I’ve had a juvenile leopard wrasse in my tank for about 2 months now. Doing great and always fat. I just added a larger male melanurus wrasse the other day and when she saw him she ran for the hills. Even though he showed no signs of aggression at all towards her. She hid in the sand bed for a couple of days not to be seen at day or night. I was shifting some coral around on Tuesday when I saw her appear from nowhere. After I finished in the tank she disappeared again. Haven’t seen her in 2 days again now. Not coming out to feed or anything. Everyone else in the tank is fine and the melanurus never showed any aggression to anyone. Why is she so scared. Should I go sifting for her since she has been in the tank for a while and just needs to realize he isn’t a threat? I don’t want her to die in the sand bed she is quite small.
Leopard wrasse hiding for days after adding Melanurus.
- Thread starter Bigreefer402
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Resist the urge to go digging for her. You'll just stress her out more which will cause her to stay buried longer. She'll come back out when she feels like it's safe to do so.
Okay will do. I’ll update when she emerges.
You have a nice tank, too. You should make a build thread. Lots of members like seeing well-maintained tanks like yours, gives them inspiration.
She has shown herself. But still a little lethargic
She came out and was swimming around and eating brine shrimp. The he swam her direction, not even at her. And she literally dove in to the sand at 100mph. At least I saw her eating.
She hasn’t come out since Saturday. I dug around the sand and under a rock. Idk where she is. She has been in the tank for months. Surprised she is acting so scared. If she comes out then great but I’m not going to keep my hopes up.
I've had leopards hide in the sand for literal weeks. Like excess of 20 days. They can last a while down there if they are fed well normally.
Sometimes fish have instinctive reactions to things we don't initially understand. Most wrasses know that a larger wrasse in the area means they're going to be dominated/bullied, so they get out of the way before they can sustain any stress/damage. The larger wrasse doesn't even have to do anything body-language-wise, because they also have that expectation that the others will give him their space. It's only when the smaller individual stands their ground that you might actually see physical aggression (flaring/posturing, chasing, etc.).
Obviously, a tiny leopard like that is not going to stand her ground against a large male melanurus, so she hides. Later on, she checks if the coast is clear, sees that it isn't, and hides again. Rinse and repeat. I couldn't say whether she'll figure out the melanurus is not a threat because in her eyes, he is a threat, and in a tank, there's nowhere to go but into the sand.
Thank you for the response. I’ll stay hopeful that she comes out. Wish they could all just be friends
I added a McCosckers flasher wrasse yesterday that’s the same size as the leopard wrasse. The melanurus didn’t touch the flasher. Leopard wrasse came out today and got chased by the melanurus. She ate some brine shrimp and went back to the sand.
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If shes coming out to eat, she'll come out and stay out eventually. I've had leopards literally hide for months at a time to just emerge like nothing happened.
Your words are very reassuring, thank you. I have high hopes she will one day show the melanurus who is boss!
Sorry I am late to the post
But i had a established and aggressive Adorned Wrasse and added a Red head solon wrasse. Same size different family......... should have been fine right? Nope
Adorned wrasse AW chased the Red head solon wrasse into the corner and it would hide in safety under a rock. For 4 weeks this happened. Until 1 day it stopped now they swim freely with very llimited aggression there is an occasional chase. but no hiding under rocks .
Sometimes it just takes time and i have come to the conclusion that all fish are jerks. its just on a sliding scale of how much of a jerk they are LOL
But i had a established and aggressive Adorned Wrasse and added a Red head solon wrasse. Same size different family......... should have been fine right? Nope
Adorned wrasse AW chased the Red head solon wrasse into the corner and it would hide in safety under a rock. For 4 weeks this happened. Until 1 day it stopped now they swim freely with very llimited aggression there is an occasional chase. but no hiding under rocks .
Sometimes it just takes time and i have come to the conclusion that all fish are jerks. its just on a sliding scale of how much of a jerk they are LOL
I guess the conclusion of the story is not all fish act like they say in the descriptions of the species. I believe the leopard wrasse was making herself a target, like how they say don’t turn and run from a mountain lion. If she wouldn’t stood her ground from the start I’m sure it would’ve been fine. Just like the flasher wrasse had done. It’s a win win as my little leopard and the big super male melanurus get to live another day!
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