Leopard Wrasse Primer

[evolved]

So is the bipartitus able to get any food or no? If it's still able to eat and seems to be maintaining it's body weight, I'd be tempted to let things ride for now. You're right; if it was being overly harassed it would simply dive into the sand. It sounds to me they're simply establishing their hierarchy.

Given your future plans, I'd probably considering adding the melanurus alongside the ornate next week, then add the iridis and xmas together at a latter point.

 

[triggreef]

Thanks, the bipartitus is still getting food but if it gets too close while their eating the meleagris chases him away. I'm trying to feed some more to keep their minds off each other a little but I already feed about every hour when I can so probably not making any difference there.

I like your suggestion on the sequence for the new additions.

 

[triggreef]

My ornate in quarantine BTW...

 

[MIKE NY]

beautiful Ornate...I really like that stage of coloration on them with the red...mine looked like that a few months ago..he looks like this now

 

[triggreef]

A couple questions for some with multiples... I have 2 meleagris females and one bipartitus female. They have all been together in my 200g DD since it was set up in Oct. and several months prior to that in my previous tank. No issues with any of them at all.

FF to the last couple days, I notice the bipartitus is somewhat reclusive and it has not been before. Yesterday and today I notice my largest meleagris is going after the bipartitus chasing it around everytime they cross paths. Even when I feed this continues. I would think the bipartitus would just dive after she has had enough but she just keeps taking the harrassment.

Just an update, they seemed to have worked out there issues. The Meleagris definitely is the alfa and the bipartitus is still steering clear of him but the chasing across the tank has stopped.

The Ornate has done great in quarantine and I gave 3 back to back doses of metro. I'll be adding him to the display tomorrow via acclimation box. :beer:

 

[monkiboy]

Just an update, they seemed to have worked out there issues. The Meleagris definitely is the alfa and the bipartitus is still steering clear of him but the chasing across the tank has stopped.

The Ornate has done great in quarantine and I gave 3 back to back doses of metro. I'll be adding him to the display tomorrow via acclimation box. :beer:

glad to hear the good news!

are you prophylactically treating with metro? regardless, what for?

 

[impur]

My female bipartitus has been eating sand a lot lately, then passing it in the same spot at the back of my tank. She still eats like a pig when I feeds though. I guess she is just sifting for microfauna or something?

 

[triggreef]

glad to hear the good news!

are you prophylactically treating with metro? regardless, what for?

tapeworms. I know everyone on RC says that prazi is effective and very safe but IME over the last year I disagree. I have just had too many experiences with prazi causing healthy fish to slow and or stop eating, and lost some that I believe I wouldn't have had I skipped prazi. Also several experiences with fish with white stringy poo and prazi not working. Later treatments with Metro working for the internal parasite/ tapeworm. After I started using metro (prophylactic) instead of prazi I stopped losing fish in qt.

Also been reading many threads on RC about prazi not working for flukes. Same with prazi not working for suspected internal parasites, and then some follow up with general cure, which is a combo of prazi and metro, and they claim it worked where straight prazi didn't. I probably read too much on here.

I also saved several fish that I'm sure were near imminent death, to the point of complete loss of appetite with nothing but metro.

I've only qt'd one leopard since my switch to metro in qt, but I'm 1 for 1. And dosing it a little heavy he ate like a pig the whole way through qt.

 

[triggreef]

Given your future plans, I'd probably considering adding the melanurus alongside the ornate next week, then add the iridis and xmas together at a latter point.

I added the Ornate, melanurus, and a fairy wrasse I had in a separate qt today. I think it will go well. I had them in a box for a couple hours and let them in just about at lights out. Then just left the moonlights on. Both stayed out quite a while and even ate with the others before retiring.

My larger Meleagris changed massively overnight last night... When I saw the he she today I couldn't believe the color change that happened in one day. The spots turned into checkers kind of, and it turned very green, very cool looking mid transformation. I grabbed a couple great pics I will post up soon after I DL them from my camera but its late now I'm not getting to it.

 

[monkiboy]

trigg* - thanks for your reply based on your experience. glad you are quarantining and treating and wish you continued success. post up your experiences with the leopards accordingly.

