Quarantine Experience with Blue Star Leopard Wrasses

[EakTheFreak]

Good Evening,

I wanted to document my first attempt at quarantining BLUE STAR LEOPARD WRASSES. Did days of research with direct communication with @Humblefish .

Ended up matching my salinity to what Live Aquaria told me on the phone which was 1.018-1.020. I set my 29 Gallon QT tank to 1.019. Ordered a total of (3) BLUE STAR LEOPARDS. They arrived @ 10:00 am with 10:30
Am cutoff time. All three appeared to be in very good shape upon arrival. I floated their bags for 20 minutes and put them straight into the tank.

They didn’t come out for the first two days. I loaded the tank up with Chaeto, apex tigger pods which I saw all 3 wrasses eating by day 4.

I fed live white worms, LRS Reef frenzy, fish eggs, Hikari Mysis Shrimp & numerous other foods.

Hikari Mysis Shrimp was the winner due to being smallest size mysis available. They started really eating it well.

I’m at day 7 today and have now done their first dose of Prazipro. Attached are a few photos and videos. They are finally adapting to my photoperiod as well.

Feel free to follow this journey. Will be dosing next Pazipro 7 days from no then moving onto slow raise of Copper Power from there!

 

[Arlen nemeth]

Beautiful fish, do u think i should get multiples of one kind or get 1 of each type of leopard?

 

[EakTheFreak]

Beautiful fish, do u think i should get multiples of one kind or get 1 of each type of leopard?

Do you mean the same type of leopard wrasse species aka Blue Star? Or do you mean all males or all females of one specific species?

 

[Arlen nemeth]

Do you mean the same type of leopard wrasse species aka Blue Star? Or do you mean all males or all females of one specific species?

I mean same species or different species

 

[EakTheFreak]

I mean same species or different species

Boy wish I had the knowledge to answer that. I will bring in the wrasse people to help.
@Humblefish @evolved @eatbreakfast

 

[evolved]

To the OP - looking good, and I agree with the plan of action.
The only thing I'd add is to use a Hanna copper checker to test your copper level once you ramp up the copper power. It's a real easy way to make sure you get the dosage right.

Beautiful fish, do u think i should get multiples of one kind or get 1 of each type of leopard?

Sticking with a single specimen of any species would allow you to mix multiple species of leopard (Macropharyngodon).
Doing a group of one species like the OP has here can work, but it definitely also comes with the risk that multiples will transition to male, and multiple males in the same tank is not a good recipe. Macropharyngodon are bit less likely to have multiples transition than other genera of wrasses, but it definitely still occurs.

 

[EakTheFreak]

To the OP - looking good, and I agree with the plan of action.
The only thing I'd add is to use a Hanna copper checker to test your copper level once you ramp up the copper power. It's a real easy way to make sure you get the dosage right.

Sticking with a single specimen of any species would allow you to mix multiple species of leopard (Macropharyngodon).
Doing a group of one species like the OP has here can work, but it definitely also comes with the risk that multiples will transition to male, and multiple males in the same tank is not a good recipe. Macropharyngodon are bit less likely to have multiples transition than other genera of wrasses, but it definitely still occurs.

Yes sir, I have the Hannah checker!! Any advice on how much and quickly to raise up levels with these wrasses?

 

[evolved]

Any advice on how much and quickly to raise up levels with these wrasses?

I like to run around 1.9 ppm, and I take a least a week to get it there. The 0-1 ppm can go pretty quickly, but the latter half should be done slowly.

 

[Arlen nemeth]

To the OP - looking good, and I agree with the plan of action.
The only thing I'd add is to use a Hanna copper checker to test your copper level once you ramp up the copper power. It's a real easy way to make sure you get the dosage right.

Sticking with a single specimen of any species would allow you to mix multiple species of leopard (Macropharyngodon).
Doing a group of one species like the OP has here can work, but it definitely also comes with the risk that multiples will transition to male, and multiple males in the same tank is not a good recipe. Macropharyngodon are bit less likely to have multiples transition than other genera of wrasses, but it definitely still occurs.

So if a get 1 of a couple different species will they all transition to males or what happens will they all stay what ever there gender was? Sorry im just a bit confused

 

[evolved]

So if a get 1 of a couple different species will they all transition to males or what happens will they all stay what ever there gender was? Sorry im just a bit confused

Some of them will transition to male, yes. But not necessarily all - social hierarchy comes into play.

Some further reading:

'Pairing' Wrasses: That's Not How Any of this Works!

It is something I read often: “Where can I buy a female for my male ____ wrasse?” Or: “I want to buy another ____ wrasse and pair them up!” Wait! Time out for a minute! First, we really need some understanding of how wrasses interact and live...

www.reef2reef.com

And more general:

All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria

Introduction My name is Hunter and I am a wrasse addict. Admitting such is the first step to buying another wrasse, I think. Wrasses are not only my passion, but my niche in this hobby since 2010. My tank is full of them, and unfortunately...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kpoj9]

Wow! Gorgeous. Careful with the copper. I hear Wrasses are difficult to treat.

 

[Arlen nemeth]

Some of them will transition to male, yes. But not necessarily all - social hierarchy comes into play.

Some further reading:

'Pairing' Wrasses: That's Not How Any of this Works!

