New Leopard Wrasse

[DSmithZ28]

I have a new Leopard Wrasse in my QT and have some concerns about her. I have placed a 2 inch container of sand in it and interestingly enough she took right to it first night. The lfs had her in some 1/2 inch sand and said she slept in it. Her behavior seems "depressed" for lack of better word. In the two days she has been with me she has not eaten other than pecked at some brine shrimp I saturated with selcon. She is by herself in the QT but starts the day off swimming like a wrasse should being active and settles down to just pacing. Whats really weird is at night she goes tot he top of the water and stays there with her face at the water line. Occasionally she will swim up and down a few times. If I walk off she will bury herself and go to sleep.

So my immediate concerns are what has everyone else had success with feeding leopard wrasse in a small QT tank? Also I'm very concerned about starting Prazi at this point when she is not eating. I know copper is out of the question. Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: She will be going in a 93 gallon cube with a lot of rock work. 3 months old and seeded with 10,000 pods 2 weeks ago from Algae Barn. I am planning on getting some more soon. The only other tank inhabitant is a very active bristletooth tang.

 

[lion king]

Put a rock for pods to live on, get a bottle of tisbe pods from the lfs. Make sure to check the date, an order of pods from Aquarium Depot would be better. Once she settles in by fattening up on pods, she'll be more likely to start taking other foods. Live brine shrimp can also trigger a positive feeding response, or if you can harvest some pods from your dt. I do like my fish eating before I start with prazi, but parasites is a real concern with these guys.

 

[DSmithZ28]

Put a rock for pods to live on, get a bottle of tisbe pods from the lfs. Make sure to check the date, an order of pods from Aquarium Depot would be better. Once she settles in by fattening up on pods, she'll be more likely to start taking other foods. Live brine shrimp can also trigger a positive feeding response, or if you can harvest some pods from your dt. I do like my fish eating before I start with prazi, but parasites is a real concern with these guys.

I put 10K pods in there and haven't seen one since. I have a cycled piece of live rock from my fuge and can look for some pods to put in there.

 

[lion king]

I put 10K pods in there and haven't seen one since. I have a cycled piece of live rock from my fuge and can look for some pods to put in there.

Does her body look filled in or is her stomach sunken in. Have you seen her picking at the rock at all. A small tank also contributes to stress. I just lost a goldflake angel in qt because I waited until she started eating before treating for parasites. Sometimes the most susceptible fish to parasites it's wise to treat right away, and move them into a larger tank as soon as appropriate.

 

[DSmithZ28]

Does her body look filled in or is her stomach sunken in. Have you seen her picking at the rock at all. A small tank also contributes to stress. I just lost a goldflake angel in qt because I waited until she started eating before treating for parasites. Sometimes the most susceptible fish to parasites it's wise to treat right away, and move them into a larger tank as soon as appropriate.

I saw her picking at the sand at the LFS and she did actually pick at the frozen brine a couple of times. I can't say I saw her get one down her. I checked locally and no one has any copepods in stock and Amazon doesn't have any either on prime that I can get tomorrow. Further I am out of town Wednesday through Friday. We have no local LFS. Just Petco and they don't have them either for some stupid reason. I do not see any flashing or any signs of parasites. Nor do I see any sunken belly or abdomen. She seems fine other than being "depressed" and what I mean by that is not very active and swimming at the bottom back and forth. I left the uneaten brine in there hoping she would eat it. I will put a few pellets in there as well.

 

[eatbreakfast]

A smaller food, such as reef plankton, fish eggs, or baby brine may help elicit a response.

 

[DSmithZ28]

A smaller food, such as reef plankton, fish eggs, or baby brine may help elicit a response.

I'll run by Petco and keep my fingers crossed they have anything.

 

[DSmithZ28]

Another question is lighting. I kept the lights off today to avoid any stress and she is getting up at 3pm instead of early morning. Is this because of the lights or stress?

 

[evolved]

Whats really weird is at night she goes tot he top of the water and stays there with her face at the water line. Occasionally she will swim up and down a few times.

