Female Blue Star Leopard Wrasse

[Jordan Wright]

I am thinking about getting a female blue star leopard wrasse from liveaquaria. I have a 55g with about a 2 inch sand bed. On liveaquaria it says that they are expert only, i read that some say that is only because they don’t do well with the shipping process? So if i get one, should i quarantine her? Also heard that they can be picky eaters, I already have mysis and brine shrimp, what type of flakes do they like? Also one last question haha, if i get one female will she turn into a male or just stay female ?

 

[Jordan Wright]

Leopard wrasses ARE listed as expert only for a reason. They don't ship particularly well and can be tricky to acclimate. Not a lot you can do about the former, but there are things you can do about the latter. I've kept a few dozen leopards of various species over the years. Probably 10% are DOA. When I just dumped them into the scrum that is my display, the survival rate was terrible .... maybe one out of ten that had survived shipping. So, I devised a QT protocol specifically for leopard wrasses that jumped that to a success rate of eight out of ten. Unless you are going to do something like that, or can find an established fish from a local reefer, I would not bother. The other thing to keep in mind is that they are often very thin, and if they show any pinching behind the head they are a gonner.

One myth about leopards that is oft' perpetuated is the need for live foods. They are NOT obligate pod eaters like mandarins. Of the many I have kept, only one refused to take calanus/brine/mysis. It may take a few days, but live pods are not necessary.

Female leopard alone probably won't change gender. I had a female blue star female that changed gender overnight after 3 years in my tank. Why or what prompted it I cannot say.

thanks for the info!

 

[Subnautica]

nice! they are my new favorite fish if i try one hopefully i get lucky!

Good luck! But I'd strongly recommend buying at LFS. I just got lucky with mine. At LFS you can see how they behave and how they look.

 

[Jordan Wright]

Good luck! But I'd strongly recommend buying at LFS. I just got lucky with mine. At LFS you can see how they behave and how they look.

thank you! and will do!

 

[jordan10]

I want an Ornate so bad. They are better looking than the Blue Star for sure.

Blue star look way better

 

[Subnautica]

Blue star look way better

Oh yeah I should say that it's just my personal liking. But my opinion always changes :/

 

[Rtaylor]

I bought one from LiveAquaria a couple of months ago. She shipped very well and didn’t even bury herself in the sand right away. She started eating frozen food quickly. I didn’t quarantine her as I wanted to get her in the display with lots of pods etc. in case she didn’t take to frozen food right away. I think they typically remain female unless there are at least 2.

 

[Jordan Wright]

I bought one from LiveAquaria a couple of months ago. She shipped very well and didn’t even bury herself in the sand right away. She started eating frozen food quickly. I didn’t quarantine her as I wanted to get her in the display with lots of pods etc. in case she didn’t take to frozen food right away. I think they typically remain female unless there are at least 2.

that’s great! hopefully i get lucky haha

 

[Arruna]

I am thinking about getting a female blue star leopard wrasse from liveaquaria. I have a 55g with about a 2 inch sand bed. On liveaquaria it says that they are expert only, i read that some say that is only because they don’t do well with the shipping process? So if i get one, should i quarantine her? Also heard that they can be picky eaters, I already have mysis and brine shrimp, what type of flakes do they like? Also one last question haha, if i get one female will she turn into a male or just stay female ?

As someone who is kepping several leopard wrasse and a China wrasse successfully, I would highly recommend not purchasing one from online. Just due to them not shipping well. Try to find one in a store or ask your LFS to get you one. That way you can cut out the shipping element.

I cannot stress this point enough, HAVE A LARGE POD POPULATION. This will significantly increase your chance for success. That way even while you are trying to get them to eat prepared food they will be able to snack on pods.

They will prob hide in the sand a good deal so w.e. you see them provide a bit of food. Wrasses have a small digestive track so they need lots of food. (Small amounts, multiple times a day)

I have gotten mine to eat every food under under sun (except flaks)
I highly recommend a mix between pellets and frozen of different meat until you find one they really like. Mine also like nori sheets.

As for if she'll stay female, its really a toss up. Depending on the fish you have in the tank.

 

[Arruna]

are all leopard wrasses like this? or are some easier to keep

They are all just as difficult in my experience lol

 

[boeingn747]

Run away....

