Blue Star Leopard Wrasse Macropharyngodon bipartitus

[palmer373]

i saw 2 of these guys at my LFS last night and thought they looked insane. im planning on moving my fish in the 75 (only have 4) into my 55 and restart essentually my 75. it am going to make it into a FOWLR and thought these guys would be sweet but i need to know more info on them. i noticed they are 'expert only' according to LA and it seems liek its becuase own their diet and they live in the sand essentually. i have a DSB and lots of pods so i dont think it will be a problem. if anyone that owns or has owned one of these can give me some info that would be greatly apprecated.

on the 'starting over' part, ive lost too many fish to feel comfortable to add anymore soon so im going to rearrange the LR (a long awaited journey) and let it go for a few weeks to 'finish cycling' in a sense.

[Mental1]

If you look in the reef forum there's a whole thread dedicated to leopard wrasses. I have never been able to keep one alive personally and I have lots of pods. You need to be willing to treat your whole system to get at their parasites. Anyway -- plenty of info on that thread.

[barbianj]

It can be a big problem getting them to eat. If they're not comfortable with their surroundings, they may not eat, A 75 gallon would be iffy, especially if you were having problems before.

[palmer373]

ok is it a sticky? ill check.

i think i was having problems before becuase my tank never really finished settling thats why i was thinking of going fallow for a month or so.

[Mental1]

Here you go ...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1486086&highlight=leopard+wrasses

[namxas]

I haven't kept a bipartitus, but had a meleagris for a good eight years before she dies of (presumably) old age. She was one of my favorite fish ever. She ate everything I fed the tank, and was a model citizen. The tank was a well-established mixed softy/LPS reef.

I have heard that they usually require deworming up front, as many come in with parasites, but I didn't deworm the specimen I had.

[palmer373]

thanks mental i found the forum. im going to try a trio or harem when i decide to add fish to the tank. namxas what tank was your meleagris in?

[Mental1]

As Greg said the deworming is necessary according to a lot of people -- what they do is treat their whole tank with prozipro as soon as the fish are in. Do not QT and have a good sandbed. I am not willing to do prozipro on my reef tank system so I gave up on these guys.

[palmer373]

uuhhhh hmmmm maybe i should wait on these guys. they are soo atractive but i dont want to have to treat my whole DT, risk side effects, plus not know what im doing. any other wrasses that are attractive and would work for a 75 and not be eaten by a trigger (if i get one)?

[Mental1]

If you are doing fish only there are a lot of very cool wrasses that are much easier. Just look on live aquaria -- see one that you like and ask about it.

[palmer373]

posted a new thread on them, thanks.