Pipefish Questions and Concerns

[kaserpick]

Hey everyone!

As the title says, I have a few questions and concerns about Pipefish.

Here they are:
1.I know that Seahorses are clumsy in higher flow. How are Pipefish in higher flow?

2.Also, I know Seahorses need hitching posts; therefore, it's imperative to select corals that won't sting and stress them. Do Pipefish use hitching posts, and/or do I need to be careful of my coral selection with them?

3.What are a few species of Pipefish that (usually) readily feed on prepared and/or frozen foods? If there are some that would, what kind of foods are we talking about?

4.Would Pipefish be ok with sexy shrimp? Cleaner shrimp? Clams (will they try to pick at the clam, beccause this would almost surely kill the Pipefish)?

5.Lastly, how often do most of them need feeding?

I'm sorry for all the questions; I'm very new in this area of the hobby. I'm very experienced with reef aquaria, so I can keep stable parameters. I primarily work with Acropora and Montipora sp. but do also have a few Acan. Lords.

Thank you in advance!

 

[rssjsb]

1.I know that Seahorses are clumsy in higher flow. How are Pipefish in higher flow?

Depends on the type of pipe. Flagfin pipefish (e.g., janns, bluestripes) tend to do better with more flow and reef conditions in general.

2.Also, I know Seahorses need hitching posts; therefore, it's imperative to select corals that won't sting and stress them. Do Pipefish use hitching posts, and/or do I need to be careful of my coral selection with them?

Again, bluestripes, Janns, and may some other flag fin types do not hitch and are usually ok around corals like acans. Dragonface pipes don't hitch, but like to "slither" around the reef and rest on corals. I wouldn't worry so much about acans, but would not risk them with anemones. There are pipes that have prehensile tails that will hitch. Alligator pipes, maybe? I'm not really that familiar with these types of pipefish.

3.What are a few species of Pipefish that (usually) readily feed on prepared and/or frozen foods? If there are some that would, what kind of foods are we talking about?

This varies. My bluestripes eat prepared food, but I think they get most of their nourishment by grazing pods. I wouldn't count on any pipefish taking frozen foods right away or ever taking pellets or flakes.

4.Would Pipefish be ok with sexy shrimp? Cleaner shrimp? Clams (will they try to pick at the clam, beccause this would almost surely kill the Pipefish)?

don't know about sexies, but peppermint and cleaner shrimp should be fine. I don't think pipes would have any interest in picking at the clam, but a dragonface may try to rest on it, which could be a problem.

5.Lastly, how often do most of them need feeding?

I feed the tank my bluestripe is in pipe frozen foods three or four times a week. She eats them, but does not depend on them for sustenance. If you were trying to keep them alive just on frozen food (something I wouldn't recommend), I would want to feed them several small meals throughout the day. Best thing is to be sure that the tank they're in is mature, connected to a refugium, and does not have any other fish competing for pods.

I'm sorry for all the questions; I'm very new in this area of the hobby. I'm very experienced with reef aquaria, so I can keep stable parameters. I primarily work with Acropora and Montipora sp. but do also have a few Acan. Lords.

Thank you in advance!

No problem - these are all good questions and it's better to ask them now than after you've put a fish in your tank!

 

[kaserpick]

Depends on the type of pipe. Flagfin pipefish (e.g., janns, bluestripes) tend to do better with more flow and reef conditions in general.

Again, bluestripes, Janns, and may some other flag fin types do not hitch and are usually ok around corals like acans. Dragonface pipes don't hitch, but like to "slither" around the reef and rest on corals. I wouldn't worry so much about acans, but would not risk them with anemones. There are pipes that have prehensile tails that will hitch. Alligator pipes, maybe? I'm not really that familiar with these types of pipefish.

This varies. My bluestripes eat prepared food, but I think they get most of their nourishment by grazing pods. I wouldn't count on any pipefish taking frozen foods right away or ever taking pellets or flakes.

don't know about sexies, but peppermint and cleaner shrimp should be fine. I don't think pipes would have any interest in picking at the clam, but a dragonface may try to rest on it, which could be a problem.

I feed the tank my bluestripe is in pipe frozen foods three or four times a week. She eats them, but does not depend on them for sustenance. If you were trying to keep them alive just on frozen food (something I wouldn't recommend), I would want to feed them several small meals throughout the day. Best thing is to be sure that the tank they're in is mature, connected to a refugium, and does not have any other fish competing for pods.

No problem - these are all good questions and it's better to ask them now than after you've put a fish in your tank!

Thank you very much for your response and information! I agree; I'd much rather learn how to take care of the animal and weigh the idea to insure it's survival and quality of life.

Again, you were very informative. Last question, if I didn't have a refugium but was able to consistently buy copepods, would this be a viable and successful option? Thanks again!

 

[rssjsb]

Generally speaking, I would not count on being able to buy enough live pods to sustain any pod-eating fish.

Your ability to do without a refugium will depend on how big the tank is, how much live rock you've tog, which pipe you choose, etc.

I've read that you can create rubble piles to have a sort of in-tank refugium, but it would have to be stacked pretty tight to keep out a skinny little pipefish. I've also seen some really interesting tanks out there with rocks and macro algae in the display where pods can hide and breed.

So you've got options. What size tank are you considering?

 

[kaserpick]

18" cube

Thanks again for the info!

 

[Octoshark]

You can culture your own pods without a refuge. Just culture them in separate vessels (if you have a little extra space and time). That would save a ton of money on constantly buying copepods.

 

[kaserpick]

You can culture your own pods without a refuge. Just culture them in separate vessels (if you have a little extra space and time). That would save a ton of money on constantly buying copepods.

Do you have an article on how to do this effectively? That sounds like a really good idea!

