Pipefish in the Reef Tank

[BonesCJ]

I have a 72 gallon BF system with 120+ lbs of live rock and am thinking that adding a Pipefish to this system would be a nice last addition. Here is my current list of inhabitants
2 Chromis
1 Yellow Tang
1 Coral Beauty Angel
1 Royal Gramma
1 Perc Clown
1 Pyjama Cardinal
1 Rainfords Goby

Inverts
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 small BTA
tanks is a softie/LPS setup with lots of leathers, zoas and shrooms with 1 large hammer and multiple candy canes

Am I totally nuts in considering this, there is lots of rock for pods (Manderin survived for a long time before carpet surfing) and a gentle current with lots of anchoring posts. I saw several in Robs show tank at Southwest saltwater and they were fascinating.

 

[SWSaltwater]

I have a dragonface in my tank but it is eating frozen foods. The key to getting it to live is making sure it is eating.

 

[BonesCJ]

Yes I realized from reading that I did that getting an individual that eats frozen is a very important thing. Do you ever get the Dragon Faced or Banded/Ringed Pipefish? These two seem to be the most hardy and easiest to keep in the home tank. oh and your PM box is full rob.

 

[SWSaltwater]

actually i get em in a lot but only sell em when eating frozen unless the purchaser understands and wants to try to get em eating frozen. Get em from a farm in Vietnam along with seahorses. The seahorses eat brine right away but pipes are not as easy. Now if I can my frogfish to eat frozen i will be happy .

 

[ZOAKEEPER]

pipefish

pipefish

Kinda interesting article;
http://www.utahreefs.com/articles/Pipefish_final.pdf

 

[Tanque Verde]

I was in SWSW this evening and the pipe fish were one the first things to catch my attention. I wondered--but forgot to ask--whether they have the same temperature needs as seahorses. They're amazing creatures.

 

[SWSaltwater]

In my experience both seahorses and pipes need stability in water temp and quality, UV helps as well. The pipes are on frozen now, took 2-3 days in my show tank to train em. I think Puff the dragonface showed em the ropes hehe. These already look to show breeding behavior so I am glad I decided to keep em.