Leopard Wrasse

[joe]

well im thinking about this fish fot my soon to be tank, if it ever actually happens.
wanted to know if any body has experoance with it.
are they hardy fish or very sensitive.
hard to get to eat?
are the reall reef safe? will hey pick at SPS, LPS or softies?
i knnow the basice on this fish, just wanna see if anybody has personal expericance with it.

LETS HEAR IT!!!


joe

 

[DRZL]

actually one of the most dismal survivability of all the wrasses (not just him most in his genus branch(macropharyngodon) of family Labridae')

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/macropharyngodon.htm

excerpt;

The Leopard Wrasses is the common appellation tied to these fishes for their "spotted" and mottled appearance, as well as their large pharyngeal teeth. All ten species are small (four to six inches) reef dwellers that can only be kept for any period of time in full-blown reef systems. Even then, the best any of the group can rate is a (2). Most are lost to simple starvation

 

[DRZL]

They have a specific diet thats hard to keep up with, they eat vermetid snails and other vermetid type crustaceans, even if they eat mysis they usually starve slowly anyway. Like Mandarins and brine shrimp

 

[House of Laughter]

not reef safe

House

 

[joe]

not reef safe, in terms of all coral,
or just stony coral?
or softies?


hmm
thanks DRZL
what if i find one that is already eating prepared foods? and was looking fat and healthy?

 

[DRZL]

No prob

From everything Ive read they are reef safe..a friend of mine kept one in his 220 w/ all types of corals..never picked at anything, IME leopard wrasses are invert eaters only. They are one of my favorite wrasses
If you can get one that eats flakes or pellets then your golden but most even w/ enriched mysis will die

 

[oceanrealm]

I have two of them in my tank. One is from fiji and Im not sure where the other is from. They are model citizens they eat nori or anything else I put in the tank . They do not pick on any acros sps or leathers. I would buy more If I could. I will try to get a pic for you.

 

[Missy Johnson]

one of my favorite fish was a leopard wrasse. if you are considering one - make sure you see him eat in the store before you buy him (if possible). they are hard to get to eat, however, they are amazing creatures. they 'go to sleep' on their own time, ignoring whether or not the lites are still on...they will take a swan dive into your sandbed to catch zzz's. then, when they are ready to rise (most likely after the lights come on) - they emerge hungry and ready to eat. as with any wrasse - they must be fed often. the one i had was reefsafe but i understand this is a personality trait and not one of the species. you definitely take a chance but my luck was that he didn't pick at any sps, lps or softies. goodluck!

 

[joe]

thanks alot
oceanrealm i would love to see pic a picture

missy:
wow you just made me wanna get one even more!!
any pics of yours,

were did you both get yours from?

 

[House of Laughter]

DRZL, you're right, I was confusing leapord with the dragon wrasse

Sorry for the confusion

Pics for SH**ts and giggles

House

 

[prattreef]

Leopard wrasses are definitely reef safe unless you consider your pod population of paramount importance. However, I have to agree with DRZL here, they have an abyssmal record of survival in captivity. It is great to hear that Oceanrealm is having success, but I would venture to guess his are 2 of maybe a dozen specimens to make it past the 6 month mark in the whole tri-state region during the past year. Yeah it really is that bad. Even if you get them eating well, they seem to slowly ( or suddenly) fade away. Its a real shame because they are fantastic fish. I'm not sure of your situation, but if you are going to try one, a sand bed is an absolute necessity and your best bet would be in a large and very productive refugium crawling with pods.

Unfortunately, it is one of those genus that we haven't yet quite craked in terms of husbandry.

Randy

 

[House of Laughter]

Sound advice Randy,

House

 

[joe]

thanks for the advice Randy

damn!!! im goin BB on my new tank!!

 

[Frank]

Hi,
I have two for years, reef safe, great fish. Start on mysis,that I feed them this...
http://www.freewebs.com/bluelagoon8/

 

[SlamaJama]

dont order them through an online source, thy dont handle the shipping well at all, foster and smith have them often and so far ive had 3 DOA...good luck thy r beauties for sure...

missy johnson??!!....she lives and breathes! nice to read u again hun...
lol
mike