New to pipefish.

[Joe_17]

Hello, i'm new to the pipefish scene and had a few questions. I setup my tank for pipefish recently it's a 30 gallon with lots of fake tall plants for pipefish to grasp and hang on to. No other tank mates besides snails and hermits.

I have a friend who has the species im looking for which is an alligator pipefish. However, his seems to be sick i think and he doesn't know what's wrong with it. When i saw it it was still eating and looked normal. Then when i saw it a few days later it looked like it was still eating but was floating on it's side at the top of his tank. This concerns me as i wouldnt want to get one unless i know how to deal with whatever is wrong with his should mine ever have that problem. Any ideas?

 

[namxas]

A pipe with buoyancy trouble is definitely sick. Avoid it.

 

[Joe_17]

Is there any way to treat fish with that problem?

 

[namxas]

If you can get ahold of of some Acetylzolamide (Diamox), it MAY work, assuming the issue is due to edema. A 'scrip from a vet is needed to obtain it. If you get the med, I can give you the protocol for treatment. It's a 3-day treatment, and one og the side effects is the fish often go off their feed, so the fish needs to have a bit of weight on it.

Seriously, you really don't want to get into this unless you've got some experience treating Syngnathids. I've been seeing plenty of nice-looking S. biaculeatus around the LFS's lately.