Leopard Wrasse Primer

[triggreef]

That's kind of odd, you would know generally if one was a male but they aren't usually quite so aggressive. They tend to do better in groups. Is the aggressor still alive? I have one male meleagris & he usually gives a little chase to new comers but not too bad. He does harass my lone female blue star once in a while, really bad for a week out of no where then has laid off.

Liveaquaria keeps showing them in stock but then not being able to deliver. They should be sending me a shipment of 2 potters and 3 meleagris on Monday if all goes well.

There was 3 potter trio on DD last few days idk if its still there. $300 was a little rich IMO though.

So I received these guys, all look good except the largest potters. He's on his side from in the bag. What a giant, the thing is way bigger than the biggest leopard I've ever seen. A good six inches. I'm sure he will be a loss, I'll measure him when I pull him out.

None have buried yet & the 4 healthy looking ones were already going for mysis.

 

[evolved]

I've heard of similar stories with the blue stars before, when a male transitioned. I know Mike&Terry experienced something similar, and now only have one terminal male from the group.

 

[Ralph ATL]

I have had that exact same thing happen, albeit with a Male MM killed 3 females, different species...

 

[MIKE NY]

Its odd the that it would kill them all off. Mine just bicker and chase, but no nip fins etc...I have one large male Ornate,5", that keeps all the other species of Leopards from changing and they all are in the 3.5-4.5" range...lucky I like all the female colorations too....

 

[triggreef]

So I received these guys, all look good except the largest potters. He's on his side from in the bag. What a giant, the thing is way bigger than the biggest leopard I've ever seen. A good six inches. I'm sure he will be a loss, I'll measure him when I pull him out.

None have buried yet & the 4 healthy looking ones were already going for mysis.

Both potters died by the first night. 2 of the 3 meleagris look like they might make it but I think the 3rd one isn't looking good. Very discouraging these fish are sometimes. :sad1:

 

[925del]

Hi, anyone have issues with leopards harassing/pestering clams? I currently have 2 Bipartitus, 1 Potters, 1 Ornate, 2 Meleagris, 1 Negrosensis, and recently added a Choati a couple of months ago. I used to have a Kuiters that seemed to be doing good and was fat a happy for a few months... then one day never came out of the sand.

A couple of weeks back I came home and noticed my 3 small (1-1.5in) blue squamosas were closed up not opening up as usual. They stayed closed and would only open slightly the next couple days and thought maybe my water parameters were off. I did a water change and still were acting weird... but were very light reactive and would not extend their mantles past their shells.

Then I caught the culprit in the act! My Choati would hover over them and nip and take chunks out of the mantles!!! I moved the clams off the sandbed and tried to place them higher up on the rocks and she stopped for the most part. I ended up losing 2 clams... sucks because they were doing great and showed nice shell growth. The 3rd one is starting to come around now and pretty much has been left alone.

Half of my leopards have been with me a couple of years now... my Potters the longest at 3 years. I have never had one bother a clam till my Choati. I guess I have a rogue clam killing leopard! Or just a taste for $$$ blue squammies

 

[GOSKN5]

So where would you all suggest ordering leopards from? LFS isn't an option as I'm very rural.. live aquaria (regular, not DD) has them.. blue zoo has them, and Pacific east aquaculture has them... all of which I trust for the most part.. what is my safest bet to trying this fish?

 

[ca1ore]

I have had reasonably good success with DD/LA. Two for two with meleagris; two for three with bipartitus; one for two with negrosensis (sp?) and one for two with potters. Must acclimate these fish in a small reef tank (or refugium) before even thinking about the main display.

 

[GOSKN5]

I have had reasonably good success with DD/LA. Two for two with meleagris; two for three with bipartitus; one for two with negrosensis (sp?) and one for two with potters. Must acclimate these fish in a small reef tank (or refugium) before even thinking about the main display.

By acclimation do you mean getting to eat or what? Aside from QT process of treatment etc

 

[ca1ore]

Other than prazipro I've not treated any of my leopards. I mean getting them to eat, and put on weight. I've kept all of mine away from the main tank for many months, feeding them as frequently as possible.

 

[GOSKN5]

Hmmm interesting....

