Leopard wrasse

I'm wanting to add a wrasse to my 75 gallon and I came across the Leopard wrasse on liveaquaria. On care level it says expert only but it doesn't explain why in the description. Are these fish hard to keep?

 

they can be finicky eaters. I would pm missionsix as he has had success with them. If you are looking at wrasses, take a look at the melanarus wrasse. These have been known to devour several different pest species in our tanks. One of my favs

 

Difficulties with eating, prone to many diseases such as intestinal worms.

 

I may try one sometime but will wait a while for sure.

 

I picked one up at a LFS just over a year ago. I got it to eat frozen mysis and stuff, then dried mysis and eventually flakes and seaweed from the clip along with the tangs. If the leopard wrasse will eat frozen foods in the store, then I say go for it. I'm not sure about getting one from LiveAquaria, especially since they consider them expert only and not sure if the 14 day policy stands. At the least, ask if they will ship it with a layer of sand in the bag.
Ours is still alive and well to this day. She made the transition from the 55 to 180 ok, and she grew a bit since then too.

 

i got my blue star leopard wrasse (M. Bipartitus) from liveaquaria and for the first 2-3 weeks after introduction to the tank it stayed hiding in the sand bed. It got to the point where i just assumed it died.... Then one day I came home from work and there she was swimming around the tank picking at the rock. Now two years later she is still doing great and eats anything i throw in there.

 

definitely go for the melanurus!! just as if not prettier than the leopard and a lot hardier i believe..however when i got mine i was told that they are not "reef safe" because they may go after ornamental shrimp..although i haven't had any problems with mine and my coral banded..but as "that guy" stated..with either of the two you definitely won't see them for a while when introduced to your tank..when i added my melanurus it looked like someone stuck a fan under my sandbed and she was gone for a few days

 

im 2 for 2 on leopard wrasses

 

I've had 2 leopard Wrasses in the past. Both ate very well even flake. I lost one to my fault. and the other jumped as it was being picked on my a hawk fish

J

 

just picked a a M. Melaegris....it is still hiding so ill let you know how it turns out in the weeks to come.