Leopard Wrasse success influenced by species?

[GiannisK]

I'm wondering how much success people have had with leopard wrasses, and especially those that may have kept several varieties, if they feel like certain species are more sensitive or harder to get feeding than others.

The Macropharyngodon species have a variety of distributions (some concentrated in eastern Africa, others Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii; even if the animals themselves behave very similarly, the way they are collected and shipped by distributors might have a significant impact. For example, I've heard from many sources that copperband butterflyfish are hardier when collected from Australia. Of course there is no documented proof of this but it's still interesting to see many wholesalers repeat these claims. This post was also inspired by seeing that on the Humblefish forum's page on compatibility of fish with peroxide dipping, there is some variation on how certain Macropharyngodon species have handled the dip compared to others. I've also anecdotally heard that Potter's wrasse is more challenging to get feeding than others, while the blue star might be the easiest.

I would love to hear people's experiences with them!

 

[afboundguy]

This is too weird. I was looking at getting a leopard wrasse last night during my inability to fall asleep per usual for the 60 gallon tank I plan to plumb in and would love to get a male and female pair and was wondering similar thoughts.

I was looking at black leopard wrasse but who knows. I know 2 leopard wrasses would eat a ton of pods but I have lots of pods to dose the tank and feel I could pull it off as I would have a total of about 130-135 gallons with the 60 gallon plumbed in so we'll see!

 

[GiannisK]

This is too weird. I was looking at getting a leopard wrasse last night during my inability to fall asleep per usual for the 60 gallon tank I plan to plumb in and would love to get a male and female pair and was wondering similar thoughts.

I was looking at black leopard wrasse but who knows. I know 2 leopard wrasses would eat a ton of pods but I have lots of pods to dose the tank and feel I could pull it off as I would have a total of about 130-135 gallons with the 60 gallon plumbed in so we'll see!

Right you dose phyto and have a ton of pods don't you? I think you'll be ok!

I think my tank will be just fine in the long run too, I'm currently more concerned about getting one through quarantine since everyone says they stop eating for a few days after you move them and they're very sensitive to medication

 

[afboundguy]

Right you dose phyto and have a ton of pods don't you? I think you'll be ok!

I do dose a tad bit of phyto and make even more to feed my pod cultures!

I think my tank will be just fine in the long run too, I'm currently more concerned about getting one through quarantine since everyone says they stop eating for a few days after you move them and they're very sensitive to medication

I stupidly don't really QT fish but I have tried with the past few fish with no medication just observing them. It is hard as I don't do QT and see the natural immunity argument (if fish are exposed to stuff in theory their immune system is "better") and the QT argument.

With species like mandarins and leopard wrasses it's hard to do QT since wild caught ones really only eat pods so in a QT system they don't do well and starve. If and when I get leopard wrasses I don't think I would QT them them starving to death or getting sick from not eating anything is more of an issue than the off chance of them giving something into my system.

I am also selective of where I buy fish which has probably helped me ward off major fish disease issues as well.

 

[GiannisK]

I do dose a tad bit of phyto and make even more to feed my pod cultures!

I stupidly don't really QT fish but I have tried with the past few fish with no medication just observing them. It is hard as I don't do QT and see the natural immunity argument (if fish are exposed to stuff in theory their immune system is "better") and the QT argument.

With species like mandarins and leopard wrasses it's hard to do QT since wild caught ones really only eat pods so in a QT system they don't do well and starve. If and when I get leopard wrasses I don't think I would QT them them starving to death or getting sick from not eating anything is more of an issue than the off chance of them giving something into my system.

I am also selective of where I buy fish which has probably helped me ward off major fish disease issues as well.

I usually buy fish from online vendors who do some sort of quarantine or observation period (no guarantees of course) but I’m more concerned about the leopard wrasse because I want to get it from an LFS since they ship poorly, and it seems they often carry flukes. I’ve also been told a freshwater dip would be too much for them.

 

[luu78]

Beware of buying leopard wrasses online since most/all of them are considered "expert only" and only come with "arrive alive" guarantee. I rarely ever have them die upon delivery. My negative experience with meleagris leopard wrasse is they would seem very normal, hunting around the rockwork, eating frozen food and swimming about then one would die after another a few days after. Makes me really wonder of their catch process. I have much better luck with bluestar. I would love to figure this out too. Good luck

 

[GiannisK]

Beware of buying leopard wrasses online since most/all of them are considered "expert only" and only come with "arrive alive" guarantee. I rarely ever have them die upon delivery. My negative experience with meleagris leopard wrasse is they would seem very normal, hunting around the rockwork, eating frozen food and swimming about then one would die after another a few days after. Makes me really wonder of their catch process. I have much better luck with bluestar. I would love to figure this out too. Good luck

Right, that's another reason why I wouldn't want to order them online.

 

[zedxplorer]

I have luck with my bluestar. Frozen brine shrimp and mysis are usually good bet to get them started. I don't QT, especially with sand wrasses. I make sure the seller had the fish for more than 48h without new fish introduction to that system to make sure there's no velvet. So I can be less worried to put them straight into my DT after salinity acclimation. Wrasses are very resistant to parasite.

I also found that if there are other fishes in your system that already eat frozen and pellets, they'll see and learn. Make it easier to adapt.