 

[jason2459]

Glad this thread is still going. I also had the most success with QT. For several reasons. First was the prazi treatments I'd go through 3 cycles of. Then also to get them to eating what you feed your tank preferably meaty foods and what ever else you feed like pellets. Adjust to your time zone so find out where they were collected from and set the lights to that time zone at first. And just adjustment to a life in an aquarium without the stress of other fish.

I still have my potters and he's about twice as big now as when I first got him just over two years ago. Wish I could house other leopards but he's just aggressive towards them at least he was. I haven't tried since pulling out my others after putting him in and deciding to keep the potters.

I tried to take a picture the other night but my camera skills on my phone still are terrible and all are blurry plus my tank looks like death as I just had a pretty bad tank crash due to some construction next to my sump room and some cleaning solvents. Most everything died but still have my Potter's.

This was the best picture I got and everything I have left except for a ocellaris that was hiding. Page 97 had a video of everything I had and everything was doing great and growing well the past couple years until tank got nuked.

These guys are still fat and happy now the tank is getting back on it's feet

Edit: here's that post from 2012

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)

 

[ca1ore]

Hmmm interesting....

IMO, THE secret with Leopard wrasses is to put them into an mature, uncompetitive environment setup with live rock and sand (obviously) and feed them as frequently as you can a manage (this approach has worked for me for venustus angels as well) . Doesn't mean you won't lose some initially, they simply do not ship well, and some just won't eat - but my success rates have been much better with this approach. Introducing one directly to a competitive community tank is really a non-starter; even if the fish handles the initial acclimation, they likely won't compete well for food and in short order just won't re-emerge from the sand.

 

[albano]

IMO, THE secret with Leopard wrasses is to put them into an mature, uncompetitive environment setup with live rock and sand (obviously) and feed them as frequently as you can a manage (this approach has worked for me for venustus angels as well) . Doesn't mean you won't lose some initially, they simply do not ship well, and some just won't eat - but my success rates have been much better with this approach. Introducing one directly to a competitive community tank is really a non-starter; even if the fish handles the initial acclimation, they likely won't compete well for food and in short order just won't re-emerge from the sand.

+1... Works for me!

 

[jgalen0025]

Aggression

Aggression

I have an established female blue star and I just added a female ornate. The blue star is diving and harassing the ornate every chance it gets. I took the ornate out of the acclimation box bc it seemed that it was really stressed. I am trying the mirror but my two tangs are hogging it and seem really stressed. I need some guidance.
thanks

 

[maxpc99]

I have an established female blue star and I just added a female ornate. The blue star is diving and harassing the ornate every chance it gets. I took the ornate out of the acclimation box bc it seemed that it was really stressed. I am trying the mirror but my two tangs are hogging it and seem really stressed. I need some guidance.
thanks

I added 5 bipartitus from LA. All 5 made it out of the sand, but the largest of the 5 killed off the other 4 (These were all classified as small by LA). I don't mean harassed them, she rammed them to death. It was horrible.

Fast forward a month later and planned on removing the larger female and trying again with a fresh batch. I ordered 4 more bipartitus and 4 negrosensis. I was unable to get the large female out and ended up putting in the 4 bipartitus and the 2 meleagris (LA screwed up). Thankfully, the large female left them all alone and 3 of 4 bipartitus and both meleagris made it.

I agree with multiple daily feedings and I had pods delivered in advance, but with 6 leopards in the tank there is little hope of a sustained pod population. Also did 3 treatments of prazi.

 

[bps619]

I just picked up a beautiful meleagris over the xmas weekend. I hope she lives happily ever after.

 

[jgalen0025]

I just picked up a beautiful meleagris over the xmas weekend. I hope she lives happily ever after.

LOL
Hope and leopard wrasse don't mix! I really hope you did your research or she will most likely die although I do wish you the best of luck.

 

[bps619]

LOL
Hope and leopard wrasse don't mix! I really hope you did your research or she will most likely die although I do wish you the best of luck.

well she's been eating frozen mysis and pellets like a fat ***. I put on sports center for her all day also. she's loving life..........hopefully

 

[mfinn]

Here is my wrasse 5 years ago.













And here it is today