Fretfreak13
I am not a boy!
Saw this fish at a LFS and came home to do some research on it but I'm not having much luck. LA lists them as "difficult". Why? Anyone ever keep one?
Yellow Stripe Clingfish
- Thread starter Fretfreak13
- Start date
Turbo snail
New member
If This is a pipefish (which it looks like) they're not terribly difficult to care for if given a specialized tank. These guys tend to have very similar care requirements to seahorses, including needing frequent and most likely live food that has little to no competition in the water column due to their tiny stomachs. If you can devote a tank to them you probably will be successful, but the high currents and food competition in a normal reef tank would probably be tough for this guy to handle
Fretfreak13
I am not a boy!
Definitely not anything like a pipefish. It swims like a blenny. According to LA,its from the family Gobiesocidae, where pipefish are members of the signathid family (like seahorses).
Ostara
Keep Calm and Reef On
I got one from LiveAquaria that ate Ova voraciously from the start and did really well in quarantine. It was a really awesome fish but sadly it jumped only a few days after going into the display. I was shocked. The tank was covered and he was so tiny and awkward that I would never have considered it a possibility, but it did. I think it went right through the 1/4" mesh, so keeping it in the tank is something to consider.
Fretfreak13
I am not a boy!
I think I'm gonna add this to my list despite the lack of information about them. I already feed ova, so hopefully I get one that eats like yours. My tank is 100% sealed with a glass top.
I've kept them... 5 of them to be specific.
My first pair I picked up I was able to get eating Ova after a day or two with a little help from my trainer fish, a yellow clown goby. Unfortunately after a week, one of them jumped, so I was down to 1. I never noticed any outright aggression, and they often liked to perch together. That could've been bonding or some sort of intimidation. That was in an 8 gallon nano.
A few months later the LFS got another one in, and despite being extremely emaciated I bought him. He did not survive the night, just too far gone.
My one guy did very well for a few months, but one day my wife decided to help me by cleaning the tank and she must have had some hand lotion residue. The next day my Jann's pipefish pair were both dead and the clingfish soon followed. My yellow clown goby was the only one who survied.
Here's an old video of my 8 gallon pre-poisoning.
A few moths after that I picked up another pair and they also went into the 8 gallon. One was eating immediately, no training required. The other was only picking a little bit and spitting the food out. I couldn't get him to eat and if he did pick at something it didn't stay down. Anyways, after a week or so he dissappeared. He didn't jump, probably died in the rockwork and was scavenged.
So I was back down to 1, but I had the one for a while, though I can't recall exactly how long. He eventually moved into a 58 gallon, then later to a 57 gallon. Shortly after the move to the 57 he too jumped.
One interesting thing about them is that they love to eat shrimp eggs. In the nano I had a group of 5 sexy shrimp and the clingfish would stalk them for their eggs. He would hover nearby, his head absolutely still while his body was doing that wavy swimming thing they do. Then he would start turning his head back and forth, sometimes upside down, often doing a barrel roll, trying to get into position. If he saw an opportunity, he would lunge forward (often upside down) and try to snatch an egg off the shrimps belly. When I moved to the 58 gallon I bought a group of saltwater ghost shrimp as a clean up crew, and also so I could watch the clingfish stalk them. Though to be honest, he kind of got lost in a tank that big.
I hope to someday get a group of 3 or 4 again for my 57, but the LFS that I bought them from is gone and I've never seen them anywhere else.
My first pair I picked up I was able to get eating Ova after a day or two with a little help from my trainer fish, a yellow clown goby. Unfortunately after a week, one of them jumped, so I was down to 1. I never noticed any outright aggression, and they often liked to perch together. That could've been bonding or some sort of intimidation. That was in an 8 gallon nano.
A few months later the LFS got another one in, and despite being extremely emaciated I bought him. He did not survive the night, just too far gone.
My one guy did very well for a few months, but one day my wife decided to help me by cleaning the tank and she must have had some hand lotion residue. The next day my Jann's pipefish pair were both dead and the clingfish soon followed. My yellow clown goby was the only one who survied.
Here's an old video of my 8 gallon pre-poisoning.
A few moths after that I picked up another pair and they also went into the 8 gallon. One was eating immediately, no training required. The other was only picking a little bit and spitting the food out. I couldn't get him to eat and if he did pick at something it didn't stay down. Anyways, after a week or so he dissappeared. He didn't jump, probably died in the rockwork and was scavenged.
