I'm thinking of getting a pipe fish and was wondering how hard they were to keep? Are they just like any other kind of fish, or do they need special attention? I have a 29g reef tank with hard and soft corals. I also have a a strong power head so there's a lot of flow in my tank. What speed of flow do they like? Thanks for the help!
Keeping pipe fish?
- Thread starter otiac211
- Start date
namxas
Things With Stings R Us!
you'd do best with flagfin pipes (genus Doryhamphus) such as bandeds, Janss', or blue-stripes. i'd stay away from yellow banded and multibandeds tho, they're pretty touchy, esp. if you haven't kept pipes before.
blue-stripes MUST be a M-F pair as males will kill each other.
the biggest hurdle is getting them to take frozen food, which is best done in a QT. you'll need to make sure the PH is covered both intake and effluent sides, as pipes can, and will stick their snouts into them.
HTH
blue-stripes MUST be a M-F pair as males will kill each other.
the biggest hurdle is getting them to take frozen food, which is best done in a QT. you'll need to make sure the PH is covered both intake and effluent sides, as pipes can, and will stick their snouts into them.
HTH
namxas
Things With Stings R Us!
now you're getting into "mixing Syngnathid species territory", which to be honest is a crap shoot at best. add to this the fact that unless you live in Australia and get ahold of some of the CB flagfins from Mic Payne (i've heard he was selling his biz tho).
i'm guessing your reidi are CB, so you'll need to QT the pipe(s) for a good month or longer, get it trained to frozen while in QT, and go from there.
the chances are IF something is going to happen, it will be the reidi that take the hit if they're CB, but there are no assurances either way.
i've mixed and lost everything, and i've mixed and lost some, but never had it work out perfectly.
JME
i'm guessing your reidi are CB, so you'll need to QT the pipe(s) for a good month or longer, get it trained to frozen while in QT, and go from there.
the chances are IF something is going to happen, it will be the reidi that take the hit if they're CB, but there are no assurances either way.
i've mixed and lost everything, and i've mixed and lost some, but never had it work out perfectly.
JME
oh nono I am sorry for the confusion yes my reidi are CB and I was just thinking of pipefish in general not so much a specific species I saw flagfins and they looked nice. Those other species though are the only other inhabitants but I thihnk I will play the safe side and not mix.
vlangel
Premium Member
Fusejaw has good info on pipefish.
ThRoewer
New member
Seahorses, Pipefishes and Their Relatives
I would consider blue stripes the best for a reef tank as they can hold their own among faster eaters and stay small enough to still find enough small critters if they miss out on the feedings. Mine never died of malnutrition but likely all of old age.
Also blue stripes are more outgoing than most other pipefish.
rssjsb
New member
Agree with almost all of this. Bluestripes I've kept took a fairly long time to eat frozen, but seemed able to get what they need from foraging. In my experience, blue stripes do not like really bright lights and tend to stay out of sight in the middle of the day. Mine always were out and about in "dusk" conditions, i.e. Agree that they're pretty bold - even can be a little aggro (without posing much of an actual threat) to new additions in a smaller setup. All that said, you're much more likely to see them than with Jannsi (also quite pretty and actually easier to adapt to frozen IME), which tend to stay in the background, under overhangs, or other shaded parts of the tank.
Pipes are definitely one of my favorite fish.
laga77
New member
My Yellow Multibanded has been with me for 3 months now. He is out and about all the time and eats NB BBS and frozen cyclopeeze. The Pygmy Angle and Orchid Dottyback, which rule the tank, totally ignore him. He does not have a problem with the flow in the SPS tank. If you get a pipefish, just make sure you get one that eats frozen right from the start. Makes live easier for both of you.
