Leopard Wrasse Primer

[smaraghy]

My concern is since the clownfish had originally been in the tank, that after they are reintroduced they may bully the wrasses over territory or food and stress them out?

 

[albano]

My concern is since the clownfish had originally been in the tank, that after they are reintroduced they may bully the wrasses over territory or food and stress them out?

Can you rearrange any of your rockwork?

 

[eatbreakfast]

My concern is since the clownfish had originally been in the tank, that after they are reintroduced they may bully the wrasses over territory or food and stress them out?

Fish "memory" doesnt really work that way. If the clownfish are removed and then later reintroduced they wont realize that they used to live there and it used to be theirs, rather it would be as if they were resettled to a different part of the reef and they would be "starting over."

 

[Vilas]

Hi! Maybe someone here can help. I caught a fish in a tidepool in the Indian ocean. I thought it was one of our common tidepool gobies, but in qt, I realised it was a wrasse, likely a divided leopard wrasse. I read up on him, put him in my dt, and he is eating like a champ. But he doesn't act like a divided leopard wrasse. He is always out in the open, hunting pods. He doesn't bury in the sand, even in the bucket I used to transport him home when my other wrasse, a cutribbon wrasse, buried himself. (we put sand and seaweed in the collection bucket to reduce stress)
I have some pictures, but tapatalk won't let me post them. He looks like a divided leopard wrasse to me, only more brown, with green and orange starting to come out.
Is there a similar fish that is more gregarious, doesn't bury in sand, and might be found in a tidepool in the Indian ocean?

 

[smaraghy]

Fish "memory" doesnt really work that way. If the clownfish are removed and then later reintroduced they wont realize that they used to live there and it used to be theirs, rather it would be as if they were resettled to a different part of the reef and they would be "starting over."

Oh ok. Thanks

 

[albano]

Fish "memory" doesnt really work that way...

I have to tell you that I had a wrasse 'escape' from the algae section of my 200g sump to the live rock section, that are separated with plastic screening and acrylic...I did not know how he did it...it took almost a week to catch him and as soon as I returned him to the algae side, he looked around, and within seconds went right back to a small rip in the screen and was in the rocks again! He remembered exactly where to go!

 

[Sense of nature]

Hey I didn't catch about the long drip acclimation when I read that before. A couple points about that...

Mute point if they are from your local store, assuming the ride is not very long, but ammonia builds up fast in a bag. The reason fish are ok in the bag with the ammonia is due to the ph drop that also happens. Products such as amquil etc, drop ph which is why it lessens the ammonia toxicity when it is used in situations where there is ammonia. I tested bag water once, a powder blue tang from reefs2go which I had 2 years and just recently sold to another reefer. The ammonia was 5ppm+ and that is no typo, not .5 but actually 5ppm!

Point being, you bring home fish in a bag with ammonia and low ph. Then you begin dripping your tank water into the bag or whatever which now has ammonia. Your tank water brings the ph up, making that ammonia that was previously not toxic, into a death trap.

I generally only check the specific gravity. I match the specific gravity of the bag water to my quarantine tank each time I bring home a new fish. Float it for 15 minutes, and in it goes. Fish don't care about if your mg is low or ca is high, only SG. As long as SG is matched your good to go.

For reference sake, Live aquaria ships at 1.018 to 1.019 unless its from divers den which is 1.025

Many local fish stores in my area are 1.022 so it helps to know ahead of time when your getting a new fish and from where.

Great advice there!
Thats exactly how I do it& (knock on wood) I have not lost a leopard in a while.
I think the quicker they get ito the DT the less stress & better chance of survival they have

 

[eatbreakfast]

I have to tell you that I had a wrasse 'escape' from the algae section of my 200g sump to the live rock section, that are separated with plastic screening and acrylic...I did not know how he did it...it took almost a week to catch him and as soon as I returned him to the algae side, he looked around, and within seconds went right back to a small rip in the screen and was in the rocks again! He remembered exactly where to go!

Im not saying fish dont have memory, it really is more of how their memory works in regards to territory and other fish. In the case I was referring it was dealing with clownfish toward a leopard wrasse, 2 unrelated fish. The clownfish "viewed" the new fish as an "intruder to their territory", but if the clowns were to be removed and added later they would not "remember" that they used to dominate that territory and the leopard wrasse. Not to say that if they were to lay eggs they wouldnt reestablish territoriality, but they would start over where they left off aggression wise when reintroduced.

The situation you described as fish memory, is not a case of remembering the specific return to a specific territory, but rather specific triggers to specific circumstances. For some reason or another the live rock section was more desireable to him than the algae section. He "remembered" to look for a rip in the plastic to get from the algae section to the live rock section. Were you to replicate it by putting him in a different algae refugium he would at least look for the same traits to get out. Not so much a case of remembering a specific territory, but just applying "learned behavior" from memory to his new situation.

