Divided leopard wrasse turning brown

KM Wrasse

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Hello

I have gotten two female divided leopard wrasses about a month ago … they are doing great, however when they first arrived their color was bright orange whit and black . Over the past month the orange has changed on both of them to an ugly brown color. Neither one is changing to a male so it’s not that.
Can they “tan” under the led lights?? Their pattern is the same but they have just turned brown from bright orange… don’t know if lighting can affect actual color ? I have a 93 gallon mixed reef with Kessil AP 700 light
Thanks
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MnFish1

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Hello

I have gotten two female divided leopard wrasses about a month ago … they are doing great, however when they first arrived their color was bright orange whit and black . Over the past month the orange has changed on both of them to an ugly brown color. Neither one is changing to a male so it’s not that.
Can they “tan” under the led lights?? Their pattern is the same but they have just turned brown from bright orange… don’t know if lighting can affect actual color ? I have a 93 gallon mixed reef with Kessil AP 700 light
Thanks
30EF40E9-B74C-410F-8249-A5911EE59858.jpeg
AD25763B-DC4C-493B-B8ED-93BBF7807955.jpeg
A46EFAF4-9D2E-4CC8-8515-F3083AB274A2.jpeg
30EF40E9-B74C-410F-8249-A5911EE59858.jpeg
Beautiful tank. To me the coloration looks similar to other pictures online - and I'm not sure that the color isn't relating just to their aging. Are you feeding color enhancing food (brine shrimp, etc)?
 

homer1475

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I've had many leopards over the years, they all turn to a dull brownish red as they mature. Kind of like a rust color over the bright orange. Could also be the slow transition from female to male(never had one do this, so I cannot say for sure). They typically start at the tail(where they usually are a bright orange), and slowly transitions up the body from what I've read.

I currently have a transitioning red corris wrasse, their transformation from juvenile to adult is rather stunning, and the adult looks nothing like the juvenile.
 
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KM Wrasse

KM Wrasse

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Beautiful tank. To me the coloration looks similar to other pictures online - and I'm not sure that the color isn't relating just to their aging. Are you feeding color enhancing food (brine shrimp, etc)?
Ok so my one female is changing to
Male which will explain its darkening…. But the remaining female was really orange when she came in then … over a few weeks it has faded and is now an ugly brown and it’s pattern is the same unlike the other that is changing. I am feeding a wide variety of food including color enhancing pellets and flakes . I also feed frozen food called life line … awesome stuff. I had my light set to heavy blue…. I added more white thinking maybe fish are darker at lower light if they were deeper in ocean???…. Just a crazy theory. I’ve seen coral color get dark but never fish. I’ll keep ya posted thanks. I attached a few pics of transitioning wrasse. Even his colors are brownish too.
 

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KM Wrasse

KM Wrasse

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I've had many leopards over the years, they all turn to a dull brownish red as they mature. Kind of like a rust color over the bright orange. Could also be the slow transition from female to male(never had one do this, so I cannot say for sure). They typically start at the tail(where they usually are a bright orange), and slowly transitions up the body from what I've read.

I currently have a transitioning red corris wrasse, their transformation from juvenile to adult is rather stunning, and the adult looks nothing like the juvenile.
Thank you for the info…. The divided leopard transformation is amazing… literally they change by the hour…. Mine started about 4 days ago and has become really aggressive towards the female…. However she just side steps him and goes on about her business

i read that during transition they get very aggressive then settle down once completed. It eats like crazy too and almost jumps out of the water when I walk in the room.
Thanks for your input on what you observed with your leopard s… maybe they just get dark.
Only other wrasse I had change was a flame wrasse… absolutely beautiful fish… I was feeding flake food and a small piece of cellophane that I had fallin into my feeding cup got into the tank… I saw it and tried to get it but the wrasse ate it! Didn’t think much about it but about 3 days later it was hiding in rocks and was dead next day!!!!!. I can’t say for sure but odds are that killed him. Talk about being mad lol lol… especially since they are so hard to get and expensive
Can you send some pics of your coris???
Thanks
 

homer1475

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I actually posted a thread, only because I have never had a corris grow to adult size(mostly jumpers). Even my current yellow hits the net so hard it dislodges it. I'm sure if he/she did it a second time, they would be carpet surfing too.

I suck at pictures, but hers a couple that are a few weeks old. Doesn't sem to have gone much past this point in a few weeks though.
20210831_100509.jpg

20210831_100515.jpg
 

homer1475

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You can see how it's loosing it's stripes, and the blue is starting to appear on it's tail. Seems to be a very slooooooooooow transition to adulthood. I would say these are it's teen years lol. It's been challenging my yellow coris off and on lately too, who is the tank boss. Almost like a snot nosed teenager.
 

MnFish1

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Ok so my one female is changing to
Male which will explain its darkening…. But the remaining female was really orange when she came in then … over a few weeks it has faded and is now an ugly brown and it’s pattern is the same unlike the other that is changing. I am feeding a wide variety of food including color enhancing pellets and flakes . I also feed frozen food called life line … awesome stuff. I had my light set to heavy blue…. I added more white thinking maybe fish are darker at lower light if they were deeper in ocean???…. Just a crazy theory. I’ve seen coral color get dark but never fish. I’ll keep ya posted thanks. I attached a few pics of transitioning wrasse. Even his colors are brownish too.
I think they all look good - and IMHO - wrasses look weird when they mature. I do not think there is anything 'wrong' with your beautiful fish as long as you're feeding them properly (and they are eating)
 
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KM Wrasse

KM Wrasse

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I actually posted a thread, only because I have never had a corris grow to adult size(mostly jumpers). Even my current yellow hits the net so hard it dislodges it. I'm sure if he/she did it a second time, they would be carpet surfing too.

I suck at pictures, but hers a couple that are a few weeks old. Doesn't sem to have gone much past this point in a few weeks though.
20210831_100509.jpg

20210831_100515.jpg
Wow beautiful fish and tank!!! Love the two color Lobo (that is a lobo right) ?? Awesome… wrasses… does the red and blue coris bother any corals? I thought they become a problem as they age?? Wrasses love jumpin… I had a yellow coris that jumped through a very small feeding hole in my mesh cover. My wife thought it was a pencil on the floor and picked it up then got totally freaked out when she realized it was a crusty fish!!! Lol
 
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KM Wrasse

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I think they all look good - and IMHO - wrasses look weird when they mature. I do not think there is anything 'wrong' with your beautiful fish as long as you're feeding them properly (and they are eating)
They are really healthy and active… that’s 95% of the battle with Leopards and the female now has almost all male colors… took only about a week! Amazing to watch…Now I have a male and female so I get to have both color versions…
 

Tamberav

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They are just maturing. Color appears normal. Same color as mine. Much brighter as juvies, still gorgeous as adults though.
 
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KM Wrasse

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They are just maturing. Color appears normal. Same color as mine. Much brighter as juvies, still gorgeous as adults though.
Yep I’m really lucky to have one change … I’ve read that many people have two females and they never change or it takes years… I only had the larger female for a month
 
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KM Wrasse

KM Wrasse

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Just an update this is what the female now looks like before and after pic… it keeps getting better looking every day! It took about 8 days for this to happen
 

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