Potter's Wrasse Trio incoming

[KJoFan]

How are the wrasses holding up?

Two of three are always out when I get home from work and I feed then, and they seem sort of interested and eat a bit, but they don't eat much. The third I have only seen out once or twice.

I went down this a.m. to check things and generally I never see them then, but one was laying on top of the sand. :( It tried to bury itself when I turned the room light on, but didn't really manage it. So, I'm afraid that one will be gone when I get home.

I think but don't know for sure it's the one I haven't been seeing, so I'm going to guess it just isn't getting enough to eat.

So, I feel a bit panicky because I don't have any options but frozen foods and no way to get any for another day or two. I could possibly make an emergency trip today to my nearest LFS, they carry the Reef Nutrition refrigerated foods. Would something from that line be beneficial?

I'm worried I'm not getting them enough to eat (I can generally only offer 1-2x per day due to work), but I'd feel better if they got good feedings those two times, rather than just taking one or two Mysis each time.

So I could use some guidance on the best route to take to try to get them more food they'll accept. @evolved

 

[Eva Rose]

Definitely see what R2R experts like Evolved recommend. But live bloodworms might evoke a feeding response. I do not have a leopard wrasse but as far as frozen foods go - some of my finicky fish loved LRS Reef Frenzy. If your LFS has live bloodworms, I would try those.

 

[KJoFan]

Definitely see what R2R experts like Evolved recommend. But live bloodworms might evoke a feeding response. I do not have a leopard wrasse but as far as frozen foods go - some of my finicky fish loved LRS Reef Frenzy. If your LFS has live bloodworms, I would try those.

Unfortunately, I am pretty certain my nearest LFS doesn't have anything live. I do have LRS Reef Frenzy I've tried a couple times, but have stuck mostly to frozen Mysis as that's what they were eating prior to shipping.

I really think a lot of the issue is my inability to offer often enough, which I need to figure something out for if I can find something they'll really go for.

 

[eatbreakfast]

If they are eating 1 or 2 mysis per feeding I would suggest feeding them every half hour when you are home until they eat with more gusto.

 

[KJoFan]

If they are eating 1 or 2 mysis per feeding I would suggest feeding them every half hour when you are home until they eat with more gusto.

They seem to eat at least some. I ordered some pods but they won't arrive until the end of the week most likely.

Would trying to pick up some bottled pods/phyto etc from the Reef Nutrition line help? I could pursue that this evening.

 

[eatbreakfast]

They seem to eat at least some. I ordered some pods but they won't arrive until the end of the week most likely.

Would trying to pick up some bottled pods/phyto etc from the Reef Nutrition line help? I could pursue that this evening.

Maybe, but personally I have found that they prefer frozen cyclops, reef plankton, and fish eggs over arctipods.

 

[KJoFan]

Maybe, but personally I have found that they prefer frozen cyclops, reef plankton, and fish eggs over arctipods.

I have frozen cyclopeeze that I mix with the frozen Mysis in hopes the tiny bits will entice them. Harder to tell if they eat that than the Mysis simply due to size.

I do think LRS Reef Frenzy (I'm using the nano version) contains fish eggs. So maybe it comes down to just needing to offer more often then.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

They seem to eat at least some. I ordered some pods but they won't arrive until the end of the week most likely.

Would trying to pick up some bottled pods/phyto etc from the Reef Nutrition line help? I could pursue that this evening.

Give our R.O.E. a try. It contains mostly cod eggs. http://reefnutrition.com/roe.php

You can feed it to all of your fish and corals as well.

Chad

 

[KJoFan]

I was able to stop by home a little a bit ago to check on things. The one that was in bad shape this a.m. was in the final throes and was gone before I left home again. :(

The other two were out and about. I offered frozen Mysis/cyclopeeze and both ate. I offered a small amount about 3-4 times while I was there. I think, if I can offer them enough throughout the day they'll be ok.

I guess I can't say for sure it was lack of food that did the third one in. It was the largest and the most blue (female?) of the three. The other two are slightly smaller and predominantly orange. I hope this doesn't cause issues going forward as far as male/female.

