Quarantine of new Ornate Leopard Wrasse

[BigJohnny]

I'm culturing pods in a separate room specifically to keep the tank full of them. I also have a refugium and have introduced pods there so that they'll flow into the main tank. The 'fuge has plenty of macroalgae and flows at a fairly slow pace. I've also read that prazi in the DT is fine I've seen posts saying it is ok for shrimp, feather dusters....etc...etc.... I'm still trying to get her to eat frozen food, but I was getting concerned that she wasn't eating at all. She's still the only fish in my DT so I figured it wouldn't hurt. I was honestly surprised at how calm she was for the move between tanks.

Well that's good, hopefully there is enough for now and I'm sure the more natural environment alleviated some stress. Hope the prazi goes well.

 

[BigJohnny]

I can try live baby brine, I know a local place that carries them. I have cyclops (is it close to the ova?) that she wasn't even looking at. I was getting a bit nervous based on her behavior in the QT as well as her lack of eating in there.

Cyclops is not close to ova, it is a copepod and ova is prawn eggs. My wrasse don't touch cyclops or pe calanus (similar). Every fish I've ever had crushes nutramar ova, unfortunately it is sold out online at most places right now. I know because I'm running out and tried to order more yesterday. Have you tried the live blackworms? I only saw you say you found them locally but then read you fed bloodworms.

 

[KMench]

I haven't made it to get the blackworms as of yet. It's a bit of a drive. I can swing by my LFS which carries a wide variety of frozens and see if they have ova or call tomorrow. They have a giant freezer of food. I could try that and if it still doesn't work then go get blackworms.

 

[KMench]

Thanks for all the help

 

[BigJohnny]

I haven't made it to get the blackworms as of yet. It's a bit of a drive. I can swing by my LFS which carries a wide variety of frozens and see if they have ova or call tomorrow. They have a giant freezer of food. I could try that and if it still doesn't work then go get blackworms.

I would order live blackworms online tonight so you have them, they'll likely be cheaper per 1/8th lb and much better quality. Overnight shipping included 1/8th of lb for 34.99. Will last you forever. I think I linked them in your original thread. Or make that drive! Get the brine while you are at the lfs too. You don't want to waste time going back and forth and extending how long the fish doesn't eat, just my opinion. Stock up and give this fish a chance.

 

[BigJohnny]

Thanks for all the help

No problem, where do you live? I have ova and live blackworms if you are randomly in North Carolina.......fat chance but you never know lol.

 

[KMench]

Problem is they're all at different LFS . Would the blackworms be your first choice? There's a place I can get them locally. I could potentially get other things there too. I could sneak there tomorrow before going home ;Droid. How do you store blackworms? And how many do you feed?

 

[KMench]

I'm in DE lol. Thanks though!

 

[BigJohnny]

Oh btw, one thing I forgot to mention is the live California blackworms online I am referring to are not the same as tubifex that some places sell as "live worms" or even "live blackworms".

 

[KMench]

I asked on my local reef club forum and a member told me that they carried live blackworms. I'm going to trust Adam and I'll check tomorrow.

 

[BigJohnny]

Problem is they're all at different LFS . Would the blackworms be your first choice? There's a place I can get them locally. I could potentially get other things there too. I could sneak there tomorrow before going home ;Droid. How do you store blackworms? And how many do you feed?

Live blackworms and nutramar ova are kinda tied for me. The advantage of blackworms is that they are live and move which may be what your fish needs to recognize food.

 

[KMench]

Ok, I can definitely try to get them tomorrow. The ova would be the easier trip of the LFS that's down that way had them. I could always try them tomorrow and if they're a no go, get the blackworms Wednesday? I'm not too worried about her starving any longer since she's quite actively picking at the rock throughout the day and I can always replenish the copepods from the culture when in doubt.

 

[BigJohnny]

I store them in a keeper sold by the place I linked but you can just keep them in the bag in tbe fridge with chilled Rodi. You have to rinse them and replace the Rodi daily. There should be about an 1/8th of inch of water above the worms, so barely submerged. Check that link from the other thread there is a great info page on them.

 

[4FordFamily]

That looks like it’s transitioning male, for what it’s worth.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ok, I can definitely try to get them tomorrow. The ova would be the easier trip of the LFS that's down that way had them. I could always try them tomorrow and if they're a no go, get the blackworms Wednesday? I'm not too worried about her starving any longer since she's quite actively picking at the rock throughout the day and I can always replenish the copepods from the culture when in doubt.

Just call the lfs they probably don't have ova, I'd count on needing to go get the blackworms.

 

[KMench]

Ok, I'll call tomorrow and find out. I also didn't think the colors looked quite like a female, but was concerned about making sure she/he was alive and doing well before I worried about arguing the sex. I ordered from saltwaterfish.com so I didn't see the specimen before it arrived. Honestly, I've had difficulty finding good pictures of male vs female, but I thought she didn't quite look like the female picture on the website ;Snaphappy

 

[SonoranReefer]

Hi All,

I recently ordered an ornate leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon ornatus) and she came on Tuesday.

Just so you know, you have a male leopard wrasse there. I have a male and a female. My male went straight to the sand and didn’t come out for days when I first got him. The female never did that and instantly went about pursuing the tank. They both bury themselves every night and both come out every morning.

From what I understand sometimes getting leopards to eat can be challenging. Also they have internal timeclocks, so if it seems like he doesn’t come out at the right times just give him time and he will adjust. My male now comes out about 30 minutes before the lights every morning like clockwork and immediately goes pod hunting.

The male loves mysis shrimp, the female spits out mysis shrimp (she is new as of last weekend) but I found out she loves blood worms, so I have been mixing that into the food I feed. She also is always hunting pods.

Check out the pictures of the male/female differences on liveaquaria. They are both beautiful which is why I now have a pair of them. http://m.liveaquaria.com/product/339/leopard-wrasse?pcatid=339&c=15+1378+339

 

[KMench]

You think it's a male leopard wrasse? I was supposed to get an ornate female leopard wrasse lol....

Do I need to post a thread to ID my wrasse?

 

[SonoranReefer]

You think it's a male leopard wrasse? I was supposed to get an ornate female leopard wrasse lol....

Do I need to post a thread to ID my wrasse?

Yeah for sure male. The females actually have more of the leopard pattern. You just are gonna have to get him a girlfriend now. That’s what I ended up doing for this guy. [emoji23]

 

[KMench]

Yeah for sure male. The females actually have more of the leopard pattern. You just are gonna have to get him a girlfriend now. That’s what I ended up doing for this guy.

Do you think it is an ornate male, or just a leopard male? I'm getting more confused as this thread goes on