Dragon face pipefish

[gonzapa]

I really would like to get one of these.
I already have a yellow tang , a blue tang and a yellow blenny.
Would it be compatible with its tank mates?

 

[billybobed]

I think they'd be fine as long as you make sure the Dragon's are able to eat (not pushed out by the others during feeding). I have a few odds and ends fish in one of my tanks with some Dragons. The Dragons will spend most of their time on rocks or on the bottom of the tank. They swim around occasionally (and looks kinda funny when they do, almost unnatural seeming for them), but tend to hang out on the rocks. Feeding wise I do frozen mysis and cyclopeeze at the same time. The fish tend to go for the mysis leaving the cyclo for the dragons which works good as they tend to eat slower, they're not stuck competing for their food. Mine do go for some of the mysis as well.

 

[wolfman1973]

make sure your tank has lots of pods,mine have never taken frozen and thrive in my tanks booming pod population, i have herd that the dragons are one of the harder pipes to get on a frozen diet. they also have one of the smallest mouths!!

 

[miked0523]

I used to feed mine cyclopeez. Unfortunatly mine got caught in the overflow teeth and died.:sad1:

 

[small alien]

My two eat nutramar ova almost exclusively. I feed twice daily and turn off the flow for as close to an hour as possible each time. They must have time to find the food piece by piece. I've kept mine this way with virtually no pod population for 4 or 5 months and they are full and active.

They're in a tank with two small gobies. They either need a lot of pods or a lot of time to eat.

 

[small alien]

I used to feed mine cyclopeez. Unfortunatly mine got caught in the overflow teeth and died.:sad1:

or died and then got caught in the over-flow. sorry to be grim, but that's the general chain of events I've experienced.

 

[FishGuy5]

I've tried to keep a couple w/ my seahorses, but I don't think they can handle the cold tanks. Never got them to eat.

 

[dwhanc00]

I tried two as well with high flow. Not sure if it was the fish or the flow, but he was not strong enough to keep away.

 

[namxas]

I've tried to keep a couple w/ my seahorses, but I don't think they can handle the cold tanks. Never got them to eat.

altho they can be kept at reef temps, they can handle low/mid 70's with no issues...the pipes probably starved. Syngnathids lack a "true" stomach, and as such, are unable to hold food for digestion. their digestive system can shut down permanently in as little as 4 days, depending on the condition of the fish in question.

 

[theisdept]

Is there any advantage to aquacultured with these?

 

[namxas]

Is there any advantage to aquacultured with these?

if you could find them in the U.S., absolutely (you'd have to know a breeder tho, as they're not commercially available). a CB specimen will already be trained to take frozen foods.

 

[Aqua_boy]

The Dragonface Pipefish is among the hardiest pipefish, but is difficult to keep due to its unusual feeding requirements.It normally prefers to eat only live copepods in a mature reef aquarium with plenty of live rock or macroalgae.

 

[maxicurls]

The Dragonface Pipefish is among the hardiest pipefish, but is difficult to keep due to its unusual feeding requirements.It normally prefers to eat only live copepods in a mature reef aquarium with plenty of live rock or macroalgae.

Wow, that's a direct quote from Foster's & Smith's.

 

[small alien]

The one I have I have had for about 6 months. It's been in a 10 gal QT and then a relatively new reef, so pods are minimal. I feed it prawn roe (the only prepared food it will eat) twice daily. It seems healthy and has grown noticably. We'll see if we make it to the year mark.

I think with fussy feeders like this it has so much to do with the individual fish. This pipe is just a very agressive feeder. Swims right up into the water colum to gulp mouthfuls of roe. I had a second with it but lost it after a month or two. It just never had the eating vigor that the survivor has.

I will say, I'm getting pretty tired of having to feed roe at every single feeding. Oh well, such is the life of a fish slave.

 

[prickles]

Mine eats frozen mysis. He has made it a year now. I thought their lifespan was only about a year, at least in captivity. I have a fully stocked tank and feed once per day. He probably eats live foods too, but they're too small to see.