Sick Leopard Wrasse?

[55reeforlando]

Over the past few days when I looked at my tank I didnt see the leopard wrasse out cruising around the rocks. I did find him buried in the sand where they like to sleep. Yesterday I saw him at the bottom of the tank (alive) just kinda hanging out in the sand almost like a hawkfish would perch. Upon further inspection of the leopard wrasse I noticed that the colors were not as vibrant as they usually are and the fish also looked like it had lost some weight. Therefore I began to feed the fish in the tank to see if the leopard wrasse would eat. Normally he would be at the top feasting on the brine/mysis shrimp. However yesterday when I fed he was more reserved and ate hardly anything compared to the normal eating habits. I am worried that something may be wrong with him because he is not eating properly, has lost significant weight, and the colors are not as vibrant. Is there any known diseases that commonly affect the fish? He has been living in my tank for over 6 months. Just recently I also added a tri-color wrasse (i believe the scientific name to be psuedocheilinus cirenthesus (dont know if that is the proper spelling)). Could this wrasse have caused some disruption to the leopard wrasse? Originally they seemed to be getting along fine and both were eating fine. Someone told me that the leopard wrasse could have a parasite? I love the leopard wrasse and would like to help him out (dont like things dying in my tank) ANY help/comments/suggestions are GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thanks in advance.

 

[Just Jim]

I have two leopard wrasses, a male cook islands and a female blue star leopard wrasse. I made the mistake of adding a christmas wrasse to my tank, which looks similar to the male blue star leopard wrasse. It screwed up both of my leopards. These wrasses can change sex, and introducing a similar wrasse can cause a great deal of stress to them. Does your fairy wrasse have green on it?

 

[55reeforlando]

Yes it has green on it but many other colors too. I dont think it is a fairy wrasse though. I called the fish store today and the owner who is very well read told me it was the pseudo cerenthesus (spelling). Also this new wrasse the one mentioned above was in the main display tank at the store and there are some big leopard wrasse's in there as well so I figured it would be ok. If the leopard was changing sex what are the indicators of this?

 

[Just Jim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6700208#post6700208 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55reeforlando
Yes it has green on it but many other colors too. I dont think it is a fairy wrasse though. I called the fish store today and the owner who is very well read told me it was the pseudo cerenthesus (spelling). Also this new wrasse the one mentioned above was in the main display tank at the store and there are some big leopard wrasse's in there as well so I figured it would be ok. If the leopard was changing sex what are the indicators of this?

It wouldn't neccessarily change sex, but cause stress on the fish. If it were to change, you would start to see pigments of green taking over the white. How big is the leopard wrasse?

 

[55reeforlando]

I would say the Leopard is about 3 inches. I dont think it is changing sex but I suppose that it is still a possibility. Do you have any other suggestions/tips? The main problem I cant get the fish out of the tank because once they see the net all the fish dart into the rocks.

 

[55reeforlando]

bump