Best pellet to get leopard wrasse eating?

Has anyone had particular success getting Leopard wrasse onto pellets or any other prepared foods?
Mine has been in the tank about 5 days now and is unfortunately still not showing much interest.
He has eaten live blood worms the first day or 2 but no longer seems to want them.
Had a go at some frozen brine shrimp once, but must not have liked them (have been in the freezer a whlie tho, does that matter?).
Have been trying for Ocean Nutrition formula 1, sometimes soaked in Brightwell garlic power, but still no success. He will watch the food fall down around him and then go back to pecking at the rocks.
My Laboutei is going to be very fat soon and is setting a great example, he eats just about anything. I'm told having another fish that is eating showing it what to eat can help.
Should I look into getting some brine shrimp eggs and start a hatchery?
start a pod farm in a bucket?
My tank is full of LR, but I fear there might not be enough of a pod population to sustain him.
Is he just plain doomed and I should try to find a new home?
Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

Hey Chappy
I have a black leopard wrasse that was similar for 1st week he/she was with me
it eventually took frozen blood worm and there after frozen mysis

in the LFS I got it from it fed on pellets -Thera Spectrum - regular formula
I have Ocean Nutrition pellets at home and it would not bother with them
(Yes I went back a week later and purchased a small tub of them and once again I saw it eat pellets )

its been with me a few months now, and will eat anything and everything

cyclopeze is a bit on the tiny side, but all my wrasse seem to go crazy when that is in the water, including the leopard

setting up a small tank / bucket and culturing pods is a good idea IMO

Steve

 

Thanks for the reply Steve
Good to know that theres still hope.
I will try frozen blood shrimp again tomorrow morning, and throw in some cyclopeze to see if it at least peaks his interest. If so I could maybe try getting some of their flakes. Think I'll also renew my spectrum and frozen mysis supply on the weekend and see if that helps. At least there will be alot of variety should it decide to start eating.
Having another look at my tank this evening, the glass seems to be teeming with tiny copepods. As many as there are they seem a little too small to sustain such a big fish. May also try and get a small pump to make up for the lack of gravity in my hoizontal fuge feed pipe and give pods somewhere else too party. I could probably seed that with some amphipods if that would be a better food source?
Could the Leopard also be eating some of the baby turbo snails I've been throwing in from my nano? Seems to be a never ending supply of them coming out of there lately.

 

+1 on cyclopeeze initiating a feeding response...

A lot of my fish like New Life Spectrum pellets, including a few wrasses...

I wouldn't expect pellets to work on most fish that are not taking frozen food first, though I have a Powder Blue Tang and all it will eat is pellets, it's no interested in frozen food at all... fine with me, he eats pellets like a pig!

 

Thats reassuring, thanks!
I have some spectrum pellets at the moment, but I think I figured out they must be at least 3 years old! Will definitely be getting some new ones this weekend and giving them a try.
Will post back if anything works

 

Seems as though everyone has got you on the right track.

You'll have to get it on frozen before pellets will be possible. And yes, another fish eating things will help, monkey see, monkey do.

Start with blood worms, then go to mysis and/or brine, then give pellets a shot.

If you've got a decent pod population, that should sustain him/her for a while until they get the "new" idea.

Good luck.

 

3 year old food is completely devoid of most vitamins. (Actually, when it comes to vitamin C, it no longer exists after 3 MONTHS and that's if you store your pellets in a closed container in the freezer).

 

Thanks for the heads up inwall, I will be throwing that out asap! Have also decided to write the purchase dates on the bottom of foods bought recently as a point of reference. Should I really be keeping all pellet foods in the freezer too? Would have thought they would they would get damp and ruined by potentially constant freezing/unfreezing? ...tho I am throwing them in water to feed, that doesnt sound so bad now lol.

 

Thanks evolved, it seems luck I will need.
None with the frozen blood worms this morning. Tried defrosting them in with some cyclopeze hoping the smell would rub off on them a bit, and also threw some cyclopeze in the tank directly.
Will keep chucking pellets in as the Laboutei is loving them, but concentrate on frozens for the leopard.
Has also been suggested I try some mussell or oyster meat so may try find some of that tonight, if it starts eating anything that doesnt move I will take it as a win.

 

Don't let them get damp until it's time to feed. That's how you keep them nutritious and one of the main reasons for the freezer. Don't ever put wet fingers into the container. The freezer is for humidity control, not temperature control....it won't work correctly if you accidentally add additional liquid to the container before putting it in the freezer.