Why it make sense for a fish to "remember" environmental cause and effect is that most small reef fish can be quickly moved from their established territory to a completely new territory. It can be because a predator chased or seperated it from its social group, a rival fought with, and was victorious against it, food or other resources were scarce and require moving. In each of these it is unnecessary for a fish to "remember" a specific territory, because it could leave and never return but still lead a full life elsewhere. But remembering how to get new food sources, how to find new places to hide from predators, these have real value in remembering.

 

[smaraghy]

I have another question for everyone. One of my leopards has been staying in the sand a lot lately. I noticed when it was out it was scraping its gill area against rocks and shaking its head violently. Im thinking gills flukes. The tank has had prazipro being dosed the last two weeks, fish not getting better, and now has appetite loss.
Should i freshwater dip and qt?
Freshwater dip and back i to dt?
Or just let prazipro run its course and hope for the best?
Other suggestions welcome!
Thanks

 

[Sense of nature]

I have another question for everyone. One of my leopards has been staying in the sand a lot lately. I noticed when it was out it was scraping its gill area against rocks and shaking its head violently. Im thinking gills flukes. The tank has had prazipro being dosed the last two weeks, fish not getting better, and now has appetite loss.
Should i freshwater dip and qt?
Freshwater dip and back i to dt?
Or just let prazipro run its course and hope for the best?
Other suggestions welcome!
Thanks

Sorry to hear, I would try & minimize the stress & let the prazi run its course, fw dip & or Qt might just send it over the edge , just my opinion& i'm sure theres others w more expertise that will chime in to help
Good luck!

 

[BartenderSteve]

Can someone please tell me how large each different species of leopard wrasse gets on average when fully grown?

 

[ca1ore]

If you check the LiveAquaria site, they have fully-grown sizes on all fish. I have certainly seen male leopards in the 4" range.

 

[Jstn]

Just picked up two meleagris to chill with my three bipartitus, so far all good.

 

[MIKE NY]

Can someone please tell me how large each different species of leopard wrasse gets on average when fully grown?

Three of my largest are my male Ornate which is 5", female melagris is 4" and my just turned male blue star is 3.5" which I was surprised happened because the Ornate is a bit of a bully, but so far is fine with it. My PBT on the other hand thinks it's a new fish and now is chasing it.

 

[Jstn]

Mike, do you have multiple male leopards and no problems? I was hoping I get a male out of each of my species.

 

[MIKE NY]

I don't recommend it in smaller tanks, but in larger,120+,it should be alright with the occational bickering...although they generally are peacefull with all other fish some species are more aggressive than others with each other. I always introduce a newbie in an acclimation box. I purchased all of mine as juvis, they seemed to acclimate better than adults with the largest my Ornate turning male. It became a bit of a bully not allowing any of the others to change so after 2-3 years I was surprised when my Blue star changed and it was fine with it....now only if my BPT will accept it too.

 

[Cope413]

I've started reading through this thread, but it's quite long.

I recently got my first female meleagris. I've been waiting for about 18 months for my LFS to find the right one.

She's very small, but she looked great for 2+ weeks at the store. Eating small spectrum pellets.

Got her in the tank and everything seems great. She eats pellets and everything frozen I feed (Rod's, mysis, reef caviar, rotifers, coral frenzy, etc). She's been active as soon as lights go on, and goes to sleep when whites go out.

I have a very clean, well established tank.

Is the main difficulty getting them to eat and that's why they're considered "Expert Only" or is it something else?

I have very peaceful fish - mated true perc pair, purple firefish, yellow clown goby, citron goby, female lyretail anthia, and a starry blenny.

Should I expect a long life? What are the things I should be specifically attentive to?

I'll be reading through the thread, but that may take a while...

 

[Jstn]

I think the main difficulty is getting them acclimated after shipping. It seems like adter adjusting to our time scheduals and starting to eat, that they do rather well.

 

[ca1ore]

Just got a female Meleagris in the mail, and boy is she proving difficult to feed. Have had lots of success with these fish in the past, but sometimes I get one that just will not eat. This one will eat ova, but that's a rare commodity these days, and not sustainable. I'm not really interested in cultivating live foods, so any suggestions on what to try (though I have tried a bunch of different frozen that I regularly keep on hand)?

 

[iamwrasseman]

the leopard wrasses are very difficult in the beginning and i would suggest starting them on mysis or brine shrimp as they will recognize these foods as "natural" prey and usually feed on them readily . garlic can help and they do best if introduced into a "reef tank setting" .if you have a QT or a tank without a natural look then they usually will not do well IMO . They need to be in a more natural setting so they will feel comfortable enough to survive and their first hurdle will be eating so use the above suggested foods and they will have a much better chance of settling in . GOOD LUCK !