 

[evolved]

If they are eating 1 or 2 mysis per feeding I would suggest feeding them every half hour when you are home until they eat with more gusto.

Agree; they simply will need more food one way or another.
But it would take longer than a week of not eating to do a fish in by starvation alone.

 

[KJoFan]

Agree; they simply will need more food one way or another.
But it would take longer than a week of not eating to do a fish in by starvation alone.

I can't imagine only people that don't have jobs have ever QT'd these things so there has to be a way to succeed here. I hope whatever did in the one, isn't on it's way to the others. They show no signs of anything but can't say this one did either.

 

[KJoFan]

I wonder if it's possible to set up some kind of dosing situation using some of those refrigerated, or even the thawed Mysis/cyclop mix to run just for a couple seconds several times during the day.....

 

[Abhishek]

Hi Karen,

I shall share my experience and 2 cents . I don't have potters but have blue star leopards , randalls and loris anthias (the loris are gone now as they were traumatized to death by my charlenae anthias pair). These species need to be fed multiple times a day until they are pretty accustomed .

For anthias :- I used to wake up at 5 in the morning and feed my anthias twice before I left and after I came home , I fed them twice . Throughout the day, I would keep live brine shrimps running that were hatched the previous day through a BRS doser . Its not sustaniable for a long term but enough to keep the newly arrived anthias full fo r the first 2-3 weeks.

For the blue stars :- I had to make their normal clock match my schedule . So I made it day in the QT tank from 5 am in the morning and made it night by 7 pm . They took a few days but slowly started getting used to the clock. I fed them starting with live blackworms as I am yet to have a fish that didnot accept live blackworms. Also added Reef Nutrition R.O.E and nutramar ova.
Slowly after a month moved them to LRS and mysis and now they eat pellets even .

The other food that i have found finicky fishes loving is Easy reef masstick. Its a paste that you can stick to the glass and let them graze all day. Currently , am experimenting on a copper band that came directly from a wholeseller so , naturally it was not eating . But it loves masstick too after a couple of days. It took me 6 weeks to make the copperband eat anything other than masstick, live blackworms and clams. But now , it eats everything from mysis to LRS .
It is now my go to food for all finicky fishes possible .

You can get EasyReef masstick from BRS with a day shipping even.

Am a little skeptical t think that the first one died out of hunger as generally fishes take quite a long time to die of hunger especially when they came from Colin as am sure he was feeding them . I hope your QT is cycled and you used wither NFG or a mixture of furan-2 and kanaplex to keep any gram negative bacterial disease at bay.

The only disease that I have encountered to kill fishes as fast as a couple of days is gram negative infections.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[KJoFan]

Hi Karen,

I shall share my experience and 2 cents . I don't have potters but have blue star leopards , randalls and loris anthias (the loris are gone now as they were traumatized to death by my charlenae anthias pair). These species need to be fed multiple times a day until they are pretty accustomed .

For anthias :- I used to wake up at 5 in the morning and feed my anthias twice before I left and after I came home , I fed them twice . Throughout the day, I would keep live brine shrimps running that were hatched the previous day through a BRS doser . Its not sustaniable for a long term but enough to keep the newly arrived anthias full fo r the first 2-3 weeks.

For the blue stars :- I had to make their normal clock match my schedule . So I made it day in the QT tank from 5 am in the morning and made it night by 7 pm . They took a few days but slowly started getting used to the clock. I fed them starting with live blackworms as I am yet to have a fish that didnot accept live blackworms. Also added Reef Nutrition R.O.E and nutramar ova.
Slowly after a month moved them to LRS and mysis and now they eat pellets even .

The other food that i have found finicky fishes loving is Easy reef masstick. Its a paste that you can stick to the glass and let them graze all day. Currently , am experimenting on a copper band that came directly from a wholeseller so , naturally it was not eating . But it loves masstick too after a couple of days. It took me 6 weeks to make the copperband eat anything other than masstick, live blackworms and clams. But now , it eats everything from mysis to LRS .
It is now my go to food for all finicky fishes possible .

