Do Dragonface Pipefish need to be kept in groups?

micstarz

micstarz

New member
I was reading a couple of other threads and I seem to get the impression that Corythoichthys haematopterus (Dragonface Pipefish, Messmate Pipefish) enjoy being in groups (or at least pairs). Is this true? I have a Dragonface pipefish and I was wondering if it would I should get another one to keep it company or not. It is eating well and is not shy at all.

So should I?
 
well i bought 2 and was lucky enough to have gotten a pair and they are pretty much by each other all the time.the male has a blue spot with little orange claspers on his under side and the female doesn't.mine are breeding all the time.
 
Cool! Nice to hear. Maybe if I can sex them then I will try and get one of the opposite sex. Is it hard to raise the fry?
 
it sounds like no one has,but if you have alot of time on your hands and do your research who knows.my post is a little below yours(my dragon faced pipes are breeding like rabbits)check it out,some have posted some good info
 
Oh, yeah I saw that post! I didn't realize that you were the one who made that post :P

Well bad news...there is a sore on my pipefish (who I have confirmed is male from what you have told me) about 1.25" down from his dorsal fin, on the upper right side of his body...do you think it will get infected and kill him?
 
sorry to hear that,and i really don,t have a clue.i have had mine for only a couple of months and the best place for info is on these forms.i have herd that they can get tail rot but i think you should put up a new post and someone might be able to help you.what corals do you have in there with him?they say you should not put them in with stinging corals but mine are in a mixed reef with hammer coral and 2 gbta and they seem to know that they should stay away from them.i hope everything works out for you!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14783170#post14783170 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by micstarz
Oh, yeah I saw that post! I didn't realize that you were the one who made that post :P

Well bad news...there is a sore on my pipefish (who I have confirmed is male from what you have told me) about 1.25" down from his dorsal fin, on the upper right side of his body...do you think it will get infected and kill him?
Click to expand...

Do you have a picture? How big is the sore? Can you list your water parameters? What tank mates, including corals are with the pipefish? What is he eating?

Could be a bacterial infection, probably Vibrio. What antibiotics do you have on hand? Can you get Furan2 and Neomycin quickly? Get him into a quarantine tank and lower the temperature to 68 degrees. Get some brine shrimp hatching, he may lose his appetite with the meds and stress.
 
Yeah, I have a picture. I'll upload it later...

He hunts pods in the tank, and I squirt some baby brine shrimp in a few times a day.

My water params were all at 0 the last time I checked (NH3, NO2, NO3) I don't have a phosphates kit.

I have nothing but melafix.

I don't have a quarantine tank...

The wound actually looks much better today.

Tankmates:
One unidentified 1" long fish
A few shore shrimp
Zoanthids
Feather Duster
Enteromorpha, A few caulerpa species, gracileria, red grape
Hermit crabs
Maybe a crab
P. ciliata

Yes, I have a mantis in there. Please don't start a debate about that. I am sure it wasn't the mantis. I watched the tank all day yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was a crab that escaped from the compartment I store them in to feed to my smasher mantis shrimps, because I actually saw a crab extend it's pincers at the pipefish and then when I looked at the tank again, the pipefish was pacing the front glass frantically...

By the way, my P. ciliata is pretty wierd because it hides in it's burrow all day. It never comes out except to grab food. I also don't think spearing mantis shrimp inflict single, circular sores-like wounds...

See my thread on this tank:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1602840
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792393#post14792393 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by micstarz
Yeah, I have a picture. I'll upload it later...

He hunts pods in the tank, and I squirt some baby brine shrimp in a few times a day.

My water params were all at 0 the last time I checked (NH3, NO2, NO3) I don't have a phosphates kit.

I have nothing but melafix.

I don't have a quarantine tank...

The wound actually looks much better today.

Tankmates:
One unidentified 1" long fish
A few shore shrimp
Zoanthids
Feather Duster
Enteromorpha, A few caulerpa species, gracileria, red grape
Hermit crabs
Maybe a crab
P. ciliata

Yes, I have a mantis in there. Please don't start a debate about that. I am sure it wasn't the mantis. I watched the tank all day yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was a crab that escaped from the compartment I store them in to feed to my smasher mantis shrimps, because I actually saw a crab extend it's pincers at the pipefish and then when I looked at the tank again, the pipefish was pacing the front glass frantically...

By the way, my P. ciliata is pretty wierd because it hides in it's burrow all day. It never comes out except to grab food. I also don't think spearing mantis shrimp inflict single, circular sores-like wounds...

See my thread on this tank:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1602840
Click to expand...

A pseudosquilla ciliata could easily inflict a major/minor wound that would go unnoticed until it became infected. I wouldn't keep anything with hands (hermits, shrimp, etc.) with ponies. A mantis... well it sounds like you know the risk you're running there. Yikes.
 
That's wonderful. You got lucky! Just so you know, don't use Melafix in a tank that has seahorses or pipefish. It's not known for sure if Melafix is ok for them or not, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to make me think twice before dosing Melafix in a seahorse tank.
 
Okay, thanks! He also has a companion now (a female). Both are eating readily. I noticed my mantis shrimp sitting on top of the male today. So it's near definitely not a mantis inflicted wound.
 
hey cool you got a female, mine are doing there mating dance as i type(they seem to do the dance when my actinics come on in the early afternoon)mine are going on there 4th batch of eggs and seem to keep them for about 10 days.i have not seen them reliese the eggs yet.
 
Wow...I envy you :P

my so called "pair" are seen next to each other occaisionally, but never entwine. Half of the time they are at opposite ends of the tank.
 
mine also hang out in the morning and do there own thing through out the day,at night they sometimes hang out and sometimes don't
 
Oh...I thought you said they are always side by side and curl up together when scared...or is that someone else?
 
the first week they didn't hang out to much and then after they mated they were always together,but now after there 4th batch of eggs they are always together in the morning and preety much do there own thing through out the day and at night sometimes they hang out sometimes they don't. now if i put my hand in the tank to do something and i get to close to one of them they swim to each other and hang out for awhile but like i said in the morning it is like clock work,as soon as the lights start to come on,they seek each other out with in a few mins and act like they have not seen each other for days,they hang out for awhile then they start hunting for pods
 
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