Leopard wrasse getting very thin

arash53 · #1 07-10-2012, 03:41 AM

How many times you feeding?, it must be at least 3 times a day, otherwise they loose weight and die.

MarkoD · #2 07-10-2012, 03:44 AM

i've had mine for over 8 months in my 180 and i dont feed it anything, lives just fine off what it finds in the tank

Coralgurl · #3 07-10-2012, 03:46 AM

Oh dear, I only feed one time per day, I will increase immediately. Oh I feel so bad

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #4 07-10-2012, 03:46 AM

Only the very rare Leopard wrasse does well in a tank with aggressive tank mates. You will have to squirt food in its direction and hope it gets enough to eat. Far better off to catch it out and into a calm tank.

My pair of red leopards live in my clownfish tank with a few clowns, fairy/flasher wrasses, Bangaii, and gobies.

I just got a Black leopard from Island Pets that was net caught in Vanuatu and had survived in the shop for 6 months. It lives in the main tank and is fast enough/aggressive feeder enough to compete with the Naso and other fish.

Coralgurl · #5 07-10-2012, 04:05 AM

I do squirt food in her direction, and it's obvious there's not enough in the tank to sustain her as she's so skinny. I will try to catch her, I've only got 2 chromis and an angel in the other tank.

reefme · #6 07-10-2012, 04:12 AM

Doesn't matter how many times you feed the fish is a tank mates that is matter. I only feed once a day.

toytech · #7 07-10-2012, 04:19 AM

try feeding blood worms , or brine shrimp . Anything meaty and different . I would strongly recomend treating for inestinal worms they are quite prone to them i use pirazipro its reef safe .My leopard ate everything and would compeat with 2 other wrasses and a bunch of other agressive fish it just takes time and food they like . And i only fed once every 2 days once he was eating well but for now try and feed more.

Skimmerking · #8 07-10-2012, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arash53

How many times you feeding?, it must be at least 3 times a day, otherwise they loose weight and die.

Sorry but I don't agree with you statement. Leopards are also finicy. Eaters and lots of times when u get leopard wrasses they are shy and scared lots of times they won't eat you have to entice them to eat. With live brine shrimp.. I use blood worms soaked in Welcome and never had a problem. Butif u have a mature tank like Mario has stated then there is no need to feed imho

Coralgurl · #9 07-10-2012, 04:45 AM

I just went through this article....should have read it sooner....
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/hcs3/index.php

I don't know if she has worms as she was fatter when I got her. I agree with the tank mates and she's in the wrong tank. I'm going to see if I can find some live food for her tomorrow, and focus on direct feeding her.

ScubaSteve · #10 07-10-2012, 05:07 AM

I might be missing something here but there is an obvious factor here: the food. You said the previous owner fed pellets but you are feeding frozen. If it ate pellets but is spitting out frozen, feed pellets. It may actively pursue the food more.

My Potters Leopard is fairly ambivalent to most frozen and live foods and will only nibble when there, if at all. But damn it loves pellets. It will out compete my anthias for pellets.

If your other fish are mostly pelagic feeders, you could try making a seafood/pellet mush and smearing it on a small rock, then freezing it. Put it in the tank the next day and the wrasse can pick off pieces as it thaws at its leisure without needing to compete with tank mates. This works well if you don't have many other fish that feed off the live rock.