Banded pipe fish agression

[sbin]

Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus Banded Pipefish
I have had a banded pipe fish for a few month and it is doing very well.We bought another one from the same shop and added it to the tank and the original pipe started chasing and biting the new addition.
Will this behaviour subside or will the pipes need seperated.

 

[prickles]

I had that problem with bandeds.. the established male always killed the new male. A female didn't seem to be the problem.

 

[sbin]

The new pipe isn't dead and the agression appears to have diminished.The established pipe is smaller and has a flat section on its belly while the new addition is larger and more round shaped.Hope it is a male/female pair and the new pipe figures out mysis is food.The original pipe eats like a pig.

 

[Luis A M]

They can be very agressive when joined for the first time.I imagined all they could perform was some display,but sadly found that they can quickly kill an opponent with a suction blow on the eye,so beware.:eek1:
I keep now a possible pair separated with a transparent barrier for at least a week.Then they can be put together without further issues.