Leopard Wrasse Primer

[iamwrasseman]

hey john thats a great catch there . looks to me like its a male but they are a bit difficult to tell .hope your tank is covered ,he may attempt to jump but the leopards are less likely than the fairys and flashers but it is something to consider as you never want to loose an awesome fish like him !good luck and keep us posted . sounds good that he is coming out for prolonged periode of time .thats one hurdle taken care of .he will also love a dash of cyclopeeze a couple of times a week .

 

[JDABS]

Thanks wrasseman! Yeah, I was having a hard time trying to decide if it was male or female also. I thought that the males were more blue in color. Some of the pictures look a little blue, but I think that may be the lighting. I do have a canopy on the tank so hopefully no carpet surfing! I'll have to pick up some cyclopeeze this weekend.

 

[gflat65]

By the size, I'd think it's transitioning. Beautiful fish. Mine likes jumping into my overflow weirs... The back of the tank is screened so she can't get out.

 

[JDABS]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15725913#post15725913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gflat65
By the size, I'd think it's transitioning. Beautiful fish. Mine likes jumping into my overflow weirs... The back of the tank is screened so she can't get out.

Thanks gflat65! I was wondering if maybe it was transitioning. That will be fun to watch too!

 

[gflat65]

Picked up a beauty last night. I was in Memphis for the West Tn frag swap and went by the two nice stores there (Kermit's Reef and Memfish). I've been shopping at Kermit's for 13 years... The owner is responsible for my love of leopards. The first fish I saw in the tank directly in front of the door when i walked in was a beautiful male ornatus (pretty sure it's male-harder to tell the difference on ornatus, I hear, so I won't say 100% until I've looked into it for a while). It's about 4". I hadn't been as big a fan of ornatus as bipartitus, negrosensis, choati's, and potter's but he won me over with his smile. No pics yet. I got him into the tank around 1:30AM and didn't want to hit him with flash after the drive from Memphis to Montgomery. He hasn't come out yet, but I'll be watching for him.

 

[iamwrasseman]

good luck with him and i hope he gives you years of enjoyment !

 

[snorvich]

iamwrasseman, how is your choati doing? Mine still is out and about and eating/hunting after 5 weeks.

 

[McSassy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13529629#post13529629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flfireman1
As far as a sandbed goes, I would recommend at least 3 inches. When you see them "dive" down into the sand you will understand why. They litterally dive straight into the sand.

As far as the arctic pods go, I really think they prefer a little heavier meal. However, I would try anything to get them to eat. Like I said before live brine shrimp is pretty much irrisistable. I have fed cyclopeze as a treat and they eat it very well. But I just think they enjoy the larger foods a bit more.

By larger foods I mean, PE mysis. They love to grab the larger mysis shrimp pieces and crush them against the rocks and break it up into more manageable pieces. Pretty interesting to watch them do this natural behavior.

Not to mention krill! Mine loves grabbing those big chunks, slamming them against the rocks and flying around the tank with her mouth wide open as if she's trying to push the food down with water flow. :lmao:

 

[iamwrasseman]

hi Steve , thanks for asking but i havent seen him in a couple of weeks i really dont think he is alive ,all others in the tank are doing great he has just stopped appearing so i dont have any high hopes of seeing him anytime soon if you know what i mean . is yours doing well ? i certainly hope so ,someone has to succeed with the little buggers . i have plans for a monster tank and at that time i will try again but not before . they make a real cool 450 gal that i have my eyes on and i will use my filtration system off my 12 tank wall which is huge so it all should be going in due time . realisticly at the of the year i hope to purchase the tank itself and then i will build the stand and canopy asap .mid march i am planning on having it up and cycled but we will see what happens . thanks again for asking and best wishes to you and your swimmers
Dave

 

[Troy the Nomad]

:wavehand: It looks like I will be getting another Macropharyngodon meleagris soon from a local reefer who is downsizing. I have one for about 2 years already it's about 4". The new one looks to be smaller (I've only seen pics). They both are eating everything so I think I'm good there. Even if they are similar sized, it shouldn't matter, correct? Anyone foresee anything I may be forgetting?

 

[iamwrasseman]

i dont see a problem unless they are both males and then you may have some agression issues

 

[Troy the Nomad]

i dont see a problem unless they are both males and then you may have some agression issues

They both look female to me. This is the one I'm picking up on Saturday. Pic is from May-

I'll try to get a new pic of mine, but I've taken hundreds with 3 passable shots. IMO, mine is a female though it has darken a lot in two years. It's my understanding that they are all females until the need for a male presents itself. Correct?

 

[iamwrasseman]

pretty much true but the female turn to males and you just dont want two of them in one tank . by the look of your picture its gonna be fine .

 

[Bluespot22]

My choati wrasse is doing well at 6 weeks....Still eating like a pig and I do see him hunting occasionally...He's out all the time, not shy at all.

 

[iamwrasseman]

thats awesome 22 ! i havent had great success with them little buggers but i think my tanks are to small or overcrowded for them so i will be installing a monster tank this winter for them and them only ! until i have a couple then i will add some other wrasses to the mix . nice to hear that hes doing great ! good luck

 

[snorvich]

thats awesome 22 ! i havent had great success with them little buggers but i think my tanks are to small or overcrowded for them so i will be installing a monster tank this winter for them and them only ! until i have a couple then i will add some other wrasses to the mix . nice to hear that hes doing great ! good luck

Mine is also doing fine (so far). On your new tank, iamwrasseman, consider adding an active refugium (I have a 40 gallon refugium on all of my tanks).

 

[iamwrasseman]

yes Steve that will be included for sure .my sump will be in the basement with uv,algea scrubber,huge skimmer,kalk doser,and a very large refugium for all thoes critters . funny thing Steve my tank was full of pods when the choati's were present and they ate like hogs ,think the small tank just stressed them out . i really dont know but i will hopefully have better luck in the spring . best of luck to ya with yours

 

[Bluespot22]

Thanks! My tank has a healthy pod supply and I have a HOB refugium, so I am fine on pods, but I was wondering why they need pods if they are eating frozen? That sounds like a cool tank wrasse man...I expect to see pics!

 

[snorvich]

Thanks! My tank has a healthy pod supply and I have a HOB refugium, so I am fine on pods, but I was wondering why they need pods if they are eating frozen? That sounds like a cool tank wrasse man...I expect to see pics!

These fish are grazers. The fact that they eat frozen is nice but irrelevant as frozen is simply a supplement to their nature amphipod/copepod diet. I have found that leopard wrasses that hunt AND eat frozen have a much greater chance of survival.

 

[Troy the Nomad]

Thanks! My tank has a healthy pod supply and I have a HOB refugium, so I am fine on pods, but I was wondering why they need pods if they are eating frozen? That sounds like a cool tank wrasse man...I expect to see pics!

Well, they forage all day, so unless you are feeding 3 or so times a day, they may not be getting enough food. Very active fish too.