Reef Discussion

[Adam_w]

Posted on the MASA forum the other day for this to see what kind of responses I'd get there but just doesn't feel the same as you get on here for some reason i dont trust it lol

So i want to get a leopard wrasse, my tank is very peaceful at the moment never had any fights, most recent addition was flame angel at Christmas everything else I've had for over a 2 years maybe longer

Tank is 92cm long 46cm high and 36cm front to back, posted a pic the other day in the tank journal its pretty light on the live rock now I've added 4l of siporax to the sump.

Size is okay for a leopard wrasse from what i found online my main concern was how much weight do i put on the inch of fish to 1gallon of water rule?

Current stocking -
2 clowns one of them is very tiny maybe 3cm long and hasnt grown in over a year not sure if that's normal
1 pygmy flame angel
1 purple headed wrasse
1 pajama cardinal
1 coral banded shrimp

a few hermits and snails as well

 

[Wrangy]

How old is your tank? Leopards are a little like mandarins in their feeding habits so a more mature tank is always better. That being said they do take to food a little easier than mandarins.
Stocking-wise you'll be fine :) there might be some argy-bargy to start with but that should settle after a few days.
The final thing I will say is thoroughly inspect their mouth for any damage as a damaged mouth is a death warrant for a leopard!

Any other questions? Which species were you looking at?

 

[potatocouch]

Posted on the MASA forum the other day for this to see what kind of responses I'd get there but just doesn't feel the same as you get on here for some reason i dont trust it lol

:D:rofl :D:rofl :D:rofl

 

[Adam_w]

Tank is about 3-4 years old maybe longer I didn't really keep track at the start. Recently moved it to my new house everything remained the same except i used new sand.

My flame angel is constantly picking at hte glass and rocks so there must be something to eat in there

Not too sure on species yet (didn't know there was multiple species) Macropharyngodon meleagris was one i just googled it looks like the one I want but open to suggestions

Is there any other really amazing looking wrasses that i should look at? I like the lennardi one but they're crazy expensive from what i've found.

MASA forum took 3 days to get a response and it was like "yea should be fine" and here we are in just over an hour with a better response

 

[potatocouch]

Is there any other really amazing looking wrasses that i should look at? I like the lennardi one but they're crazy expensive from what i've found.

Femininus Wrasse .. stunning electric blue and yellow .. another expensive one.

 

[Adam_w]

Yea, think i saw someone on here said they had a Femininus and it was around the $200 mark same as Lennardi. Swear I've seen a leopard before for $50

 

[potatocouch]

Yea, think i saw someone on here said they had a Femininus and it was around the $200 mark same as Lennardi. Swear I've seen a leopard before for $50

I was under the impression it's around $500 mark for imported and $700 mark for Australian.

 

[Adam_w]

Okay there goes my dreams of a tank filled with nice wrasses!

 

[ReeferRob]

Leopard wrasses are beautiful fish and rewarding if several criteria are met:

1- Make sure you get good specimens to start. I can't stress this enough, you start out with a fish that's sick or not eating you've got a long road ahead of you. If you don't see them eat, pass.

2- You'll need a 8-10cm deep small grain sand bed for them to bury in, a bare bottom WILL NOT work with these guys. And it needs to be fine grain, larger grains will abrade their sides and they'll die in short order.

3- Getting them to eat anything other than live can be a challenge. I keep several teacher fish in the shop to do just that, show the new guys and gals that those mysis shrimp are damn tasty. Mandarins and scooters work the same way. You're going to need to feed them several times a day. Mine get frozen morning and evening and pellets dispensed automatically 2x in between.

Which ever one you choose, they make a hell of a display. My personal favorite is the Matara wrasses out of Sri Lanka. They took to frozen mysis the next day. I'll try and get a shot of them tonight, they've buried themselves for the night.

 

[Wrangy]

Personally, as well, I would avoid any of the anampses wrasse (Femininus or lennardi) as they are quite tricky and need some expert-ish care.

Some other small wrasse that are easy and would love life in your tank would be any of the flasher wrasse (a few exceptions maybe) and any of the possum wrasse :) Some of the fairies could work as well but you'd have to very specific in your choice in those as they can get larger and tend to be bossy in personality lol.

 

[brendan88]

Personally, as well, I would avoid any of the anampses wrasse (Femininus or lennardi) as they are quite tricky and need some expert-ish care.

Some other small wrasse that are easy and would love life in your tank would be any of the flasher wrasse (a few exceptions maybe) and any of the possum wrasse :) Some of the fairies could work as well but you'd have to very specific in your choice in those as they can get larger and tend to be bossy in personality lol.

