Pipefishes in a reef tank?

[Lexinverts]

Hello all,

I'm curious how many people here keep pipefish in their reef tanks.

If so, is it better to keep them with SPS than LPS?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Shan69743]

i have seen them in all sorts of reef tanks. from sps dominate to mixed reef.

 

[Lexinverts]

I was worried about corals stinging the pipefish. I have read that seahorses don't respond well to coral stings. It's not really an issue, then? Thanks!

 

[Shan69743]

not normally, pipefish don't need to hitch like seahorses do.

 

[rssjsb]

It depends on the pipe. Alligator pipes are hitchers with prehensile tails like seahorses (not normally offered in the trade). Dragonfaces slither around and will perch on corals - I'm pretty sure I lost the last one I had to a small BTA.

Flagtails (like Jannsi, bluestripes, and orange stripes) swim in the water column and are the "safest" pipes, i.e., the least likely to interact with corals or anemones.

 

[Lexinverts]

It depends on the pipe. Alligator pipes are hitchers with prehensile tails like seahorses (not normally offered in the trade). Dragonfaces slither around and will perch on corals - I'm pretty sure I lost the last one I had to a small BTA.

Flagtails (like Jannsi, bluestripes, and orange stripes) swim in the water column and are the "safest" pipes, i.e., the least likely to interact with corals or anemones.

Thanks for the info!

 

[burnah]

i have seen dragon pipe fish on coral reefs when diving and snorkelling, sitting on all different kinds of corals. i think it should be no problem for them as long as they have enough room to decide not to do it.

 

[teemee]

maybe avoid mini carpet anemones- they're super sticky, and v. dangerous for pipefish imho.

 

[rssjsb]

i have seen dragon pipe fish on coral reefs when diving and snorkelling, sitting on all different kinds of corals. i think it should be no problem for them as long as they have enough room to decide not to do it.

I think this might be true for most corals. The BTA that I suspect in the death of a dragon faced pipe was really small and in an out-of-the-way location in a 60x24x30 tank. In fact it was a tiny clone (like 1.5") of an anemone that I removed. The clone moved around and settled near the bottom of the tank in a place I couldn't see or get to.

So maybe the take home is to avoid anemones and some of the more noxious stinging LPS (i.e., elegance or LT plate corals).

 

[Allmost]

Ive had mine in a full SPS tank for a while ... they do okay, even with extreme flow ...

thats a MP 60 he is swimming against.

 

[NyReefNoob]

ive kept Bluestripe Pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus) for along time in my sps reef and in my seahorse system. open swimmer even though it stays to the back of the tank, always had better luck getting these to eat prepared foods and they work as a cleaner for fish also