You can get EasyReef masstick from BRS with a day shipping even.

Am a little skeptical t think that the first one died out of hunger as generally fishes take quite a long time to die of hunger especially when they came from Colin as am sure he was feeding them . I hope your QT is cycled and you used wither NFG or a mixture of furan-2 and kanaplex to keep any gram negative bacterial disease at bay.

The only disease that I have encountered to kill fishes as fast as a couple of days is gram negative infections.

Regards,
Abhishek

Let me see here....the two left seem pretty readily taking to the foods I have. So, I feel good about that. But, I do need to figure something out for feedings.

I am afraid the one that died today was one of the two that had been out and about the most. So, I don't know what happened between last night and this morning. The QT is cycled, though not with a ton of age on it, so there could be concern about gram negative bacteria. But, I am afraid of adding any meds as it could reduce appetite. But, I do have some furan I can use, should I?

I am concerned with one because it's schedule when it's out seems so short. For example:

1. I check the tank at 7 a.m. before work, no one is up.
2. I was able to come home around 11 a.m. today and one was out and the second came out by noon
3. I got home around 5:15 and only one was out
4. I did a partial water change and accidentally roused the one out of the sand, as soon as the water change was over, it buried itself again
5. When I check in at bedtime around 10 p.m. usually all are sleeping

Such a short window to offer foods and mostly when I'm not home. Which is why I'm wondering about rigging up a doser that will add some frozen food melted in tank water throughout at least part of the day. I don't feel the food would foul that quickly, it might be doable.

I will respond to your PM as well. :)

So the questions: how to be able to offer food throughout the day and start Furan?

 

[Abhishek]

To be honest , when you get into finicky fishes like Macropharyngodon, Chelmon or anthias - you expect the ride to be bumpy :)
I have successfully killed 2 copperbands and 1 matginalis butterfly before saving one until now.

Without no more information, its very difficult to say what exactly killed the fish. I would think gram negative as its the number 1 killer for new fishes in new qt systems. May be @Humblefish can provide his thoughts.

If it were me, I would definitely do Furan - 2 + Seachem kanaplex for gram negative if you do not have NFG (Nitrofuracin Green). Generally, furan - 2 and kanaplex do not reduce appetite.

As for the continuous feed, I would try something like easyreef or a wine cooler like this for automated mysis feeding but care should be taken to manage water quality.



Also, I would try R.O.E or nutramar ova or LRS fish eggs as they are way more accepted by wrasses and anthias in teh beginning more than mysis .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[KJoFan]

I think I've got a decent handle on the food, they readily accept what I've got, though I might look for some of the Reef Nutrition stuff soon if I can, just to have more options. Just gotta find a way to get them more feedings, unless I can adjust them to an earlier schedule and get a feeding in before work, and then a few after work/in the evening. Maybe that would be enough?

I went ahead with the Furan at a 1/2 dose (per Colin's suggestion). I added back the air stone for more O2 just to be safe.

you're right, it's bumpy to be sure, one minute you think you're doing good, the next it's all going awry. :)

 

[Sense of nature]

+1 on the ROE, all my Wrasses started on that

 

[ZoaCollector]

Just to clarify it's Furan 2 at full dose and either Kanaplex at half dose or Metronidazole at half or full.
And leopards need a deworming agent like prazi. I use praziquantel powder as ive had bad experiences with bacterial blooms using prazi pro.
Look up hot water method praziquantel.

 

[KJoFan]

To update this...I lost two of the three in QT, quickly and relatively mysteriously. After that, I went ahead and moved the remaining one into the reef display and seems to be doing well thus far, but, only time will tell.

In the future with fish that are touchy like this, I will not do a QT stint, they'll go straight in the reef.

 

[BigJohnny]

QT is more important with fish like this. You have to deworm leopard wrasse with prazipro at a minimum. It's also the best way to get them adjusted to your light schedule and foods. Those 3 things alone GREATLY increase your chance of success long term. They did not die from qt, if anything qt is an easier transition for them.

I recommend live blackworms (ordered online in advance) and nutramar ova.