Hey all. I'm expecting a leopard wrasse on thursday, and I already have a 10 gallon set up for it with a HOB filter, heater, small container with sand, and thermometer/hydrometer. I'm wondering though if it's one of those fish that they recommend you not quarantine....What do you think?
Quarantine Leopard wrasse? is it recommended?
- Thread starter Torno
- Start date
Triggerfish
Active member
Re: Quarantine Leopard wrasse? is it recommended?
who's "they"?
who's "they"?
AquaReeferMan
Got Reef?
I wouldnt QT this fish unless you have a DSB in your QT tank. I finally found one a couple of months ago and put in into QT. I knew they needed sand to bury in but didnt think it would do any harm untill in went into my main tank. After a couple of days it was dead. It tried to bury into the glass and destroyed its mouth. I did try a cup of sand but it really didnt use it. Its funny because I never put any other fish in a QT untill this one, and I lost it. I was a little upset because I havent been able to find this fish anywhere since. If I find one again it will go right into my tank.
Certain fish like Rock Beauty angels or mandarins, I've read that it's not recommended you quarantine them. Rock Beautys for example, Bob Fenner said "The trauma, continued loss of health from very probable non-feeding is not worth the trade-off in communicable disease prevention" on the subject of quarantine. I've also read a few times people have said they don't quarantine mandarins because the live food source they need isn't available in a quarantine tank. Do you think I should put my wrasse in this tank and try to feed it frozen foods first? There are no pods in this quarantine tank, so will it quickly deteriorate? I'm unsure of what to do in a situation like this..
Triggerfish
Active member
that's sad man. good info.. i would then at the very least recommend placing sand in a bowl of some sort for it to go in.
Triggerfish
Active member
Torno... many aquarists ponder this very same question.. which chance are they willing to take.
if the qt is setup correctly for the species then there should be no problem whatsoever. if not, you have a challenge on your hands.
me,,i've been dealing with a strain of ich from hell for 1.5 yrs now. once eradicated, i will take all precautions known to man.
also, i haven't agreed with Fenner's qt practice methods in the past.
it's your call. maybe at the very least keep an eye on it for couple weeks and pre-dose with a therapeutic copper level for only 2 weeks.
if the qt is setup correctly for the species then there should be no problem whatsoever. if not, you have a challenge on your hands.
me,,i've been dealing with a strain of ich from hell for 1.5 yrs now. once eradicated, i will take all precautions known to man.
also, i haven't agreed with Fenner's qt practice methods in the past.
it's your call. maybe at the very least keep an eye on it for couple weeks and pre-dose with a therapeutic copper level for only 2 weeks.
I see what you mean. The critter keeper is clear plastic, about 6" long and 3" wide. I don't see why it wouldn't be interested in burrowing in it. The sand is pretty fine, there aren't any large pebbles or anything....I'm concerned if I don't immediately put it in my main tank, it won't take to frozen foods and it'll end up starving to death. But, if I put it in my display tank, I'm afraid of the ich. What if it goes in the display tank and a few days later everyones convered in ich? I've hypo-ed my entire display tank before in the past, but I'm almost certain it'll kill the small pods this guy needs, and he may starve even in display! What would really be great would be if he took to frozen foods right off the bat...That would be perfect....
Triggerfish
Active member
another advantage to qt is you can really target feed new arrivals..no competition for food.
is the qt cycled? what you going to try feeding to start off with? live brine or something similiar.
is the qt cycled? what you going to try feeding to start off with? live brine or something similiar.
I don't believe it's cycled. It was setup last week with new saltwater, and I added a sponge media that was in one of my other tanks HOB filter to it. I planned on doing water changes, along with Amequel Plus to keep the levels correct. I actually placed an order for two "portions o pods" from flordiapets. It comes with about 100 amphipods per portion, so one of these I was going to try to culture for it, and the other to seed a tank with. If it doesn't take to frozen, I can try and target feed it these live amphipods in the hospital tank. What do you think?
Triggerfish
Active member
sounds like you have it planned fine. don't rely too much on the amquel. i have found it doesn't work all that well.
you could also get some salt biozyme to seed the sand and filter media with. but that stuff takes time to take effect.
nice fish and worthy of the effort.
you could also get some salt biozyme to seed the sand and filter media with. but that stuff takes time to take effect.
nice fish and worthy of the effort.
Just Jim
Active member
I've had 4 leopard wrasses. 3 blue star african and one cook islands. My first I lost after 1.5 years during a move. The 2nd I lost to old age. I had him for 3 years and bought him as an adult. For the past 2.5 years I've had a female african and male cook islands leopard wrasse living in my 240g tank. Oh yeah never acclimate this fish.....
Freed
It's what it's
IF you want to take the risk of not QTing and allowing ich or another more devilish disease or parasite into your tank, then by all means just plop him right in your main display. BUT if you wish to at least try to keep these unwanted villains out of your tank on the possibility that they could come in with your wrasse then please QT for at least 4-6 weeks. This does not mean that you don't need to observe daily or take drastic measures from the get go even if your new arrival doesn't show any signs of disease or parasites. All you need do is OBSERVE for the first couple of weeks for any signs of disease. THEN if you do notice any ich or velvet start to show then you can start in with the correct protocol for whatever disease you might be seeing. The only one I have ever had an issue with is marine ich or Cryptocarion Irritans(sp). Hyposalinity will do wonders to erradicate the ich and keep it out of the main display. It's up to you though. But just understand though that the responsible way to go is to QT EVERYTHING that is wet from the start. This will make sure you don't unknowingly introduce something into your tank that you don't want there.
hawkfish21
New member
I would quarantine as long as it takes for it to eat prepared foods.
Well just found out that my order with liveaquaria is nearing "expiration", as they can't find me a leopard wrasse. They said they'll keep it open for one more week, and then if they can't find one it'll be cancelled. This sucks considering they told me last week that they'd ship mine out tonight for tomorrow delivery. Seems like I won't be getting one after all. 
hawkfish21
New member
The same thing happened to me. Every Leopard they shipped me was DOA. What kind of Leopard were you going to get?
RichConley
New member
Freed, the problem is, quarantine kills fish like these. They are constant eaters, and hard to get on prepared food. They'll quickly eat all the pods in the tank. They'll also be VERY stressed out.
If you're going to QT one, QT it in a tank thats set up like a fuge: DSB, macro, and live rock. Your typical BB empty tank with a couple of 4" pvc elbows is an almost guaranteed death sentance for Leopards.
wayne in norway
New member
Custom build a non sterile QT for the fish. QT does not necessarily mean it's idal treatment, just somewhere for the place to recover, get used to captivity for a few months.
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