It is something I read often: “Where can I buy a female for my male ____ wrasse?” Or: “I want to buy another ____ wrasse and pair them up!” Wait! Time out for a minute! First, we really need some understanding of how wrasses interact and live...

www.reef2reef.com

And more general:

All About Reef Safe Wrasses in Aquaria

Introduction My name is Hunter and I am a wrasse addict. Admitting such is the first step to buying another wrasse, I think. Wrasses are not only my passion, but my niche in this hobby since 2010. My tank is full of them, and unfortunately...

www.reef2reef.com

Ok thank you

 

[EakTheFreak]

Update:

Sitting at day 11 and all three Blue Star Leopard Wrasses have adjusted to photoperiod. They continue today crush Mysis shrimp three times a day soaked in Selcon.

So far so good !! PraziPro round 2 going down this upcoming Tuesday!

See a few photos for progress!!

@evolved Should I be doing any food soaking with Metroplex and focus for internal parasites in your opinion? Or will the PraziPro in the water take care of those?

 

[evolved]

@evolved Should I be doing any food soaking with Metroplex and focus for internal parasites in your opinion?

It shouldn't hurt, although I've never done it myself.

Or will the PraziPro in the water take care of those?

I tend to use General Cure instead these days, which gives you both prazi and metro at the same time.

 

[EakTheFreak]

Current update on BLUE STARS:

CURRENT DAY 18

All 3 Leopard Wrasses are thriving in terms of behavior & activity in QT. They have made it through 2 rounds of Prazipro and ate like champs during this last round.

I decided to go a different route then copper after doing some further research and getting direct advise from @Humblefish

Now instead of starting the copper regime I’ve currently purchased 4 Freshwater Black Molly fish.

I drip acclimated them to my 1.022 salinity in the QT tank for a 3 hour stretch. If you do some reading some people recommend 2 hours and on the other extreme they recommend 10 days.

The idea with the Black Molly’s is they are “canary fish” instead of copper they will show ich/velvet/brook etc since they haven’t developed immunity to SW diseases. I will now go 4-6 weeks with the black Molly’s in QT with the Blue Star’s and hope they are symptom free. If symptom free into the DT the Leopards Go!!

Please leave any feedback or additional experience you may have with this. Does anyone have best foods advice for Black Molly’s? I’ve read meaty foods but algae wafers as well.

@evolved @mattzang @Jimbhoy13 @eatbreakfast @ReefSquad

Photo with Black Molly’s added!

 

[mattzang]

i've owned black mollies for all of like 2 weeks so i'm no expert..

that said, i didn't lose any during saltwater conversion and i even seem to be keeping the babies alive lol, so i've been feeding PE mysis flakes, small size TDO pellets, NLS pellets, hikari algae pellets, and some of the small grain variety of the easy reefs pellet food. they seem to mow all of it down

 

[EakTheFreak]

i've owned black mollies for all of like 2 weeks so i'm no expert..

that said, i didn't lose any during saltwater conversion and i even seem to be keeping the babies alive lol, so i've been feeding PE mysis flakes, small size TDO pellets, NLS pellets, hikari algae pellets, and some of the small grain variety of the easy reefs pellet food. they seem to mow all of it down

Thank you Matt, appreciate it!

 

[EakTheFreak]

Update: Day 22

All 3 Wrasses are doing awesome! Black mollies showing no signs of Ich as of yet or any bad diseases currently. Possibly of internal parasites but going to work a bit more algae into their diet and if they stay clear then 3 weeks longer and these BLUE STARS head to the DT. They still crush mysis shrimp and now come up to the top for feedings. They are now starting to eat some of the LRS Reef frenzy and have even started to show some interest in pellets.

Going to keep water changing weekly to keep clean and then the days come when they will be in DT soon enough!!

 

[EakTheFreak]

UPDATE - DAY 39 FINAL!! = SUCCESS IN DT!!

All 3 Leopards survived QT with 2 doses of Prazipro plus the black Molly observation for other diseases for 2-1/2 weeks. All 3 BLUE STARS are thriving in the Display tank and swim together to some extent. Getting along with all other fish as well and my sand already appears cleaner from them burying themselves at night.

This was a fun and challenging adventure. These Blue Stars May be the best looking 3 fish in my tank!!

 

[AC1211]

Good Evening,

I wanted to document my first attempt at quarantining BLUE STAR LEOPARD WRASSES. Did days of research with direct communication with @Humblefish .

Ended up matching my salinity to what Live Aquaria told me on the phone which was 1.018-1.020. I set my 29 Gallon QT tank to 1.019. Ordered a total of (3) BLUE STAR LEOPARDS. They arrived @ 10:00 am with 10:30
Am cutoff time. All three appeared to be in very good shape upon arrival. I floated their bags for 20 minutes and put them straight into the tank.

They didn’t come out for the first two days. I loaded the tank up with Chaeto, apex tigger pods which I saw all 3 wrasses eating by day 4.

I fed live white worms, LRS Reef frenzy, fish eggs, Hikari Mysis Shrimp & numerous other foods.

Hikari Mysis Shrimp was the winner due to being smallest size mysis available. They started really eating it well.

I’m at day 7 today and have now done their first dose of Prazipro. Attached are a few photos and videos. They are finally adapting to my photoperiod as well.

Feel free to follow this journey. Will be dosing next Pazipro 7 days from no then moving onto slow raise of Copper Power from there!

In my mind you are doing great I have never had a fish refuse hikari mysis and masstick when I mix them. Sometimes I even throw reef roids in and although I don't target feed coral until recently I saw more fish eating. Since they are eating all seems good. Feed well. Do well.