What do you have for gas exchange in the tank? Could be a sign of low O2.

 

[DSmithZ28]

What do you have for gas exchange in the tank? Could be a sign of low O2.

I have this filter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXRDZPO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And a Hydor (https://www.amazon.com/Hydor-Korali...06980003&sr=1-3&keywords=hydor+wavemaker&th=1) aimed at the top of the water to exchange more gas with surface agitation. I'll get some pictures of the setup tonight when I get home.

 

[evolved]

I have this filter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXRDZPO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And a Hydor (https://www.amazon.com/Hydor-Koralia-Evolution-Aquarium-Circulation/dp/B004F461UA/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1506980003&sr=1-3&keywords=hydor+wavemaker&th=1) aimed at the top of the water to exchange more gas with surface agitation. I'll get some pictures of the setup tonight when I get home.

That all sounds perfectly sufficient.

The fish is likely just a bit spooky still; it may take a week or so for it to settle in.

 

[mfinn]

I use Tigger pods for a first food for most fish.
I also use ROE, nutramar ova, and hykari mysis in the cubes,( seems to be a smaller variety).
When I add frozen food in the tank, I let it drop in front of a powerhead so that it moves across the tank. Makes it look like it might be alive, and the fish has to chase it.

 

[DSmithZ28]

That all sounds perfectly sufficient.

The fish is likely just a bit spooky still; it may take a week or so for it to settle in.

Thanks evolved. I watched your presentation at MACNA and was blown away at the detail in it! Thanks so much. Inspired me to try this fish as it has long been on my wish list.

 

[DSmithZ28]

Here are some pictures of my setup and the Leopard Wrasse. I’m about to try some Mysis Shrimp soaked in selcon

 

[Maritimer]

I don't know about your local Petco, mine carries Ocean Nutrition's Formulae One and Two, and some things from San Francisco Bay. The SFBay foods are mostly brine-shrimp based, and while that's not great as a steady diet, I'm wondering if she might not go for the smaller size and fringe-y legs of drifting brine over mysis? She's a beautiful fish - hope she's over this hump quickly!

~Bruce

 

[Jimmyneptune]

Try Black Worms they have worked for me before in the past.
They got picky eaters use to the idea of eating food dropped from above.

 

[DSmithZ28]

Well some good news I put some Mysis soaked in selcon and I saw her peck and 3 small pieces and then consume a whole shrimp! So she got a little something in her anyway! Turning on the power head did help as it stirred the food up and made her more interested. I will go get the Black worms tomorrow and try to mix it up. Gonna be a long 4 weeks with this one. My fat tang at like a horse in QT even with copper.

 

[JBS]

I went through that with my Leopard Wrasse too...I finally got her to eat with Cyclops and LRS Fish Frenzy. I soak all food in Selcon, Vitachem, and Garlic. She took right to the Cyclops and is now eating anything I put in the tank (including the large pieces in fish Frenzy). I tried EVERYTHING...I would go to your LFS over Petco because they typically stock frozen foods like PE Mysis and LRS if you’re lucky. I also had to go to the LFS to get Cyclops. Good Luck - she’s beautiful!

 

[shaggydoo]

I second the cyclops. It did the trick for my leopard who shunned flake, pellet, mysis and other frozen foods. As soon as I tried cyclops she gobbled it up and then something switched in her brain and she eats everything I put in now.

Also, not sure why she isn't burrowing. Mine has exhibited weird behavior if her favorite spot to sleep gets messed with. One time the clowns wouldn't let her close to her spot because they were hosting a nearby torch. So she chose another spot but that spot got wrecked by some falling rockwork and coral rearrangement. Both times her spot was messed with she acted super bizarre; flaring fins, swimming oddly, and looking very lost. Yours will hopefully pick a new spot soon which should normalize behavior.

 

[biga1106]

When I had my leopard it took about 8 days before she ate live brime. I've heard some people say longer than that ... maybe she needs a buddy in there ?