Leopard Wrasse Primer

[Western_reefer]

Well, they are both doing great so far. No aggression what so ever. The male is eating some frozen foods, but not much yet. I'm sure he will start to eat more later on once he gets comfy in the tank.

 

[spieszak]

Great thread! I've been through the whole thing, and maybe I missed it but.. I saw that crushed coral substrate is a problem.. I do have crushed coral, with a sand bed on top. Would that work if the sand bed on top is deep enough?.. and if so, does the depth of the sand bed on top need to be consistent, or can I provide an area with deeper bed and leave the rest shallow? I mean, would a leopard (in general) recognize the area and not dive into the shallow bed? (I'm no where near ready for a leopard anyway..or any pod eater yet.. but I'm considering one once my tank mature)

 

[Tylt33]

Great thread! I've been through the whole thing, and maybe I missed it but.. I saw that crushed coral substrate is a problem.. I do have crushed coral, with a sand bed on top. Would that work if the sand bed on top is deep enough?.. and if so, does the depth of the sand bed on top need to be consistent, or can I provide an area with deeper bed and leave the rest shallow? I mean, would a leopard (in general) recognize the area and not dive into the shallow bed? (I'm no where near ready for a leopard anyway..or any pod eater yet.. but I'm considering one once my tank mature)

My sand bed is 1" or so at the front of the tank, with it sloping up to the back of the tank where it is 3-5" at some points. It would need to be 3"+ deep in some places with just sand so that they can sleep without needing to go into the coral.

 

[spieszak]

My sand bed is 1" or so at the front of the tank, with it sloping up to the back of the tank where it is 3-5" at some points. It would need to be 3"+ deep in some places with just sand so that they can sleep without needing to go into the coral.

So, I'd need to move the crushed coral out from underneath the sand, at least in places? (This is why I asked now, even though the tank isn't ready, because I sure wouldn't want to disturb old sand/crushed coral to do this)

 

[iamwrasseman]

the crushed coral has a potential to cut them when they burrow as mine will go four or five inches in places right to the bottom . be careful as they basically can swim in the gravel so the depth doesn't really matter .

 

[iamwrasseman]

that's true it should be removed for sure as they dont know it will cut them so they wont be able to differentiate where to go or not to go under the gravel .

 

[spieszak]

iamwrasseman - I don't like extremes in anything, so I appreciate you posting as "be careful" rather than NO CRUSHED CORAL!
but.. are you trying to to say no crushed coral? I won't be removing it completely from my tank, and if its a bad idea to have a leopard in the tank with the crushed, I'll move on to a more appropriate fish for my tank. I know each fish is different, but this is a challenging fish, and I sure wouldn't want to get everything else right, and this wrong.. I'd prefer brutally honest to politically correct in this situation

 

[spieszak]

hmm.. typing at the same time. Thanks iamwrasseman.. since I won't be removing the coral, I'll wish for this fish in my next tank!

 

[snorvich]

hmm.. typing at the same time. Thanks iamwrasseman.. since I won't be removing the coral, I'll wish for this fish in my next tank!

Good decision. No crushed coral for leopard wrasses.

 

[iamwrasseman]

i hear ya i would have to be on the NO CRUSHED CORAL ! side then as mine "play" in the sand throughout the day mostly looking to rummage up some critters for food but they constantly burrow and actually swim in the sand for a couple of feet at a time . i would in all honesty remove all your crushed coral so you dont get it 99% right and have them get cut .i must admit that my big potters does still abrade and remove scales from time to time but for some reason he is constantly in the sand . he repairs quickly and seems undaunted by his "wounds" from burrowing in the sand .

 

[iamwrasseman]

lol were going in circles here ! woo hooooooo !

 

[snorvich]

lol were going in circles here ! woo hooooooo !

ONLY if you taught your leopards to swim under the sand in circles. :love2:

 

[Western_reefer]

Someone please help! Something is wrong with my Male Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris). Everything els is doing fine fish(other wrasses), corals, and inverts. I bought the Male Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris) before yesterday (black Friday) and he was in their tank for 2-3 weeks and was eating frozen foods. I dripped him like I did with all my other fish. He was perfectly fine on Friday and yesterday, but, this morning hes been acting weird. He swims in circles? None of the other fish bother/attack him. Is it possible he dived/slammed against the glass/wall/rock too hard if he got spooked or something? Is there anything I could do? Here is a video.
View My Video


Also, the Female Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris) is doing fine, swimming and picking at the rocks.

 

[Western_reefer]

Oops.

 

[iamwrasseman]

honestly i would let nature take its course and please dont be mad at me when i say that he is doing his death dance . i have seen it many times and none of them made it through the next couple of days sorry to say .

 

[Western_reefer]

honestly i would let nature take its course and please dont be mad at me when i say that he is doing his death dance . i have seen it many times and none of them made it through the next couple of days sorry to say .

That just blows! Do you know why its dieing?

 

[iamwrasseman]

looks like he has lost his equilibrium and there so many ways that can happen from drugging to catch to excessivly bad water in shipping bag and many other things can hypothetically effect the fishes health .i must say that its nothing that you did as they come in with issues and often we cant see them when we first see them .

 

[Western_reefer]

looks like he has lost his equilibrium and there so many ways that can happen from drugging to catch to excessivly bad water in shipping bag and many other things can hypothetically effect the fishes health .i must say that its nothing that you did as they come in with issues and often we cant see them when we first see them .

That sucks... Oh, okay. Hopefully the female will be fine.

 

[aquaph8]

Moses, sorry to hear that man. Best of luck with the female.

 

[Tylt33]

That sucks... Oh, okay. Hopefully the female will be fine.

Leopards have a 75%+ death rate in captivity in the first few weeks. If it had really been in the store and been eating and been fine... then who knows. If it had just arrived it may never have been eating and may have had issues. I bought one from the same store and it had what looked like swimming issues and didn't make it. These fish are a roll of the dice at best.