Should I add a pipefish?

[Spiralinglotus1]

My lfs gets banded pipefish and seahorses in occasionally and I'm debating wether I should try one or not. I'd love a couple seahorses but I know my DT is not the place for them. The pipefish however really cool looking and are feeding on frozen mysis which is my staple feeder. I also have a decent pod population.

Right now I have a 30 gal mixed reef with mostly Lps and some sps, a medium flow power head hidden in the rock work, and a small hob refugium which I'm going to upgrade soon. My fish list includes: firefish, orchid dotty, misbar clown, bar goby, neon goby, 2 Chromis, and a mandarin that eats frozen. The bar goby, firefish, and dotty are hardly out except when feeding so the tank doesn't look as packed as it sounds. I also feed pretty heavily and haven't noticed any aggression in the tank besides the occasional nip for territory.

Are pipefish typically left alone in a mixed reef? My water conditions stay fairly stable but are they very sensitive to changes? The lfs has 2, is it recommended to get 2 or will 1 be ok? Do the banded pipes swim around the water colum/around rock work or do they tend to hide? Any other info or concerns are appreciated!

 

[ThRoewer]

If I remember correctly banded pipefish are not the best swimmers. I had them by themselves in a 60 liter tank and there they did fine.

The only pipefish that I know to be perfectly suited for a reef tank is the Bluestripe Pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus). They can easily handle the high flows you need in a SPS tank and are usually not harassed by other fish. The ones I had in the past would all eat Mysis though the single male I have right now hasn't gotten there yet.
The closely related D. jansi is a little more reclusive and may like less strong currents.
Both species like overhangs underneath they like to stay, usually belly up. D. jansi almost always swims on its back.
With both species male and female are easily identified: the males have a saw-like structure on the top of the snout while the females snout is smooth.

 

[Banded pipefish]

Bluestripe pipefish would be ideal

Bluestripe pipefish would be ideal

If I remember correctly banded pipefish are not the best swimmers. I had them by themselves in a 60 liter tank and there they did fine.

The only pipefish that I know to be perfectly suited for a reef tank is the Bluestripe Pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus). They can easily handle the high flows you need in a SPS tank and are usually not harassed by other fish. The ones I had in the past would all eat Mysis though the single male I have right now hasn't gotten there yet.
The closely related D. jansi is a little more reclusive and may like less strong currents.
Both species like overhangs underneath they like to stay, usually belly up. D. jansi almost always swims on its back.
With both species male and female are easily identified: the males have a saw-like structure on the top of the snout while the females snout is smooth.

2 Blustripe pipefish would be perfect for your tank, but they are hard to find. I looked for 3 months for one and I finally got one. Maybe you could order online.

 

[ThRoewer]

I told the manager of the LFS and he ordered some for me.
LiveAquaria has them sometimes too. I ordered a female and supplied them with the info how to sex them and got a female. Unfortunately she died within 24h.

Here you find the pictures to sex them: https://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/tiere/64_Doryrhamphus_excisus.htm