Leopard Wrasse Primer

[snorvich]

oh cool i didnt get that .they will eat zillions of pods per day ,its amazing that all they do all day long is pick on the rock . they also have amazing eyesight that enables them to see the pods accuratly so they can pick them off the rocks . the pods we see are large ones ,they are getting the smallest of pods also .

Never tried to keep this fish. Reef safe? Aggressive? Good luck!!

 

[iamwrasseman]

my bipartius are very mellow fish but they are holding their own in a tank with a solarius and an african coris wrasse so they are formitable i guess . realistically there are five bipartius in the tank and that may be the reason they dont get picked on .

 

[Tylt33]

My male and female bipartitus as well as my male meleagris got here yesterday. The female bipartitus and meleagris both stayed out and cruised the tank after being acclimiated, the male bipartitus dove in the sand. The all burrowed later in the day. Just now I was feeding, and everyone is eating a combination of PE Mysis/Black Worms/Rod's Food soaked in Selcom/Vitachem/Garlic Extreme.

My question is, when is the kiss of death normally with these fish? I know ~1 year is equivalent to success, but when do the majority of these fish die? In the first 1 to 2 weeks? 1 to 2 months?

Thank you!

 

[iamwrasseman]

my losses have always been in the first week 75% two weeks 15% then the rest about a month after introduced into my tanks . i think the majority perish from stress alone from catching ,travel and then the huge reduction of their "space"to live . our biggest of tanks equate to a small closet for us to try to live in . the two week period die off is also from stress and just not really ever acclimating to aquarium life as a home IMO.then the rest can be from collection procedures and infestations of internal parasites which wrasses are very prone to . i fully believe in NOT quarenteening them because of the way they cant handle stress and personally have found that thier survival rate is much higher without Qt procedures . 99% of mine once past a two week period last for many many years and grow to maturity levels expected in an aquarium enviroment . i have only had very poor results with the choati leopard wrasses pictured on my avitar , they are beautiful but they need more space than i am able to give them IMO . i have had a dozen perish and have tried everything imaginable with very little sucess . some have been kept in large tanks with better results . i would suggest prazi pro for all burrowing wrasses to help erradicate internal parasites .. jungle jim also makes a pelleted food that is small enough for them to eat that contains the same ingredient as the prazi pro and would also be a good avenue to take to help the elimination of the parasites . dont be mistaken with a good eater with a fat belly as the parasites will eat the food right out of thier stomache and they will slowly starve to death . you are on the right track with the mixing of foods to get them proper nutrition , also they have a very high metabloism and need small multiple feedings and the help of good pod supply off the live rock . they will forge for food all day long looking for food as they need lots of energy in doing so .
best of luck to you and please ask many questions as RC has many well educated people that can help you with whatever your needs are .

Dave

 

[Tylt33]

Ok, I'll start dosing Prazipro tomorrow; my local fish store had a huge bottle of it for a decent price a few months ago, so I bought it as a precaution. Hopefully my pod population can keep up with my fish demands... I have ~120lbs of live rock in my display tank, and a dedicated 30g refugium (doesn't include the sump) filled with chaeto. Absolutely beautiful fish, I'm glad someone recommended them to me in my other thread. I'm going to go thank them right now!

 

[Tylt33]

I woke up this morning and it looks like my big male meleagris is dying... swimming upside down blindly into things, laying on the sand on his side breathing hard. Disappointing after a couple of good days and feeding! Prazipro today for the other two.

 

[jlnielsen13]

leopard wrasse

leopard wrasse

Hello,
I have had a divided or blue star leopard wrasse for two years now. He is my favorite fish in the tank. Accepts all sorts of food and often looks like his belly is going to explode from all the cope's he eats in the tank. Really peaceful!!

 

[iamwrasseman]

they are tough but if you can get past the initial acclimation they should be okay . remember thease little guys are very difficult for this reason and its so cool once you get them happy and acclimated to aquarium life .
best of luck to ya

 

[Tylt33]

Day 3 Update: My male meleagris died while I was at work. My male and female bipartitus were out this evening, both were feeding on the frozen foods I was offering. I dosed Prazipro, and am hoping for the best for my remaining two!

 

[iamwrasseman]

thats cool that you have a male and a female ,you should post a few pictures heres a picture of my male that i have had for four years at least .

he looks awesome but i really life the female too . actually i have five females in a 75gal reef tank and they look great .heres a picture of the females .

 

[Tylt33]

Beautiful fish! They're such characters. My "male" is still transitioning- his back half is light colored, his front half has the mature coloration. Makes me want to get more females!

 

[iamwrasseman]

its funny my females and male were all bought at the same time and i put one female into a different tank and it turned inta a male within a month . the remaining females are all still females and they have been together for four years . its funn because you would think the bunch of female would end up with a male but theu didnt .

 

[Tylt33]

Day 3 Update: My male meleagris died while I was at work. My male and female bipartitus were out this evening, both were feeding on the frozen foods I was offering. I dosed Prazipro, and am hoping for the best for my remaining two!

Day 4: No sign of the female- I'm hoping she has just slept in. Male was out cruising. He didn't seem thrilled about the Spectrum Pellets I offered. Sampled the blackworms. Tried to eat the mysis, but looked like they were too big- gonna buy some cheapy small mysis tomorrow.

 

[iamwrasseman]

if your feeding the PE mysis you can mash or cut it into smaller sized pieces for the smaller guys .what also helps out alot in the begining is live brine shrimp ,something important that i forgot to tell you . just trying to help the live brine is irrestiable if they even are just thinking about eating .

 

[snorvich]

I think the female bipartus is also history, unfortunately. It may be that the mouth of the remaining male is damaged. Usually when a leopard wrasse likes the food in question, it will bang it against the rock to break it up. Not a good sign. Does the male hunt?

 

[Tylt33]

I think the female bipartus is also history, unfortunately. It may be that the mouth of the remaining male is damaged. Usually when a leopard wrasse likes the food in question, it will bang it against the rock to break it up. Not a good sign. Does the male hunt?

He's non-stop hunting. I bought the smaller mysis today (not the PE mysis) and he ate to the point that his stomach is bloated again. Good grief. One out of three survival rate? And this one isn't even out of the woods yet. Yikes.

 

[iamwrasseman]

they are difficult in the begining but arent the beautiful ? it will be worth the effort in the long run . if thats depressing you then i could tell you some of my "loss" stories lol . again good luck Dave

 

[Tylt33]

What is your survival versus loss rate? I don't know if I can financially handle having 1 of 3 (or more) fish survive. And I feel bad for the little guys... But yeah, amazing looking fish, and almost guaranteed to be new fish to visitors.

 

[iamwrasseman]

now i have great sucess but it takes some experimenting to get them to live for a long time . i have about 45 wrasses now and at least half are years old so i feel lucky and accomplished at the same time.

 

[Tylt33]

Day 5: The body of the female turned up, dead. The male is now missing in action.

This was really an unpleasant experience. Proper acclimation, a variety of foods, etc., and still 100% death rate. I've been able to keep others on the "difficult list" successfully- CBB, Mandarins, etc., but it didn't even seem like I had a fighting chance with these. Really disheartening.