So we now know why dom wont get a fem or lennardi

I have a black leopard, female leopard and a kuters all together. Ive never had issues with feeding them or being fussy.

Theyll be quite happy with 2-3cm of sand bed.

Mystery wrasses are nice also though about the high $100 mark

 

[Adam_w]

So going to sit on the idea for a couple of weeks but pretty sold on the leopard wrasse.

I need to get some more sand, there's a few deep patches now where the purple headed wrasse sleeps but most of it is fairly shallow sand

Might get my LFS to stay on the lookout for one in the meantime but I'm not sure if they're particularly rare

Also wanting to do my skimmer upgrade and maybe heating upgrade first for winter this house is bloody freezing

 

[Wrangy]

Sounds like a plan, the other thing you can do in regards to sand, if you don't want a deep bed all around fill a take-away container with sand and hide it behind the rockwork so your wrasse has a sleeping spot and you don't have to worry about lots of sand :) Choati leopards are a native that do well here and they're gorgeous too!! Leopards are really rare, they just don't get collected often so make sure your LFS knows you're chasing one and hopefully they can get what you want :)

Get yourself a temp controller (STC) and a titanium heater! Best thing I've done for temp controlling since starting the tank :) I won't ever use another glass heater in my life lol

 

[Adam_w]

So finally got a leopard wrasse!!! :) He's not the exact one I was after but it's easily the biggest fish in the tank which was unexpected.

Currently stashed away under the sand so no pictures yet been reading up online and apparently leopard wrasse is one of the more skittish ones so he could be under there a while

Anyone experienced with how long?

 

[ReeferRob]

How long has he been in captivity? Sometimes it can take a day or 2. Newly imported specimens can take 3-4 days to come out.

 

[Buddy]

2- You'll need a 8-10cm deep small grain sand bed for them to bury in, a bare bottom WILL NOT work with these guys. And it needs to be fine grain, larger grains will abrade their sides and they'll die in short order.

Just sharing my experience :) My Leopard has been with me for a few years now and luckily eats anything. I only have a 2cm deep bed at most and he seems to be fine? Buries himself every night in the same spot.

Sounds like a plan, the other thing you can do in regards to sand, if you don't want a deep bed all around fill a take-away container with sand and hide it behind the rockwork so your wrasse has a sleeping spot and you don't have to worry about lots of sand :)

I did this for a while when I was doing a rescape and didn't have a sand bed. Be prepared to refill that container every few days because they send sand flying everywhere each time they bury them self lol

 

[Buddy]

So finally got a leopard wrasse!!! :) He's not the exact one I was after but it's easily the biggest fish in the tank which was unexpected.

Currently stashed away under the sand so no pictures yet been reading up online and apparently leopard wrasse is one of the more skittish ones so he could be under there a while

Anyone experienced with how long?

My one is easily the most timid wrasse in my tank. They can stay buried for days until they feel comfortable to come out.

 

[Adam_w]

Yea I don't know how long its been in captivity but its now day 3 of being under the sand. It's pretty big on comparison to my other fish so think it has to be fairly newly caught from the wild (no idea why else it would be so big and sold through normal distribution)

Put some food around his hole today hoping to see him but no luck

maybe tomorrow i'll post pictures if it ever comes out lol

 

[ReeferRob]

8-10cm is what I use at the shop @Buddy, if 2cm is working, go for it. I try to make them feel as safe as possible after they were caught, held, chucked in a box and shipped 1/2 way around the world. I was using a more shallow bed and I was losing more than I thought I should so I made a DSB in one of the runs and if I can get them here I can get them back into fighting trim for sale. Bottom line is if it's working keep with it, if it's not, time for change.

In that vein, my stupid assed melanurus wrasses and yellow Coris wrasses don't bury anymore, they just hole up in the rock work. I think those little shits are afraid they're going to miss snagging something that didn't make it back into the rocks as the lights are ramping up.

I'm also REALLY liking these Matara wrasses out of Sri Lanka. They ship well and they seem to be bulletproof. They're like a red Leopard wrasse. Wrasses ship quite poorly depending upon the country of origin. One time I have no losses and the next time, 50% will be DOA or die within a few days. I'll try to get a shot of them sometime this week, they're quite the camera hams and beg for food.

 

[Adam_w]

Alright reefing brains trust, i picked up this bad boy on Saturday and he's still under the sand.

When do i start panicing?