Potters Wrasse "playing dead"?

[9975]

I ordered an ornate and melanurus. When I put them in QT with a good sized container of sand they didnt take to it and the ornate was ridiculously stressed. I took the sand container out and put about an inch worth of sand over about 3/4 of the 20 gallon. They both went right into the sand and did very well after that.

Yes you have to throw the sand away after the fact but with one of the vacuums it's not a big deal and I got a 20 lb bag of sand for less than $20 with over 3/4 still left.

Of course every situation is different along with each fish but with enough options maybe one will work for you

 

[evolved]

Yes you have to throw the sand away after the fact

I just dry out my QT sand completely and re-use again in the future. Mind you, it drys out completely in a hot/dry (Phoenix) garage in a few weeks time.

 

[christopher.lauwers]

Well I managed to get my hands on another potters... just received today.

Acclimating to the display tank now

Wish me luck!

 

[Rrwilson1223]

Well I managed to get my hands on another potters... just received today.

Acclimating to the display tank now

Wish me luck!

Good Luck!

 

[ca1ore]

FWIW, potters is one of the harder leopards to keep. Species like meleagris are much easier and a better initial choice.

 

[blue.flyzz]

Well I managed to get my hands on another potters... just received today.

Acclimating to the display tank now

Wish me luck!

how is this one doing?

 

[christopher.lauwers]

He is doing alright swimming around looking for pods I assume And eating. He is tho hiding a little early today which is a bit concerning.

my other concern is him not eating prepared foods. He is for sure going after it and some times nibbles but then spits it back out.

Have tried bloodworms, brine, mysis.p all which have been soaked in garlic and with out. I’m not losing hope yet. It’s only been a few days... and some other post I have read it’s taken 2 weeks to eat prepared foods.

I bought some pods off r2r which should be here in a few days. Just want to keep it stocked for him to give him the best shot.

 

[DSEKULA]

Sorry for your first loss, good luck moving forward!!

 

[blue.flyzz]

He is doing alright swimming around looking for pods I assume And eating. He is tho hiding a little early today which is a bit concerning.

my other concern is him not eating prepared foods. He is for sure going after it and some times nibbles but then spits it back out.

Have tried bloodworms, brine, mysis.p all which have been soaked in garlic and with out. I’m not losing hope yet. It’s only been a few days... and some other post I have read it’s taken 2 weeks to eat prepared foods.

I bought some pods off r2r which should be here in a few days. Just want to keep it stocked for him to give him the best shot.

my first Leopard was tiny, about an inch, LFS had about a dozen of them. I had no experience with them, guy told me just let it do its thing and eventually it will start eating frozen....it did, took about a week or so. Today, nearly 6 years later, she's about 5" and eats anything and everything. My second leopard was a Moyeri, I got if from saltwaterfish.com and it ate everything right away. I'm thinking about grabbing a Potters too, glad your second one is doing better than the first....good luck!!!

 

[jda]

I have had dozens of potters over the years. They can be hardy fish when your LFS gets them direct from a Hawaii wholesaler/collector and they are fresh from the ocean. They can really be stressed and unhappy if they spend time in LA in a system with a bare bottom and with medication, or even worse, kept in a tank without 35ppt salinity.

This is a fish that I will never QT and do not recommend that anybody QTs them. They just do not do well, although not impossible. These get added to the display immediately when I get them, but I have a very established tank with a sandy bottom with tons of microfauna and I do not worry about ich tomonts trying to live and thrive in this environment.

 

[jda]

Also, not being able to use nets to catch fish in Hawaii have really made it hard to get good quality Potters. The best ones used to be hand caught in Hawaii with small nets. The smaller ones always seemed to do better than the larger ones that they have to catch with the larger nets.

 

[christopher.lauwers]

my first Leopard was tiny, about an inch, LFS had about a dozen of them. I had no experience with them, guy told me just let it do its thing and eventually it will start eating frozen....it did, took about a week or so. Today, nearly 6 years later, she's about 5" and eats anything and everything. My second leopard was a Moyeri, I got if from saltwaterfish.com and it ate everything right away. I'm thinking about grabbing a Potters too, glad your second one is doing better than the first....good luck!!!

I’ll post some pics tomorrow when he is out.
im thinking of getting a divided lepeord next. But I want to get my potters eating first.

 

[blue.flyzz]

I’ll post some pics tomorrow when he is out.
im thinking of getting a divided lepeord next. But I want to get my potters eating first.

Thanks, I would appreciate it

 

[christopher.lauwers]

Well guys great news. He ate
Blood worms in garlic did the trick. spit them out a few times but always went back. I assume they were just to big for him.
so I will make sure to add some worms to my normal prepared food just for him.
I hope over time he will other prepared foods.

 

[christopher.lauwers]

Some pics... sorry I know blue light
I’ll try and get more tomorrow with all whites.

 

[christopher.lauwers]

Things are still going well. Getting used to prepared foods. Still loving the blood worms.

But something I have notice his mouth looks a little odd and I wanted to get some feed back on it.
He eats with out and issue.

Tried to get the best pics but it’s never easy.

 

[evolved]

But something I have notice his mouth looks a little odd and I wanted to get some feed back on it.

I don't really see an issue. Can you describe the concern?

 

[christopher.lauwers]

sorry wasent very clear.
it’s his mouth. Is looks white around the opening around his lips I guess. ... I could just be seeing things if you don’t see anything of concern.

or I can try and get some better pics.

 

[evolved]

You should be able to see a small glimpse of the jaw when his mouth is partially open. So long as there's tissue on the "rounded" part forward of the jaw, all is normal.

 

[Reef Racket]

Things are still going well. Getting used to prepared foods. Still loving the blood worms.

But something I have notice his mouth looks a little odd and I wanted to get some feed back on it.
He eats with out and issue.

Tried to get the best pics but it’s never easy.

Beautiful Fish!! Glad to hear they are doing well! I too just got a Female Divided Leopard and it acclimated just fine but did not see it after 10 mins of it being in my DT. Next day I did not see it at all and couldn’t find her anywhere. Once I did a water change, I was extremely gentle cleaning the sand and she popped out! She stayed swimming and picking pods from the live rock for about 24 hours and now she has been laying on the sand on her side all day... I’m not sure if I should be concerned as half the people lose fish after this and the other half say it is “normal” behavior... it’s only been a total of 4 days so she very well could be stressed out still and getting used to things... only have 3 small clowns and 2 gobys that are all peaceful so hopefully she gets comfortable. I saw her eat yesterday so the laying down may just be her adapting to the environment. Parameters have been fine with no changes since so I hope she pulls through!!!

I’ll keep ya guys posted as I’m sure many others have and will experience this....