The chance of this thing living past 1 week is about 5%

Leopards are exxxxxxxtremely sensitive. They go into starvation mode when stressed.

Any new environment is a challenge bc they only accept LIVE FOOD.

Many times they only eat at night bc they are scared to death they'll be eaten during the day. So they bury themselves in the sand.

At LiveAquaria they prob feed it Live Food just to keep it long enough to get a 300+% profit on you.

Run away! I'm telling ya these are one of the hardest fish to acclimate and keep alive.

.

Have you ever actually had a Leopard wrasse?I have several and never had a issue with one taking food. The 3 I currently have were all wild caught. Sometimes I feel like people on here just blab from what they have read vs. Speaking from personal experience. The only wrasse that I have had issues with has been the cleaner wrasse.

 

[ZoWhat]

Have you ever actually had a Leopard wrasse?I have several and never had a issue with one taking food. The 3 I currently have were all wild caught. Sometimes I feel like people on here just blab from what they have read vs. Speaking from personal experience. The only wrasse that I have had issues with has been the cleaner wrasse.

0-4 for me. All starved to death

 

[JCM]

I guess I'll chime in. I kept a Meleagris for 9 years which is the longest I'd ever heard of one in captivity at the time.

They are listed as expert because they ship like crap and don't always immediately recognize frozen food as food. On the contrary, once they are in your tank and eating they are quite hardy fish.

In 9 years, mine never transitioned to male. She ate until the day she died, no changes no new tank additions and no other deaths, so I assume she had reached the end of her life span. She was housed with numerous other wrasses but no other leopards. She ate everything and loved NLS pellets. She slept in the sand but was out all day competing for food just fine with the 15+ other fish.

I absolutely agree with finding one locally if you can. If you find one locally that is eating, you're pretty much home free. I quarantined mine with copper and prazipro. (This was 15 years ago)

Edit: I also think the level of care is similar for all species. I've heard chaoti is more difficult than the others but that may be because there hasn't been as many attempted in home aquaria

 

[Saltyanimals]

I just asked this question on another thread, but looks like we have some resident leopard experts here.

Can a medium size live on pods alone in a semi-mature 180? Mine is still acclimation to my tank after introducing it about 14 days ago. Hid first 7 in the sand and surprisingly still adjusting to my time zone. Started coming out at 4pm and earlier every day and now 11am.

she’s nonstop hunting in the sand and rock, but won’t take pellets, flakes, frozen Mysis, fish roe, or anything else. I’m concerned my pod population isn’t enough for her. She came purchased from a QT vendor so I know she ate during the 30 day in QT before arriving to me. Surpassing she’s adjusting to time, but 24 hours in darkness screwed her up.

Is she still settling in or should I be concerned.

 

[Rtaylor]

I just asked this question on another thread, but looks like we have some resident leopard experts here.

Can a medium size live on pods alone in a semi-mature 180? Mine is still acclimation to my tank after introducing it about 14 days ago. Hid first 7 in the sand and surprisingly still adjusting to my time zone. Started coming out at 4pm and earlier every day and now 11am.

she’s nonstop hunting in the sand and rock, but won’t take pellets, flakes, frozen Mysis, fish roe, or anything else. I’m concerned my pod population isn’t enough for her. She came purchased from a QT vendor so I know she ate during the 30 day in QT before arriving to me. Surpassing she’s adjusting to time, but 24 hours in darkness screwed her up.

Is she still settling in or should I be concerned.

As long as she doesn’t start to look thin I wouldn’t worry too much. If you’re not already dosing phytoplankton to boost your pod population that could help.

 

[Saltyanimals]

As long as she doesn’t start to look thin I wouldn’t worry too much. If you’re not already dosing phytoplankton to boost your pod population that could help.

Lucky day.. she started eating NLS today. I think the key here is to feed with the pumps on so it's more interesting to chase pellets. Could be coincidental with her eventually settling into my timezone. Continues to wake up earlier and earlier so I suspect she'll keep adjusting until my light-on schedule. That's 19 days since introduction to my tank. Just glad she's finally eating. I'm continuing to overfeed hoping to increase her chances of eating amongst the other big eaters.. ...will deal with nutrient issues separately. =)