pipefish and temperature

[Anthony.Luciano]

do pipes need a cool temperature like seahorses because they seem to be in the same family as them but I know someone who has them in a reef tank.

 

[wdt2000]

Depends on the type of pipefish. I keep dragonface pipefish in my reef system, but I keep my reef on the the cool side around 77. I would assume they would do fine at normal reef temps.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

oh ok. I really want a dragonface also but I have my temp synced with the seasonal controller on the apex so it changes throughout the year ranging from 75-81. do you think I should make it constant or keep it on the seasonal sync to have the pipefish.

Depends on the type of pipefish. I keep dragonface pipefish in my reef system, but I keep my reef on the the cool side around 77. I would assume they would do fine at normal reef temps.

 

[namxas]

Seasonal changes aren't an issue as long as the day-to-day fluctuations are controlled, and the "seasonal changes" are gradual.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

Oh yes I'm a temp fanatic the temperature on this tank doesn't change more them .01 a day unless the seasonal sync makes it change. I was just worried because I know seahorses require cooler temps because of the reproduction of their pathogens and I wasn't sure if pipefish are also vulnerable to those also.

Seasonal changes aren't an issue as long as the day-to-day fluctuations are controlled, and the "seasonal changes" are gradual.

 

[namxas]

Some pipes should be kept cooler, but DF and flagfins are fine at "normal" temps.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

ok well I ordered a df pipefish from my lfs yesterday and they said they should have it by tuesday, im so exited! I have plenty of pods in the tank for it but any suggestions on how to get it eating frozen food?

Some pipes should be kept cooler, but DF and flagfins are fine at "normal" temps.

 

[namxas]

"Plenty of pods" will be "zero pods" in pretty short order, but they should get the pipes eating for you. It's surprising how much hungry pipes can eat, esp. when they're coming in from "the system" (they likely won't have eaten). What most folks do is to try and mix in some cyclopeeze, ova or mini mysis when you feed the tank live food such as BBS. What usually happens if the pipes snick up the frozen food by accident and usually decide that it's tasty.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

Ok, thanks, then should I also put in some brine shrimp from my lfs when I get it because they culture the brine shrimp there so would that help get it to eat frozen food?

"Plenty of pods" will be "zero pods" in pretty short order, but they should get the pipes eating for you. It's surprising how much hungry pipes can eat, esp. when they're coming in from "the system" (they likely won't have eaten). What most folks do is to try and mix in some cyclopeeze, ova or mini mysis when you feed the tank live food such as BBS. What usually happens if the pipes snick up the frozen food by accident and usually decide that it's tasty.

 

[namxas]

if the BS are small enuff. You'll know what I mean when you see their snout size. Be sure you enrich the BS first.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

what do you mean by enrich?

if the BS are small enuff. You'll know what I mean when you see their snout size. Be sure you enrich the BS first.

 

[rayjay]

Enrichment of live foods like brine shrimp or copepods or mysis is done by feeding an enrichment to them for a period of time before using them as food for the pipefish/seahorses.
A lot of us use Dan's Food from seahorse source which is a blend tailor made for them.
The enrichment period for brine depends on their stage of growth, and for newly hatched bbs one grows them out for a day and THEN enrich them in two 12 hour stages with new water and food for each stage. As the brine progress through the molts and increase in size they take decreasing long to enrich so that adults can be fully enriched in about 8 hours, with decent levels even sooner.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

so enriching is just changing the water and food every 12 hours?

Enrichment of live foods like brine shrimp or copepods or mysis is done by feeding an enrichment to them for a period of time before using them as food for the pipefish/seahorses.
A lot of us use Dan's Food from seahorse source which is a blend tailor made for them.
The enrichment period for brine depends on their stage of growth, and for newly hatched bbs one grows them out for a day and THEN enrich them in two 12 hour stages with new water and food for each stage. As the brine progress through the molts and increase in size they take decreasing long to enrich so that adults can be fully enriched in about 8 hours, with decent levels even sooner.

 

[rayjay]

No, you take out the brine you need from it's holding container and enrich only what you are going to use, in a separate container. Save the remainder for later needs.
I use inverted 2L pop bottles for my enrichment.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

Sorry I still dont get it. what exactly is enrichment, is it like adding a chemical or what you said before changing the water and food every 12 hours. thanks for bearing with me.

No, you take out the brine you need from it's holding container and enrich only what you are going to use, in a separate container. Save the remainder for later needs.
I use inverted 2L pop bottles for my enrichment.

 

[rayjay]

Basically one could say the enrichments are specialized food. The most common one salt water aquarists come across are the Selcos and Selcons which are emulsions of the fatty acid profiles.
I personally use Dan's Feed with BG, which is a blend of things from seahorse source specialized for syngnathids and incorporate most of the enrichment medium sold on his enrichment page.
SEAHORSE SOURCE ENRICHMENTS
Myself, I feed the newer brine with nannochloropsis, but switch over to blended spirulina powder which is an excellent food by itself, and cheaper to use as a food than using only enrichments, saving those enrichments for just the portions of brine that are going to be fed to the syngnathids.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

wow this is all sounding pretty complicated. do you think I can just buy regular brine shrimp from my lfs to get it eating even though its not enriched and then sooner or later maybe it will start eating frozen food because a couple of my friends got them and they ate frozen food from the start so thats what I was hoping mine would do.

 

[rayjay]

Maybe you will luck in as well with yours.
If you CAN'T get it on frozen very soon though, you should enrich the live brine for best chance of survival.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

seahorsesource.org has food thought right? if so I rather just buy the live food until it eats frozen food hopefully.

Maybe you will luck in as well with yours.
If you CAN'T get it on frozen very soon though, you should enrich the live brine for best chance of survival.

 

[wdt2000]

Another simple option would be to get some harps like tiger pods and grow them in some old waste water from your tank. They don't need air or anything other than some food which can be ground up fish food. They are very hardy. My guess is that unless you only have pipes in the tank most of the brine would be eaten by other fast moving fish. The harps on the other hand would be more likely to make it to your intended target.