Leopard wrasse questions

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Well, I am planning on ordering a blue star leopard wrasse from an online vendor who quarantines it and gets it eating frozen food but I have a couple questions. I emailed the vendor and asked if he could ship the fish with sand in the bag. He said he could but he doesn't recommend it. I was under the assumption that the wrasse could break its mouth without sand in th bag.

My second question is that if the wrasse eats frozen foods, which it should, will it need to est copepods? I know that even if the wrasse accepts the frozen food it will still hunt for pods, but are those pods completely necessary? Once a leopard wrasse starts eating frozen foods, I heard they are relatively easy to keep. I just don't want the fish to run out of pods. Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[reefobsessed]

The wrasse will be fine without the sand in the bag. I would not recommend putting sand in a shipping bag. Once the wrasse starts eating frozen food he will still hunt for pods but the frozen food will sustain it very well. You can add more pods if you like but IMO is not necessary. I had one and he was very healthy eating frozen foods. I did not add pods, your tank will always have some.

 

[mfinn]

I would not want to order a wrasse and have the vendor put sand in the bag.

As mentioned once the wrasse is eating frozen, he will still hunt for pods. Just in their nature.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Ok cool. I will tell him no sand. I'm glad frozen food can sustain them when they start eating.

 

[ialtalal]

The wrasse will be fine without the sand in the bag. I would not recommend putting sand in a shipping bag. Once the wrasse starts eating frozen food he will still hunt for pods but the frozen food will sustain it very well. You can add more pods if you like but IMO is not necessary. I had one and he was very healthy eating frozen foods. I did not add pods, your tank will always have some.

+1 this exactly what I wanted to say. I have 5 leopards in my tank and my pods population seem to be fine and some of these wrasses I had for two years. Keep them well fed and they will be happy one thing is sure is that they will never give up their natural hunting ways for food which is awesome to watch.

 

[Marshall O]

Ok cool. I will tell him no sand. I'm glad frozen food can sustain them when they start eating.

I wouldn't say that. In fact, it would be the opposite. Hunting pods can sustain them before they start eating prepared foods. I can tell you mine hunt all day long. I feed heavy (pellets twice per day, frozen at night), and 5 minutes after feeding, they are back hunting. If you QT them (which I would recommend of course), it should be in a tank with sand and live rock with an established pod population.

I would suggest if you have any decent LFS near you to buy them from them. I am 1 for 4 on Leopard Wrasses shipped. My female M. bipartitus arrived in perfect condition, and ate from day one. A M. choati seemed to arrive fine, but immediately went into the sand and died 3 days later. 1 M. geoffroyi arrived with a badly damaged mouth, and died after a few days. A second M. geoffroyi was DOA.

They way to go (IMO) is to find one at a LFS that is out during normal hours, and eating frozen.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

The person who is selling it will have it eating frozen foods when it is purchased. He also offers a guarantee on the fish for seven days.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

Marshall would it still be a problem even though the wrasse will be eating frozen?

 

[Marshall O]

If you are buying it online, there is no guarantee it will eat once it gets to you. The travel can be brutal on them. Personally, I would not buy a Leopard Wrasse online unless it came with a 14 day guarantee. But as mentioned, buying locally is best IMO.

 

[Reeferdude56]

I am also interested in getting a leopard wrasse what is the healthiest/best shippers? I was interested in a blue star or potters but I would be happy with any.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

It comes with a seven day guarantee but I will see if he could offer a 14 day guarantee

 

[Brice Wagner]

Any chance it'll eat flakes. I will feed frozen but use flakes when I'm out of town.

 

[Jesterrace]

Leopard Wrasses are notoriously bad shippers, so selecting the right individual is key first and foremost. If it makes it a couple of weeks at your LFS then not only is it a hardier specimen, it is also likely adaptable to a wider variety of food.

My Blue Star Leopard Wrasse was this way and it adapted to Seaweed first (strange as it's supposed to be a Carnivore) and then Frozen LRS Reef Frenzy. If I recall correctly though it did also eat PE Mysis Pellets once or twice when I tried. Flake food is awful stuff for the tank. I would go with New Life Spectrum Pellets when you are away.

 

[Brice Wagner]

Thanks for the info. Last night it didnt respond to the New Life Spectrum Pellets. It literally spit out the flakes. It seemed to enjoy roe. In the effort to not over feed I left trying frozen foods for today.

I used flakes because the fish respond much more enthusiastically compared to pellet feeding. I definitely rotate food routinely.

Why do you say flakes are worse than the pellets? Is it considering nutrients to the fish or water quality, or both?

The autofeeder seems to work better with flake as well.

 

[pirate2876]

My little harem of Bluestars is at 4 with 2 other leopard wrasse in the tank as well. What everyone here is telling you is true, leopards are terrible shippers. Getting them to eat hasn't been hard for mine. They seem to adapt pretty quickly to frozen and my bigger ones eat flake and pellet now.

I can't tell you how many leopards I've had dive into the sand on the 1-2nd day and never come back out.

 

[Brice Wagner]

It just another instance of my wife seeing something at the LFS and 2 hours later I'm researching how to keep it alive. Leopard Wrasse are really cool though and very beautiful. I dont think we will have any trouble. I imagine we could have worse problems.

One thing that I am still trying to figure is that on Live Aquaia it suggests a SG of 1.023 for this fish. I keep it steady around 1.025 or 1.026 for the corals. Have we found any problem with this?

 

[justmee]

I didn't read all the post here, but thought mention that you can also feed nori...

 

[rkpetersen]

One thing that I am still trying to figure is that on Live Aquaia it suggests a SG of 1.023 for this fish. I keep it steady around 1.025 or 1.026 for the corals. Have we found any problem with this?

No that's not important, regular reef sg of 1026 will be fine. (Obviously have to match sg before transferring to your tank of course.)

I second the suggestion of getting Leopards that are already eating frozen from an LFS, if possible, and also having a tank with lots of pods and also forams.
High probability of success with this approach, ime.

 

[Jesterrace]

Thanks for the info. Last night it didnt respond to the New Life Spectrum Pellets. It literally spit out the flakes. It seemed to enjoy roe. In the effort to not over feed I left trying frozen foods for today.

I used flakes because the fish respond much more enthusiastically compared to pellet feeding. I definitely rotate food routinely.

Why do you say flakes are worse than the pellets? Is it considering nutrients to the fish or water quality, or both?

The autofeeder seems to work better with flake as well.

Water quality, flakes are a dirty food source and IMHO and I'm not fond of pellets either.