flash her fins at the smaller female for a couple of days. My yellow coris wrasse charged her a couple of times but that was it. She eats whatever I put in the tank and gets along great with my other fish.

 

[kpg007]

Thanks for the resonse guys.

I ended up throwing her right in. Most fish were inquizitive and yes the big male was flashing, his colors getting really intense, then she hit the sand and thats the last time shes been seen.
When she starts to make herself seen a little more regular I'll update.

 

[iamwrasseman]

normally you should have no problem at all but if the female tries to show ANY signs of dominance that's where the problem will be . hardly happens at all but i did have one bipartus female attempt to "boss" my male and he just beat her up fast and hard . i had all i could do to get her out in one piece but did and she is a model citizen in her new tank .

 

[bepe]

Meliagrus is rules the tank

Meliagrus is rules the tank

I have a meliagris leopard wrasse for about eighteen months. It's my third attempt over the course of ten years. After the first two attempts I vowed I wouldn't buy one until I saw one eating out of the water column for several weeks in the lfs. Over the years I saw lots of beautiful specimens that weren't eating so passed. Then I finally found one. The other thing I did differently was adjust my feeding schedule to the wrasses schedule. Even though he was adjusted to myntime zone in the fish store, when in my tank he reverted back to only coming out for a few hours during the day. I had my wife armed with mysis soaked in garlic and selcon so she could feed him as during the stretch where he was out of the sand. This lasted for about ten days until the days stretched longer and longer. Now he is very well adjusted and is actually surprisingly aggressive, often chasing other fish around fr short stretches. By far my favorite fish!