Pipe fish

[Giga]

I've never really been into pipe fish but I went to my LFS and he had two of these pipe fish that were like neon orange, and I was like WOW, Anyway can I put them in a tank just for them with some corals?

 

[hydroid]

Stay away from stinging corals ... most softies, zoas and shrooms will be fine.

I would ask to see them eat at the LFS. If they only take live food, it might get very expensive to feed them. Also, unless you have a very reliable local source for live food, it could get way more expensive in shipping costs (for live food).

If they readily eat frozen ... go for it.

Oh, and brine shrimp won't cut it, even enriched to the gills. It just isn't nutritious enough.

HTH

 

[Giga]

what about sps corals, like birds nest and such?

 

[Ralph ATL]

no problem with sps corals, however, you might need to check with someone more experienced that myself since SPS corals require a very high flow & water temp. I have 2 dragonface pipefish in my sps dominated reef tank, but I think they are the exception.
Ralph

 

[LisaD]

Can you post a picture or get a species name? Some pipes tend to do better in captivity than others. They also may have specialized environment or food requirements, depending on the species. In some species, males will fight to the death, so you need to be careful if trying to pair them up or form a trio... More information will help us give you better input and advice.

Personally, I've kept seahorses for about 4 years, with good success. I find pipes to be much more challenging...

 

[bpd964]

They are probably multi-banded or banded pipes.. They should do well in a mature reef tank with sps BUT, I would be careful with anem's or Lps. blue stripes are good for reefs as well and those along with the bandeds should be ok with the flow..

 

[Faisal1976us]

did they eat cyclop-eeze ?