HELP! I accidently bought an Ornate Leopard Wrasse!!

[4FordFamily]

In addition to being difficult to get feeding sometimes, the other issue with leopards is internal parasites. If it does eat, feed general cure and focus (to bind general cure to the food) for 10-14 days to help with internal parasites. They’re known for dropping dead suddenly, it’s believed by many (myself included) that this is a primary culprit. They’re also poor shippers and stress easily. They also seem very sensitive to ammonia. If quarantining, add biospira to the filter media with some “sponge media” where it can colonize. Water changes and even prime or amquel can help detoxify ammonia if you’re not using meds like some types of copper.

Good luck!

 

[Idoc]

Sorry if this is saying same as others...i didn't have time at lunch to read all the responses so far.

But, the hard part about leopards is getting then to eat. Mine took a couple weeks to train to eat frozen mysis. I started with live brine and mixed in frozen and she took to it nicely.

Second, you need a Tupperware container with at least 1.5" sand. These bury at nighttime and for safety. She will stress terribly without it. Also, she may bury in the sand and stay hidden for a week at first... normal, don't go digging for her. Also keep lights off the tank.

Third, leopards are notorious for internal parasites! You'll need to feed her medicated foods fir 14-21 days twice daily....General Cure+Focus mixed with food works well.

Good luck...i quarantined my leopard for 3 months going extremely slowly with all meds and changes!

 

[olonmv]

I’m also new to saltwater and the LFS experience, went to a different place, my son and I fell in love with a OLW we saw. Asked a ton of questions and pulled the trigger. When the drunkness wore off, I researched and BAM, expert only. We most definitely have pods in our tank.....her pecking at them is good I’m gathering? I’m willing to meet the requirements because she’s such a beautiful fish. Seems like she’s settled in since day 1.

 

[ajjw0828]

Looks more like a male to me. Either way good advice here. If you decide to treat the water with anything do your research. I believe Leopards specifically do well with Chloroquine if you have it. I believe copper will work okay to though if you don't have it. Sounds like you will also want to treat with praziquantel for worms and medicated food. My go to lately has been Humble fish's website. Good luck. I've had one for about a year and a half and he's my favorite fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

A bowl of sand won’t cut it
In addition to mysis shrimp, feed:
Rotifiers
LRS fish frenzy
Spirulina brine shrimp
Formula one frozen
Rods fish eggs

 

[MohrReefs]

Has it found the sand yet? Leopard wrasse are wonderful fish once you get through this hurdle. Easily my favorite fish.

 

[olonmv]

On

Has it found the sand yet? Leopard wrasse are wonderful fish once you get through this hurdle. Easily my favorite fish.

On day one (this Sunday) I acclimated her and added her to the tank she swam remainder of day and then took to the sand to sleep. Saw her yesterday swimming about as normal and pecking at the rocks. Like clockwork she was under the sand near lights out time.

 

[MohrReefs]

On

On day one (this Sunday) I acclimated her and added her to the tank she swam remainder of day and then took to the sand to sleep. Saw her yesterday swimming about as normal and pecking at the rocks. Like clockwork she was under the sand near lights out time.

Yeah they are usually the first up and the first to sleep. Beautiful fish, congrats. They are really sweet animals.

 

[olonmv]

I

Yeah they are usually the first up and the first to sleep. Beautiful fish, congrats. They are really sweet animals.

I’m usually out the door for work before lights go on so I haven’t witnessed her waking yet. Her whimsical swim is what got us, I just hope she’s healthy and happy and continues doing so if she is.

 

[cjpitt80]

Hello,
I have a 45 gal bow front tank that has been running for just over 3 months. I have had 2 small clownfish in it for the past 6 weeks. Yesterday my kids and I drove the 1.5 hrs to our local fish store to get our next fish. We spent at least 2 hours at the store talking about the tank, its set up, what fish we have, when we are wanting to start corals,, etc, and were led to a beautiful wrasse that we eventually decided to purchase after I was able to see it eat (one SMALL intake of flake/pellet). I purchased frozen mysis to feed it and brought it home to our QT. He did not eat last night , just hid in a corner between the glass and a PVC pipe that I have in the tank. Today he ate a little bit and as the day went on he has come out and is swimming around more. This afternoon I finally has time to sit down and do some research about our new fish. The first thing I learned is that my new fish is NOT the easy to care for wrasse that I was led to believe. It is actually an Ornate Leopard Wrasse. EXPERT level only!!! Any suggestions on how to care for this fish are GREATLY appreciated. Clearly I will be only feeding mysis from this point on. Do I need to order some copepods for my DT for when I move him over? Is mysis twice a day going to be enough? I do not have a sump. There is no room for one in the cabinet below the tank so I am running a HOB Fluval C4. Any hlp/ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

Any update??