pipefish...

[sly fox]

i love pipefish, ive never considered keeping them before as i alwasy thought
they were very hard to keep... reading articles like this

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003- ... /index.php

makes me think with the right setup it may not be so hard...

im working on an 18" cube at the moment, the rockwork im making is a rock mix tree against the back wall
with roots extending, so hiding places... i plan to have some seagrasses in there when the sand beds matured enough
and some corals on the tree...

my fuge is going to be pod/mysis shrimp orientated, and i could setup a small tank just to breed mysis shrimp as well,
a local store has tigger pods available,and my 75g fuge on my other tank should churn out a lot of pods...

would a pair of the smaller pipefish be viable? also whats the max lighting they could have... would 175w halides, with a more blue bulb, and night lights be too much?

 

[sly fox]

anyone...? its ok to say no if its a bad idea

 

[JCR's Reef]

I personally think you would be fine especially if your willing to do the research on it. The smaller they are, the smaller the food has to be. I would read on what people do for raising amphipod culture's,copepod's, mysis, and others if you have the room for it. You also dont have to read just about the pipefish for feeding. You could also read what people do to raise seahorse's, dragonets, and other finicky eaters. You will need a constant supply of hatched brine shrimp too and have to add it daily or they will complete wipe your system of all pods.

 

[sly fox]

thanks josh, maintaining live cultures is fine ... happy to do that

any suggestions as to species i should look into?

 

[rssjsb]

I would say you would be fine with a pair of bluestripes. Mine eat mysis and cyclopeez along with pods. They're really nice fish.

JMO, but I don't really think any of the bigger pipes would be sustainable in that tank in the long run. You just can't count on them taking prepared foods, and I think it's harder than it sounds to constantly culture enough live food for them.

Maybe someone will come along with different specific advice about other species.

 

[wilawalo]

I have two alligator pipefish that eat frozen mysis, baby brine, frozen and live brine. They are really cute. They would love seagrass, mine hang out in my calpura. I have heard they like less light. I have mine with T5's and they seem to be doing fine.

 

[Squidhead9]

I have a general reef tank with two fat happy mandarins. I know seahorses won't survive, but can a pipefish be put in fish and coral setup setup with fish if there are enough pods i in it.

 

[sly fox]

thanks guys, yeah i wasnt looking at the bigger pipes, i know the tank would be too small...

thx for the info so far..

 

[mollymonticello]

I also think Bluestripes would be an option. They stay small and are relatively easy to train to frozen foods.

 

[sly fox]

thanks, any other options?

bluestripes are nice looking fish and dont get too big...

can you keep three together ok? or is there male/male aggression?

 

[rssjsb]

yes, don't put two males together or you'll just have one male by the end of the day. i've also had females kill each other when no male was present.

Males and females pair up easily, and you may be able to do a trio as long as its 1m/2f.

They are supposedly harem breeders with one male and several females. I've never tried three in the same tank. (I must say that it's never really made sense to me because the male is (1) the one that carries the eggs, and (2) more fragile than the females, but what do i know?)

 

[sly fox]

thanks for the info... so a pair is best for my needs really..

are they easy or hard to sex? what are the gender differences in appearence?

thanks

 

[rssjsb]

Males have little bumps on their snouts, and their bellies are flat-ish. Females have smoother snouts and are rounder in shape.

Hope this helps.

 

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12102991#post12102991 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Squidhead9
I have a general reef tank with two fat happy mandarins. I know seahorses won't survive, but can a pipefish be put in fish and coral setup setup with fish if there are enough pods i in it.

I would be reluctant to put any pipes in a tank with two mandarins. Mandarins are pod-hunting machines. Bluestripes can learn to eat frozen foods, but they may not at first, and that's pretty heavy competition.

 

[sly fox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12108213#post12108213 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rssjsb
Males have little bumps on their snouts, and their bellies are flat-ish. Females have smoother snouts and are rounder in shape.

Hope this helps.

thanks, yes that helps a lot..

 

[Capt_Cully]

Can you keep blue stripes and bandeds in the same system?

 

[mollymonticello]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12122480#post12122480 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Capt_Cully
Can you keep blue stripes and bandeds in the same system?

There won't be any aggression, if that's what you mean. Some keepers worry about disease transmission, though.

 

[sly fox]

any links to good online articles or suggested reading material?