Breeding Macropharyngodon meleagris

[Almondsaz]

I have searched and searched on the web and have not found any information on the breeding of Leopard Wrasses (Macropharyngodon meleagris). What I have seen does not lend itself for me to think that I would be successful in breeding them in captivity - namely, it appears that when breeding the dart up towards the surface and release their eggs and fertilize them by the male during that 'darting'.

If anyone has any other information or a reference or website I would really appreciate it. I have three beautiful LWs in my 125 and just wondered if it is possible.

 

[Almondsaz]

I guess this must be an unusual question. No one has any ideas?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I find the idea of breeding any wrasse to be beyond belief.
Still dreaming of breeding a common damselfish such as a Bangai Cardinal

 

[The Apprentice]

check out the pictures & Threads

Almond your speaking my Language I have two schools of Macropharyngodon meleagris and they have not paired up or even presented them selves to pair up How many do you have in your tank at this time? How long have you had them? Have you been successful in getting them to eat prepared foods.
I will post some shots of the females and a changed Male, It took him 3+ years to make the change.
1 st shot on the left is a baby from Aquatic dreems then the harem was added 2nd shot you see my male starting to turn a darker shade of Green took a little over a year. to Start going to the green side :badgrin:
I will try to Find a more recent pic...Jeff

I have searched and searched on the web and have not found any information on the breeding of Leopard Wrasses (Macropharyngodon meleagris). What I have seen does not lend itself for me to think that I would be successful in breeding them in captivity - namely, it appears that when breeding the dart up towards the surface and release their eggs and fertilize them by the male during that 'darting'.

If anyone has any other information or a reference or website I would really appreciate it. I have three beautiful LWs in my 125 and just wondered if it is possible.

 

[Almondsaz]

Jeff: I will have to get some pics, been a busy weekend. I love the Macropharyngodon meleagris. I have had one for about a year now and about six weeks ago added two more. They are all three female. I have a heck of a time finding males, or even a leopard male or female around here. I find myself wanting to learn more and more about them but the material seems limited, at least what I have found so far.

As for eating, they are eating frozen mysis, artic pods, marine cuisine and silversides. I love there movements, habits (bury in the sand) and their hunting all day long. I do try and once a month of so provide them with live amphipods to hunt for by adding them at night. My fuge has a lot of live mysid and pods (amphi/cope) so I know they get a lot of selection.

Since I only have a 125 I wanted to stop at three, unless the elusive male becomes available or one of the girls change and their is room for another female. I don't know that breeding is realistic, but certainly wanted to learn more about the behavior.

Your grouping looks very healthy and active! Glad to find another leopard wrasse fenatic. You are more advanced than I, so appreciate the response above.

Oh, I had a female LW for almost 2 years and lost her to a RBTA. It moved to the back of a rock and she didn't know it was there and bam....lost her, and not all of a sudden. Seemed to stun her and she didn't recover. That was not a happy day....the RBTA went back to the LFS so that I won't chance it again.

Will post pics next weekend, this is a crazy week for me.

David

 

[Maxx]

I've always thought the Leopard wrasses were beautiful, but very delicate and difficult to acclimate to captivity. Could you guys explain your methods of acclimation and what you feel contributed to you success with them so far?

Nick

 

[The Apprentice]

Tonight

Will do tonight Nick Got to hit the hay

I've always thought the Leopard wrasses were beautiful, but very delicate and difficult to acclimate to captivity. Could you guys explain your methods of acclimation and what you feel contributed to you success with them so far?

Nick

 

[The Apprentice]

For Nick, David any anyone elese..

I've always thought the Leopard wrasses were beautiful, but very delicate and difficult to acclimate to captivity. Could you guys explain your methods of acclimation and what you feel contributed to you success with them so far?

Nick

Disclaimer: I am a hobbyist Not a pro so this is just from what I have learned.
Prerequisite: Before Adding any Macropharyngodon meleagris You have to have a tank that will support them, From my master I was told to have a sandy bottom. Sorry you Bare Bottom guys for this. When stressed the Macropharyngodon meleagris need to be able to hide when they feel threatened, I have read in books & Magazine articles were some people who want a Macropharyngodon meleagris but have a bare bottom have added a large bowl of sand to sit in the tank to allow the wrasse to hide in. I have read of others just letting the fish cope with BB and use rock work for them, I don't think this helps your success rate but I know we all have different tanks and are able to get all forms of life to live in different conditions. So sand = Best support for the Macropharyngodon meleagris.

