ghost pipefish

[iamwrasseman]

my lfs received four or five ghost pipe fish and being a wrasseman i simply fell in love with these guys which is so different than my norm . they are extremely difficult to keep from what i hear but i would like to try a couple .does anyone have any experience with them and could you out line the specifics in husbandry of them ?i have many tanks and can basically come up with any scenario that could be needed .please advise ,oh yes they are black with long striations of yellow and whitish lines in them if that helps at all .thanks in advance
Dave

 

[ann83]

We don't know. As far as I know, not even public aquariums have been able to keep them. Please, please document all of your efforts and results, good and bad, for us. I would probably make an attempt with a tank that has a large surface area and water volume, and a very large amount of live food items, both within the tank and cultured externally... I'd also at least make an attempt at frozen training in a smaller bare bottom setup just to give myself more options. I don't know of any documentation that deworming or parasite treatment could be of help, but if I were in your shoes, I'd be looking into it.

 

[iamwrasseman]

thanks , they are nearly impossible correct ? even if so i will be trying two of them as they are so beautiful and cool at the same time . hopefully i will get lucky but i do know how it will be a major up hill climb . i have live brine and tiger pods and i am going to put them in a tank with 1/2 crushed coral and the other side will be bare or possibly fine sand . the coarse crushed coral will be so the pods can multiply easily IMO . i will use a 55 gallon tank and if I'm not mistaken i will have very low flow ,as close to still as possible but with some flow . also do the ghost pipefish cling onto treelike corals such as gregorians ? if I'm in the wrong direction please let me know but this is what im going to try .

 

[TamiW]

I don't think that you want really low flow. They don't live in low flow areas. This video captures a pair in a lot of water movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glxb-RU5aHI&feature=related
I think you're best trying to have a laminar flow, maybe with something like a Sieo or even a Koralia.

They don't literally cling to corals if that is what you are suggesting, but they do hang out among them. Well, more specifically, seafans and crinoids for ornate ghostpipes, algae for others. This article gives some information about them in the wild: http://www.dive-the-world.com/creatures-harlequin-ghostpipefish.php

You'll like need more than live brine. I strongly suggest live mysis. Maybe try other freshwater live feeds, just to see what they'll eat. If they take live brine, make sure to enrich it with something like selco or algamac. I'd actually try a selection of food sizes from baby brine to adult to see if they have a size preference. Unless you plan to culture them separately, I doubt that the tigerpods will do any good. Even then, I suspect that since they're not really pelagic, they likely won't be much benefit.

Please let us know how they go, and post pictures!

 

[iamwrasseman]

thanks for the info and i certainly will let you know .i will try to get a few pictures tonite for you .

 

[timinnl]

There were some here last year. All were dead within a month. They are not nearly impossible, they are impossible to keep. If you buy them & they die on you, that gives the LFS a reason to sell more of them. Let it die in his tank. Sorry if I sound so mean about it.

 

[iamwrasseman]

hey no problem as i have been keeping delicate wrasses for years and i have been perfecting the technique as i learn from mistakes so i do understand that some fish should certainly be left on the reef . thanks for your honest input , i will let them take the brunt of the storm and see how they do .

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I would suggest trying to get some sort of ornament that is the same color as them, long and kind of spiky to mimic a crinoid since they are commensal with crinoids. As soon as I can get my hands on a pair of those guys I will be trying them out as well.

 

[timinnl]

I would suggest trying to get some sort of ornament that is the same color as them, long and kind of spiky to mimic a crinoid since they are commensal with crinoids. As soon as I can get my hands on a pair of those guys I will be trying them out as well.

What is your secret with the feather star. Very impressive record.

Tim

 

[timinnl]

hey no problem as i have been keeping delicate wrasses for years and i have been perfecting the technique as i learn from mistakes so i do understand that some fish should certainly be left on the reef . thanks for your honest input , i will let them take the brunt of the storm and see how they do .

I think 3 - 4 months back someone reported seeing them on Diver's Den & then nothing. Two months ago a LFS in the UK had some in. The poster had money down on a pair. They were dead a week later at the store.

I had a chance to see one. Wow is all I can say.

 

[iamwrasseman]

a couple of them went after live brine today but i am going to let them stay at the store for a few more days and see how they are doing . they also have mysis shrimp live and they seem to no be interested in it as of yet .im going to take baby steps with them as they are very delicate and a bit pricey too .i will be getting a couple of pictures saturday when i go there again .

 

[mhltcob]

They typically eat live mysid shrimp well. However, even with a regular, abundant supply of live mysids and good appetites they do not last long. The longest I have seen is 4 months or so. They just randomly die without much in the way of warning signs (and little is known afterwards of why even after necropsies). Most of them do not even survive shipping to begin with.