if your into a HOB skimmer I am using a red sea prizm {not the deluxe model} on a 20 long - -it's quiet and just runs and runs and runs..bout 100 bucks, i love it for a smaller tank
If you have a sump.......go with the coralife 65....it will pull more gunk out that thought believable. It can also be used as HOB but i wouldnt advise it.....I have it on my back and the powerhead is HUGE. Takes a good part of the back of my aquarium........lame! I have heard good things about the red sea prizm as well.
Wow, you just asked my favorite question. Forgive me in advance for the long winded post you are about to receive.
The Leopard Wrasse's are my favorite fish. I have a Bipartitus Leopard and they are just the sweetest and most personable fish. I am waiting for my LFS to get me a juvenile Potter's(Geoffroyi) Leopard.
They range from 4-6 inches and need a minimum 30g tank. They are quite hardy once they enter a well established reef tank. They constantly forage for small crustaceans like copepods and tiny starfish. They do eat prepared foods but have to be very small particle size as they have tiny mouths. They chow down on cyclops and will try to eat brine and mysis but usually take it in and spit them out numerous times because the pieces are too large.
They need a minimum 2inch deep, fine sand bed to sleep in and to dive into for cover when they are scared.
They are classified as poor shippers because of the sand issue. When they are in a shipping bag, there is no sand, they get scared and try to dive into the "substrate" and smash their mouth into the hard bottom of the bag and damage their mouth. From this point and with this damage, they will rarely recover or start eating again and end up starving to death. They have tiny, delicate little mouths. If you see one at a store, look very closely at it's mouth. If it's crooked or doesn't meet evenly top to bottom, it won't make it.
If you really want one and have a system of the proper size and maturity, have your LFS order the one you want and have them specify that you want it shipped in a bag with at least an inch of sand and you'll have a much better chance of getting a healthy specimen.
Also keep in mind the Leopards are very peaceful and also very easily picked on, so be careful about what fish are already in the tank and especially other Wrasses. My Sixline Wrasse almost killed my Leopard by the time I was finally able to catch the damn Sixline and remove his common, bullying ass from the tank.
My LFS has an awesome 300g SPS reef display that includes 2 Bipartitus, 1 Black, 1 Potter's and 1 Ornatus Leopard Wrasses and they all get along famously together and are the "show fish" in the tank.
Excellent fish and highly recommended but not for a novice or a new tank. They are a bit like a Mandarin when it comes to food. They will eat small particle food but they really need a constant copepod population as their primary diet.
As an example, I have a 75g main display, a 55g sump that has 15g as a refugium and a secondary 29g display refugium and am able to support a Scooter Blenny(Dragonette) and the Bipartitus Leopard. They are both growing fast and getting fat. I will be pushing the limits of the copepod population once I get the Potter's Leopard as all 3 will be pod eaters. Hmmmm...might call for an upgrade from the 29g to a 55g secondary refugium..........shit.......it's only money!
WOW! thanks so much for all the info, i appreciate it
The leopard sounds like it could fit in my tank
i have the sand bed, 30 gallon tank, i could supply small food particles, fish arent too agressive, but im not sure about the copepods.. i dont have a sump but im getting a new bak pak skimmer so after i get that running im gonna try to turn my aquaclear 70 filter into a small refrigium where i can raise the copepods.
would this work out?
That's cool. You should definitely be seeing a bunch of pods on the rock and sand and on the glass after lighs out. If you have some small rubble rock in the tank, seed the little refugium with a couple pieces from the tank and get enough rubble to fill it up.
Do you have a preference for a particular Leopard?
also, if i was to raise copepods in my filter/refrigium how would they be distributed to a leopard wrasse? would i do it by hand or do they slowly get taken into the tank by the filters overflow?
They will make their way into the tank on their own.
Their used to be a debate about wether or not copepods could make it through a pump alive to get from the sump back into the display tank. A lot of people used to think that the pods would get chopped up by the impeller of the pump but the truth is that the housings for the impellers are by no means a tight machine fit. They are actually quite loose.
I have had small hermit crabs and even a couple of tiny fish make it into my overflow and go down the pipe into the sump. And then a few days later would spot them back up in the display tank. They made it through my Mag12 return pump and the two fish didn't even have frayed fins.
