Leopard Wrasses: Pod Pressure and Post-acclimation behavior?

[Biokabe]

I'm currently planning out the wrasse population for my 90g tank. I want a sand-sleeping wrasse (well, my wife wants me to have a sand-sleeping wrasse) but I'm trying to avoid Halichoeres wrasses - I don't want to worry about which inverts I can keep in the tank. Leopard wrasses are an obvious choice, but I already have two pod-eating fish in the tank (a mandarin goby and a dragonface pipefish). Both are fat and happy and I would like to keep them that way. Do leopards primarily subsist on pods like mandarins and pipefish, or are they more of an occasional pod-picker that mostly eats prepared foods? I have a productive refugium that is constantly pumping out pods, and I see tons of little pods and other microfauna crawling over the rocks and sides of the tank. I'm not in danger of running out, but I do worry that adding another heavy pod eater might change that.

Second question with leopards - I know that they are often slow to acclimate to a new tank, but once they're in, do they tend to be out and about and easy to see?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@i cant think

 

[Marine Betta]

I'm currently planning out the wrasse population for my 90g tank. I want a sand-sleeping wrasse (well, my wife wants me to have a sand-sleeping wrasse) but I'm trying to avoid Halichoeres wrasses - I don't want to worry about which inverts I can keep in the tank. Leopard wrasses are an obvious choice, but I already have two pod-eating fish in the tank (a mandarin goby and a dragonface pipefish). Both are fat and happy and I would like to keep them that way. Do leopards primarily subsist on pods like mandarins and pipefish, or are they more of an occasional pod-picker that mostly eats prepared foods? I have a productive refugium that is constantly pumping out pods, and I see tons of little pods and other microfauna crawling over the rocks and sides of the tank. I'm not in danger of running out, but I do worry that adding another heavy pod eater might change that.

Second question with leopards - I know that they are often slow to acclimate to a new tank, but once they're in, do they tend to be out and about and easy to see?

Pretty much any wrasse except fairies and flashers will constantly pick at the rock throughout the day in search of pods and other crustaceans. In my experience, leopards need pods especially in the beginning as they can be slow to accept prepared foods. Once established, they eat just as well as any wrasse and don’t rely on pods as much. They will still hunt them throughout the day though.

They can be slow to acclimate, but once they do, they are out and about and just as personable as any other wrasse as long as you don’t have any aggressive fish that pester them.

 

[Biokabe]

Thanks. So if the tank will ultimately have multiple wrasses, might be best to introduce the leopard pretty early on?

 

[ReefED!]

Leopard wrasses won’t dent your pod populations that much IMO

At first they’ll go hunting and pecking but they’re just so big that they’re more of an amphipod / mysis eater than a copepod hunter

Once they’re acclimated to your tank they will be constantly out cruising and are very hardy fish

Get one from a QT vendor and never look back

I went with marine collectors (very expensive) but Fish Hotel is a better alternative in my opinion

One heads up - my male disappeared for 3 weeks and I was sure it went into the sand and died, started arguing with MCs customer support about giving me some kind of rebate , etc

Then it popped up one day like nothing had happened a full 21 days later.

 

[i cant think]

I'm currently planning out the wrasse population for my 90g tank. I want a sand-sleeping wrasse (well, my wife wants me to have a sand-sleeping wrasse) but I'm trying to avoid Halichoeres wrasses - I don't want to worry about which inverts I can keep in the tank. Leopard wrasses are an obvious choice, but I already have two pod-eating fish in the tank (a mandarin goby and a dragonface pipefish). Both are fat and happy and I would like to keep them that way. Do leopards primarily subsist on pods like mandarins and pipefish, or are they more of an occasional pod-picker that mostly eats prepared foods? I have a productive refugium that is constantly pumping out pods, and I see tons of little pods and other microfauna crawling over the rocks and sides of the tank. I'm not in danger of running out, but I do worry that adding another heavy pod eater might change that.

Second question with leopards - I know that they are often slow to acclimate to a new tank, but once they're in, do they tend to be out and about and easy to see?

Hey! So, leopards don’t actually hunt 24/7 for copepods. They will also hunt for flatworms, bristleworms, amphipods, and occasional nudibranchs. So unlike a mandarin, these guys have a wide variety of food they’ll hunt for. If your tank is crawling with crustaceans, I wouldn’t worry massively. There will be plenty in there!
Here’s an example of fish that hunt almost all day in with fish that hunt occasionally in a tank smaller than yours (15-20G off the top of my head). Working as a display refugium (if I ever get round to adding it onto one of my other systems that is);

I don’t see anywhere near as many pods as you may see, but I do have;
Doryrhamphus excisus (avid hunters, constantly on the search for food of various types - Pods, flatworms, bristleworms etc.).

Trimma rubromaculatum (still graze when they have the chance, but not as consistent as Pipefish) - I have 2 of these.

Callogobiops amikami (a constant hunter of pods, but with his small size, doesn’t require tons to stay happy 24/7)

Koumansetta rainfordi (similar to the pipefish, almost always after food but will vary up what he eats from decaying Macros to meaty copepods).

And my Pseudocheilinops ataenia, these guys will hunt anything. With almost identical habits to Leopards, they will take breaks between when they actually want food - I’ll see them swimming around almost constantly, but actually after food? Maybe 3-4 times in a day. I have a pair of these.

So I guess the main thing I’m saying about the mixture of pod hunters is look at what else they may eat. And the size of tank, 90G sounds small, but you have gaps that a leopard can’t reach whilst a pipefish & mandarin can.

As for difficulty once settled, these guys are fairly easy. They will spend around 5 days to 2 months hiding under the sand, but when they adapt fully onto prepared foods (frozen is best).

Thanks. So if the tank will ultimately have multiple wrasses, might be best to introduce the leopard pretty early on?

This is entirely dependant on what wrasses you are looking at getting.

 

[Biokabe]

Thanks for the reply, sounds like a leopard probably is my best bet for a sand-sleeper if I want to avoid potential attacks on the CUC.

As far as other wrasses - mostly fairy wrasses to start off with (I'm targeting a C. adornatus, C. temminicki, and either C. aurantidorsalis or C. chailiasi). After all the other wrasses are in the tank and established, I'd like to cap it off with a mystery wrasse.