new blue pipefish hiding all the time, normal?

hk855

New member
So after about 2 months of waiting for my LFS to get some blue stripe pipes in I finaly got a pair on monday. They seemed to be doing good that night swimming around the tank and inspecting the area nipping at the rock and tank walls, same thing tuesday morning but in the afternoon they seemed to disappear into the rock work. I still see them from time to time but more so hiding in my cave or the back corners and only saw them once today and maybe only one time.

So Im curious if they are just really elusive fish or if I need to worry about never seeing them again? I know they are not an out in the open all the time fish but was expecting to see them more than I have, especially after their reaction to the new tank on the first day. Its a completely passive fish tank with only 2 small green gobies and one dragon face pipefish. They did seem to have some mating behavior when in the bag and the first day in the tank, with the male lifting his tail up making a slight crescent shape. Could they be hiding due to the male carying eggs? They are both only about 1 3/4" or so and I though a little small to breed but maybe?

On another note my dragon face has also disappeared for the past couple hours, Im not too worried because Ive had him for about 2 months but I think its a bit odd for them to all disappear on the same day... Also I plan on getting an anthias or two, would the open swimming fish make them a bit more comfortable?

Thanks for any help, Ill post a pic whenever I find them
 
IME they don't really appreciate bright light. Apart from feeding time, I see mine a lot more after lights out.
 
Our bluestripe pipe always hangs out in the back where there isn't much light. Then after lights out it can bee seen swimming around in the front. So I'll back up what rssjsb just said.
 
all 3 of my pipes seem to be nocturnal. I never see 2 of them until the lights go to actinics only, and the other one rarely comes out before then either. They do seem to hang out together. I like having a school of pipefish!
 
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