Orange Bar Wrasse

[Dan XVI]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday I picked up an orange bar wrasse at my LFS for my 55 gal tank, and was under the impression at that time that he, like most wrasse, would not be a problem to feed.

After spending most of yesterday and last night under the sand, he came out this morning and I attempted to feed him some hikari spirulina brine, but he has had no interest in eating anything from the water column, only picking at my LR and occassionaly at the sand.

Is this guy going to only pick at pods etc and cause me to set up my refugium faster than anticipated? Or would you recommend me trying some other types of food for him?

Thank you.

 

[austinsdad]

He's come out only after a day. I'd say that's a good sign. be patient on the feeding and you may have to try adding a little garlic gueard to the food. Might help. After maybe 3 days, I'd consider live brine, nut gut load them with the garlic and some zoe (vitamin) too.

Now, you may have to consdier some sort of jump prooofing. They jump ya know!

 

[Dan XVI]

The top of the tank has a cover on it, so I am not particularly worried about him jumping, but thank you for the heads up.

I only seeded the tank with pods a week ago and am just concerned he will burn out the whole population before I can get him on dead food.

As far as the garlic and vitamins are concerned, any particular brand or method you would recommend?

After seeing the cautions regarding this fish I just want to be as proactive as possible as to avoid any unnecessary stress on him.

 

[Jaybird]

try with flake food. That's what they often use at LFS. I had a royal gramma that wasn't eating until I put some flake in the water.

I don't think I have anything in my tank that won't eat flake food. Mushroom corals included.....and trust me, it's funny to see them try to eat it.

 

[austinsdad]

Garlic Guard

Seachem Garlic Guard

Use enuf to saturate the food and pour any excess off.

 

[Dan XVI]

I would like to thank everyone for their input and advice. Today I grabbed a decent supply of live brine and he ate a considerable amount of them. I'm going to start blending frozen brine in with the live guys over the next few days to hopefully convert him over to a "dead" diet.

 

[Jaybird]

I wish you luck converting his diet. I've never heard of a wrasse with that issue, only mandarins. Let us know if he converts

 

[austinsdad]

Put a bit of the Garlic Guard and Zoe in teenl bit of water they're swimming in for 5-10 minutes. That's gut loading them with good stuff. Live brine is virtually like us having a diet of potato chips. Fills ya up, but nothing to it.

 

[Dan XVI]

The guy who helped me at the LFS made an error when talking to me about the fish. I was told me that this guy had behavior and eating habits similar to that of a fairy wrasse, but it turns out my wrasse is called a belted wrasse, which is one of the very difficult species of wrasse to keep in an aquarium.

Today I am going to start blending frozen brine in with the live ones, and if everything goes right, I will only be using limited amounts of live brine for the next few days. If it takes me longer then anticipated to convert this guy, then I will probably worry more about gut loading. Thank you all again for your help.

It is funny the way he reacted to the brine when I dumped them in the tank. It looked as though he ate the first one almost by accident, then had some sort of epiphany and started to go nuts.

 

[Jaybird]

It is funny the way he reacted to the brine when I dumped them in the tank. It looked as though he ate the first one almost by accident, then had some sort of epiphany and started to go nuts.

Careful wit dem big words around here

It's a nice looking fish and I hope that it doesn't prove difficult for you to keep in the tank. Seems like it's already starting to eat, which is a good thing (sorry, having a Martha Stewart moment).