Food: These Fish seem to be more of a live food eater when you get them IE = Pods they hunt allot for them. Usually they will drain a pod source down in 10-14 days.
( 4 fish in a 75 gallon tank ) personal obsevation.
This is your time window to get them to eat prepared foods. I have had real good luck with a Tang in the tank to eat Nori off a clip, This is the first thing I have seen them eat besides pods in the first week or 2. They seem to be very good masters of mimicking other fish for eating blender mush to prime reef cubes, If you can get them thru this critical 2 week time they have a very hi chance of adapting to your tank just fine.
Aggressive fish = Not recommended I have not been able to get these guys to get along with any Pseudochromis and Dottyback Fish. Mine have not done to well with a mated pair of Amphiprion frenatus clowns as the Female is mean.:evil:
Done ok with common ones like Tangs,butterflies,Dwarf Angels,Cardinals,

Morphing: Going from young female to a mature male has taken me 2+ years wait and they are real slow to change however the wait is worth it.

Tank activities They are jumpers screen in your tanks or prepare for carpet surfing. Over flows (screen them)

Tank Maintenance: do it after you main lights go off they will hit sand after Metal Halide's turn off and you can get allot done. If you do have to work on a tank with them up they will stress real quick.

Buying them: Smaller they are the better you % chance of them making it. I have went out and found Big mature Females for the quick turnaround to a male and they don't seem to handle the stress and I have lost them..

Worth it? Well I have seen my patience wear thin with these guys, They do a great job of looking over my coral and clams if you have them, Anything that looks like a pod or small snail is a gonner! I have seen these guys eat small Stomatella varia and Baby Cerith snails. I originally got these guys to Hunt for any Pyramidelline Snails. However this is unwarranted because we all quarantine our live stock don't we.
Well I think that wraps up all I know so hope I didn't bore you all to much...
Lastly I will leave you with a before and after shot tank from the same fish on the 19th. Hope this helps
Jeff

 

[Almondsaz]

Nick: great question on the acclimation. For me, once I get the LW home I float it in the shipping bag (or store bag if from a LFS) in the sump to acclimate the temp. I do this in the dark in an attempt to reduce the overall stress to the LW. I have only had one place ship the LW correctly, which would be to include some sand in the bottom of the bag to reduce shipping stress. Bare bottom bag/tank means that when they go to bury in the sand and its not there the can damage their mouth and that can be a declining start of the end - infection possibilities, etc.

Once the temp is acclimated I use a 5 gallon bucket (always used for my fish only and kept clean) gently empty the floating bag into it, and start a very slow drip acclimation using one of those medical drip bags (sorry, forgot the term). I acclimate in the dark for about 2 hours. I use the open spot in my stand for this - seems to hold the temp and provide the dark. I then add them to the DT (I know, what about QT) when the lights have gone out and the moon lights are on. So timing is everything.

As Jeff pointed out your choice of sand is also important. I have a mix of arragonite spheres and aragonite sugar grade sand. Both are really good for not hurting the fish when they bury.

Also, I would not suggest someone get a LW unless they have a very well established pod population. I am fortunate that after 8 months, my sump/refugium was filled with copepods, amphipods and mysis shrimp. At night the rocks must get replenished, because they are out and about in the DT each night when its lights out. I feed mine the same things I feed the rest of my crew. Frozen mysis, marine cuisine, nori, cyclopese, arctic pods and krill. They love to take the pieces of silverside from the anemone....so I always put a few extra pieces in the water column.

Oh, when they first go into your DT, don't be alarmed if they disappear for a while. I have had some bury for 2 days and then start coming out normally. Hope some of this is useful. They are by far my favorite fish.

 

[Maxx]

Great info guys! Thanks for sharing your experiances. Any tips for getting a reluctant LW to eat? What did you try to tempt them or wean them over to prepared foods?

Nick

 

[Almondsaz]

Before you consider getting a LW, you need to ensure that the environment is correct. So not just the sandbed, but also that there is a sufficient pod population before they arrive. In the begining I ensure that they have lots of pods and live mysis (I get them from florida). THen over time (about a month) I stop supplementing the pods and mysis and watch them when I feed the general population the prepared foods. I don't feed any flake. The only dry food source for my fish is currently Nori. Touch wood, everything so far has worked that they transition over to the frozen. It is important that the frozen has movement so I put them into the powerheads to disperse them.