Leopard Wrasses

[SaltwaterNoob17]

So, I think I'm going to try to get my hands on a leopard wrasse in the near future. However, I can't decide on what type of leopard wrasse to get. I think I've narrowed it down to either the Macropharyngodon bipartitus or the Macropharyngodon meleagris, but I'm open to any kind of leopard wrasse. Anyone have any pics to sway me? :mrgreen:

Also, with only one leopard wrasse in my tank, the female should turn male, so I should focus on how the males not females look when making a decision, right?

 

[Bifferwine]

My BooBoo was a divided leopard wrasse (bipartitus). By far the most beautiful of all leopard wrasses!! The meleagris are more monochromatic and don't have the colors of the divided.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/totm/200503/images/divided-leopard-wrasse-1.jpg

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Thanks, Biff. Nice pic!! I really like the bipartitus wrasses. Did you get yours at an LFS or online?

 

[Bifferwine]

Christian (my fiance) ordered it from my LFS for me, since he knew it was my favorite fish. Then he surprised me with it. Whichever wrasse you decide to go with, I highly suggest having your LFS order it for you instead of buying one online. The main challenge with keeping them is getting them to eat frozen foods. Many of them only eat live foods and starve to death in our tanks. So if you get it from your LFS, you can make sure that it takes frozen food before you buy it.

 

[Bifferwine]

PS -- that picture is not BooBoo himself. It's a picture of a fish that looks exactly like BooBoo. Don't want to be stealing anyone's pics here!

 

[bjohanson1234]

My BooBoo was a divided leopard wrasse (bipartitus). By far the most beautiful of all leopard wrasses!! The meleagris are more monochromatic and don't have the colors of the divided.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/totm/200503/images/divided-leopard-wrasse-1.jpg

I had a fishing lure that looked almost identical to that fish!!!!! It caught plenty of nice bass and pike:mrgreen:

 

[Bifferwine]

Oh man, with the prices of those leopard wrasses, I doubt you'd be using it as bass bait!

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

I'll check out my LFS then and make sure they're eating frozen foods. Is it a good idea for a leopard wrasse to be the first addition to an aquarium, or should I add one after the tank has been set-up longer (the tank has only been up and running for 6 weeks)?

As for bass bait...I rather have a wrasse in my aquarium than on the end of a fishing line. ;)

 

[Bifferwine]

They are pretty peaceful, so they could be added anytime. I think if you were going to have more aggressive fish in the same tank, you should add the peaceful fish first. That way the aggressive fish will be less likely to bully the already established peaceful dude.

 

[SaltwaterNoob17]

Sounds good.

 

[steelcity]

I don't know. I think the potters wrasse is bad a$$. Thinkin whenever my next tank comes there's gonna be one of those in there. Awesome colors on them.

 

[Reefrookie]

I think wrasses give you more bang for your buck (color wise) than any other fish

 

[KidJ57]

color wise and energy level...I had a blue headed wrasse that we called Spaz for obvious reasons...he was hilarious, fun to watch, and pretty damn cool lookin' too (I dug the stripes and colors)