 

[rssjsb]

Kasey - Honestly, I don't think I would keep any pipe other than maybe a bluestripe or maybe one of the other dwarf species in a tank that small. You could do a trio of bluestripes, which would be pretty cool.

As for culturing pods, I agree it's possible, but it seems like a lot of constant work. Can you not set up a small refugium? I modded an AC 70 set as a HOB fuge up with some live rock rubble on a 20 gallon tank once, and it seemed to work pretty well. My bluestripes were constantly swimming around the outfall looking for a free meal.

 

[pkunk35]

Very long time lurker here who happens to also own pipefish,

The sexy shrimp will be fine with pipefish IME. No problems here.

You won't be able to buy enough live pods to feed the pipes everyday. Even if you did add pods everyday (my god they are expensive at the LFS), the pipes are going to want to feed on their own time and may get stressed if they aren't allowed to graze freely throughout the day on live foods.

Best bet IMO is to start breeding/culturing pods and critters in the tank itself before stocking pipes. Add some hiding spots like mound up rubble or Chaeto and then add a good stock of pods/live sand/mysid shrimps. Make this tank fishless and let the little guys reproduce to larger numbers. Once you see visible pods during the day and your tank is "snowing" at night with pods, add pipefish.

Countless other ways to do it, but I believe your rate of success will be much higher if your tank already has a reproducing and established populations of pods. Also gives you room for error in case your pipes are stubborn and will not take to frozen foods (more than likely).

If you have the time and work ethic for culturing pods as food, I would say def do it! Then post here about what you did!

Wish you much luck,

 

[small alien]

IME, pipes are not that hard to train to frozen. I've had a multi-band and 3 bandeds that all ate mysis, roe and cyclopeeze and a dragonface that eats roe vigorously. I have a fuge but I have dragonets and other competitors. One of the keys to feeding pod eaters is to turn of the flow for a while (1/2 hour) so they can eat. Or turn it way down. I feed twice a day generally. My pipes have never paid any attention to my sexy shrimp. Maybe if I had a super tiny one. Good luck.

 

[TotalVapor]

Pipefish normally will stay close to the rocks so the high flow should not be bad for them. The higher the flow the more they hide the less you see them.

I have had sexy shrimp with my pipefish and no issues

My pipefish stay away from my clams.

HTH

 

[kaserpick]

Thanks for the info guys! I appreciate it. :thumbsup:

I decided to stay away from pipes; I just won't be able to stay on top of things in order to supply them with the care they need. There's no since in risking the animal. Thanks again!

 

[small alien]

Sounds like a thoughtful choice. Pipefish are a bit more of a way of life than a pet, that is true.

 

[rekn]

i put rubble piles in 2 corners with an acrylic pipe going down the center. i put crushed spirulina in the pipe and it would sink to, and into the center of, my rubble pile. the number of pods they produced were amazing.

Generally speaking, I would not count on being able to buy enough live pods to sustain any pod-eating fish.

Your ability to do without a refugium will depend on how big the tank is, how much live rock you've tog, which pipe you choose, etc.

I've read that you can create rubble piles to have a sort of in-tank refugium, but it would have to be stacked pretty tight to keep out a skinny little pipefish. I've also seen some really interesting tanks out there with rocks and macro algae in the display where pods can hide and breed.

So you've got options. What size tank are you considering?

 

[ChadTheSpike]

Do you have an article on how to do this effectively? That sounds like a really good idea!

Kasey - Honestly, I don't think I would keep any pipe other than maybe a bluestripe or maybe one of the other dwarf species in a tank that small. You could do a trio of bluestripes, which would be pretty cool.

As for culturing pods, I agree it's possible, but it seems like a lot of constant work. Can you not set up a small refugium? I modded an AC 70 set as a HOB fuge up with some live rock rubble on a 20 gallon tank once, and it seemed to work pretty well. My bluestripes were constantly swimming around the outfall looking for a free meal.

I know I am a little late to the conversation here, but IME and opinion, a well run pod culture is not difficult and does not take up any more space than a refugium but can produce more copepods than a refugium can. Once set up the only work is topping off enough to keep salinity constant (daily in my case), 1-3 times per week feeding, and 1 time per week harvesting and water change.

I often (not currently, but usually) have a semi-continuous culture going of something in a 10 gallon tank filled half way (for harpacticoids, shallow is better) with an air pump running without an airstone (slow enough to count each bubble). I always order a single species starter culture (tisbe or tigriopus usually) and add it to 1.025 saltwater and enough phyto to color the water a light shade of green (a store bought live mixture works fine or you can grow your own). I top up with fresh water as needed (daily sometimes), check the water color and add phyto as necessary (water should always be tinted green), and do a 50% water change every week by draining 50% off (pods and everything included) and adding that to the tank I am feeding then topping up with newly mixed saltwater and new phyto. That is it. I find that restarting the culture every couple of months keeps growth rates high.

Phyto is not necessary, it is just convenient for me, finely ground fish food works as well, just watch water quality. Tigriopus especially is pretty insensitive to water quality, but you dont want it getting too bad. If you see water quality really going downhill (overfeeding, crash, etc.), just do a 100% WC and restart the culture.

Just my thoughts, but I think that more than one 10 gallon tank would be necessary to sustain a pod only eating fish. If I were to do it for anything more than supplementation, I would probably set up 2-4 10 gallon cultures and restart one every month. When I am in the thick of things with my 5 gallon volume system, I probably add about the equivalent of 1 bottle of tigger pods a week with my method.

 

[ChadTheSpike]

Sounds like a thoughtful choice. Pipefish are a bit more of a way of life than a pet, that is true.

Well put, although I would add that all sygnathids are a way of life!