Bluestripe Pipefish w/ Cleaner Shrimp

[littleterritoo]

I've had my bluestripe pipefish for 6 months in my 35 gallon nanocube & it has done very well living on pods. Just recently I noticed that my cleaner shrimp has been harassing him while he's swimming through the rocks & his tail has been beat up a couple of times. The tail has recovered each time & he seems to be doing okay, but I wonder if the shrimp is getting more aggressive as he grows & am worried that he'll stress out my pipefish, or worse...The other tankmates are an ocellaris clown, 2 emerald crabs, some hermits & snails. I really like my cleaner shrimp, does he need to go??

 

[waterfaller1]

If he is chasing the pipe, I would remove him. Where did you find your pipe? Bluestripe pipes will eat mysis shrimp in case you did'nt know.

 

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9179550#post9179550 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waterfaller1
Where did you find your pipe? Bluestripe pipes will eat mysis shrimp in case you did'nt know.

Some will, some won't. Mine won't. They do eat cyclopeeze, though.

 

[littleterritoo]

Thanks for the replies. I feed frozen mysis shrimp & was really hoping he'd start eating that as well as the pods, but he hasn't seemed to take to it at all. rssjsb - is cyclopeeze frozen or live? I'm going to remove the cleaner shrimip, any suggestions for other shrimp that I could safely add? I got my pipe at Exotic Life in Chatsworth, CA & I was in there the other day, they have tons in stock right now.

 

[waterfaller1]

Cyclop-eeze is frozen. There is also a powder, but the frozen is best. A good choice for a safe shrimp would be a whole bunch of sexy shrimp...they are cool. Porcelain crabs are also cool, they just use these little fan-like appendages to catch food. Thanks for the info.

 

[danfrith]

Yeah, good chioce to take the shrimp out. As for other shrimp: camel shrimp are pretty cool, I'm thinking a fire shrimp might be a little less nerve-racking and hyper than the skunk shrimp. For food my pair bluestripe pair took mysis only because there was a shortage of pods in my old 12 that they where in for awhile but now in there knew 29 gal. they gorge on pods and only occasionally snip at mysis. They've never paid any attention to cyclopeeze. As for trying to get yours to feed on frozen mysis I would first try live mysis or those red volcanic shrimp from Hawaii. Mine seem to respond pretty well to movement compared to a not moving frozen mysis on the bottom. Also, I noticed in the 12 gal. that the female has always feed on mysis from day one but I think the male learned from the female, after a couple days of being in the tank with her. Good luck with your pipefish.

 

[rssjsb]

I use frozen cyclopeeze. What they really love, though, is live Tigger Pods from Reed Mariculture. They're a little spendy, but they love them.

Actually, they've spent months in my 20 long just eating pods. Both seem fat and happy. I just occasionally throw in food as a treat. Keep in mind that they're the only fish in the tank, so they have no competition for the pods.

Danfrith, how big are those volcanic shrimp?

 

[danfrith]

It says on oceanrider.com that adults are a 1/2 to 1 cm in length.