 

[triggreef]

My larger Meleagris changed massively overnight last night... When I saw the he she today I couldn't believe the color change that happened in one day. The spots turned into checkers kind of, and it turned very green, very cool looking mid transformation. I grabbed a couple great pics I will post up soon after I DL them from my camera but its late now I'm not getting to it.

Look how fat! :beer:

I have a few more for another day.

The Ornate didn't come out at all that I saw today. Kind of surprised because the meleagris was not nearly as interested as I thought he would be last night when I let her out of the box.

 

[TJmach]

I'm having issues with my male vermiculite wrasse. I added a female first, simply because that's who I received first. One week later I added the male. Both are eating very well and healthy all around but the male is picking on the female. It doesn't seem like he's trying to hurt her but he's not stoping. Is this normal behavior, or something I should worry about? Just curious if anyone has had this experience with vermiculite's?

 

[evolved]

It sounds like they're establishing the dominance/submissive roles, which is normal. If the female isn't being forced into hiding and is still eating fine, I wouldn't think twice about it.

 

[TJmach]

Thank you for the reassurance! I arrived home today and couldn't find the female. When she appeared the male chased her into the sand so I guess it's gotten aggressive... So my question now is, at what point should I pull one of them? Also does anyone know if there are any distinguishing marks that appear in beginning stages of female to male transition? I could be an idiot here and have a female that's turning male... Doesn't the transition happen fairly quick though?

 

[ca1ore]

Quick update on my DD bipart trio .....

Male has been in the main display (a 265) for slightly over a month and seems nicely settled in. Not the most aggressive feeder, nor the 'brightest bulb in the drawer', so I have had to use a kitchen baster to squirt food down towards the gravel, otherwise he'll get out-hustled for the food.

Two females, about 2" each, remain in the display refugium. Both seem quite healthy and happy and are eating very well, but still a bit on the small side, so they will probably remain there for a while.

..... and the female black leopard I bought has not appeared from the sand in a couple of week so I suspect she has expired.

 

[ca1ore]

So my question now is, at what point should I pull one of them?

Did you say the size of your display? Maybe it's a bit tight? My, somewhat limited, experience with leopards is that as long as the female is coming out of the sand, you can probably hang in there. If she stops coming out then intervention is required.

I had a trio of biparts, two female and one male, that seemed OK together; but then one of the females stopped coming out. Couldn't figure out why, because she had been out and feeding for a few weeks. thought perhaps the male was a problem, so I moved him up to the display. It took almost a full week, but eventually the female started coming out again and has been fine ever since. Coincidence, perhaps, but ......

 

[triggreef]

An update on my Ornate addition... Day 2 the male (becoming) male meleagris turned evil and tried to destroy the ornate. It was bad to the point there was scales I saw come loose. Buried that day and same thing the next when the ornate came out. To the point I was in there with the biggest net I could find to try to catch anything I could. Almost caught the ornate while the meleagris was after him but got tangled with a powerhead.

Then I tried an acrylic trap to go after the meleagris. That was a no go. But the Ornate stayed out despite the constant harassment and being hunted. Even got some food to it. Ornate stayed out longer that night than the meleagris and I power fed it as much as possible. Also was out earlier the next day, power fed some more. Next day, very little harassment and chasing going on.

Last couple days have been good, not really any chasing going on even when they are right next to each other. Surprised to see that the Ornate eats like a pig and is now doing well with the others. I'm not adding any more leopards for sure, I will call it lucky here with the 4 I have. Been power feeding like mad. lol

 

[triggreef]

..... and the female black leopard I bought has not appeared from the sand in a couple of week so I suspect she has expired.

That sucks. Could it have died hiding in rock work? They usually come out to die. Never had any wrasse die still under the sand that I can think of. The one black leopard I had ate very well but was spewing the white stringy poop. I wish I learned about metro at that time, I would still have it. Another of many lost battles using prazi. Very pretty fish.

Actually if you haven't yet it might not be a bad idea. I'm not sure if metro would kill your planaria in there though. That could create a different problem.

 

[iamwrasseman]

even though they can disappear behind the live rock or in a nook or cranny I also have never had one just die under the sand bed . for some reason they always seem to get enough energy to come out from under the sand bed before dying
don't know how or why

 

[ca1ore]

That sucks. Could it have died hiding in rock work?

No, because I took out all the rocks to rinse off the planaria worms and saw no sign of her. She looked a bit rough at the LFS where I got her for a song. Too bad though!