Is a leopard wrasse a bad idea????

[spoonman]

I am looking for one more fish for my 75 w/40g sump. I currently have a ton of corals and live rock. Current fish are:

2 - black saddleback clown
2 - Honey chromis
1 - Mandarin
1 - Tomini Tang
1 - Coral beauty
1 - Melanarus wrasse
1 - sand sifting star

My question is: Could I add a leopard wrasse? Or would another fish be better? I have had 3 foxfaces in there at different times and all have dissapeared (I suspect the Carpet Nem that the saddlebacks host). Any other ideas are welcome!

 

[melosu58]

I`m thinking you might be done. What type filtration are you using?

 

[TheTodd]

I think with the proper filtration, you might be okay. My concern would be that most (maybe all?) leopard wrasses are "expert only".

 

[spoonman]

The tank is drilled with a 40 gallon sump. Have sand, live rock and cheato in the sump. Using gfo/carbon reactor, ATO and coralife 220g skimmer. Keeps all the parameters at 0. Also, tank is 14 months old.

 

[TheTodd]

I would think that would be fine. If things are staying at zero, adding one more smallish fish probably would not throw things off.

If you have not already done so, read up on Leopards. IMO, anything "expert only" usually involves some degree of additional time and a lot of luck, even when doing things right.

 

[spoonman]

I can do the work to keep it, I am more worried about the interaction with the other fish, expecially the other wrasse. Debating just staying with what I have and not stirring things up. I just love the look of the leopard though.

 

[Rutrag]

I had to remove my melanarus from my 75 because he would not let a Lubbock's wrasse out fo the rockwork for more than 2 seconds at a time before running at him. I know the leopard is likely a little bigger than my Lubbock's is, but I get the impression that leopards are a little more meek. If no one buys my melanarus soon, I may try reintorducing him to my 75. Perhaps being the last wrasse added will adjust his atitude a little bit. He was not nearly as agressive (but still aggressive) towards a blue-sided fairy I had before him. However, I do imagine the melanarus chasing him may have been what caused the blue-sided to "escape" onto my glass covers.

 

[MarinaClown]

I have an African Leopard Wrasse. She's a beauty. The only thing that makes leopard wrasses "expert only" is feeding in captivity. When you go to LFS just ask them to feed it. If it eats then get it. It will be no different than any other fish with one exception. It needs live sand as it sleeps underneath it.

I had a fairly large Solar Fairy Wrasse in my 40 breeder and my Leopard Wrasse did not like him. So I traded the Fairy Wrasse to my LFS. The point is having more than one wrasse can be an issue. However, your tank is larger than mine and things might be different.

Good luck!