So I was back down to 1, but I had the one for a while, though I can't recall exactly how long. He eventually moved into a 58 gallon, then later to a 57 gallon. Shortly after the move to the 57 he too jumped.
One interesting thing about them is that they love to eat shrimp eggs. In the nano I had a group of 5 sexy shrimp and the clingfish would stalk them for their eggs. He would hover nearby, his head absolutely still while his body was doing that wavy swimming thing they do. Then he would start turning his head back and forth, sometimes upside down, often doing a barrel roll, trying to get into position. If he saw an opportunity, he would lunge forward (often upside down) and try to snatch an egg off the shrimps belly. When I moved to the 58 gallon I bought a group of saltwater ghost shrimp as a clean up crew, and also so I could watch the clingfish stalk them. Though to be honest, he kind of got lost in a tank that big.
I hope to someday get a group of 3 or 4 again for my 57, but the LFS that I bought them from is gone and I've never seen them anywhere else.
rssjsb
New member
So Thumbsy, did 2 of the five eat? I actually think you beat the odds if that's the case.
They almost always waste away in an aquarium. I tried once when one turned up in an LFS I used to frequent. It starved. I think they sometimes eat tube feet off of urchins, so it improves your odds if you have a healthy urchin in your tank. But I'm not sure that even that always works.
Maybe some day we'll figure out how to get them eating frozen and they'll be more like orange spotted files or other fish that used to be impossible to keep for longer than a week. For now, though, I would tend to avoid them.
It's too bad because they're really cool little fish. However, it may be a blessing that they're not offered as often as easier alternatives.
They almost always waste away in an aquarium. I tried once when one turned up in an LFS I used to frequent. It starved. I think they sometimes eat tube feet off of urchins, so it improves your odds if you have a healthy urchin in your tank. But I'm not sure that even that always works.
Maybe some day we'll figure out how to get them eating frozen and they'll be more like orange spotted files or other fish that used to be impossible to keep for longer than a week. For now, though, I would tend to avoid them.
It's too bad because they're really cool little fish. However, it may be a blessing that they're not offered as often as easier alternatives.
Well 3 out of 5.
#1 ate ova, jumped after a week.
#2 (in the video) lived for a few months, ate almost exclusively ova, died from purell.
#3 Never got a chance to feed this one, died hours after purchase.
#4 Did sort of what you describe, mostly refused food and eventually wasted away. He's the only fish I've ever had that spit out ova.
#5 Ate just about anything from the start.
I should mention I suspect the clown gobies (I have a pair now) are what lead to clingfish #5 jumping. The goby pair started laying eggs regularly and they eventually figured out the clingfish was after them. The male guarded the eggs and wouldn't venture too far from them, but whenever the female goby was getting ready to lay eggs she would become really aggressive to the clingfish, going out of her way to harass him. I think one night she caught him sleeping up high near the waterline and startled him into jumping.
Since you mentioned it, I have a pair of OSFF as well going on 3 or 4 months now. They were at the store only 5 days, so they weren't on deaths door yet, even though they never touched any food they offered. I knew I was taking a chance with them, but I have quite a bit of faith in my yellow clown gobies. Within 2 days the OSFF were eating ova, and within a week ate just about anything.
#1 ate ova, jumped after a week.
#2 (in the video) lived for a few months, ate almost exclusively ova, died from purell.
#3 Never got a chance to feed this one, died hours after purchase.
#4 Did sort of what you describe, mostly refused food and eventually wasted away. He's the only fish I've ever had that spit out ova.
#5 Ate just about anything from the start.
I should mention I suspect the clown gobies (I have a pair now) are what lead to clingfish #5 jumping. The goby pair started laying eggs regularly and they eventually figured out the clingfish was after them. The male guarded the eggs and wouldn't venture too far from them, but whenever the female goby was getting ready to lay eggs she would become really aggressive to the clingfish, going out of her way to harass him. I think one night she caught him sleeping up high near the waterline and startled him into jumping.
Since you mentioned it, I have a pair of OSFF as well going on 3 or 4 months now. They were at the store only 5 days, so they weren't on deaths door yet, even though they never touched any food they offered. I knew I was taking a chance with them, but I have quite a bit of faith in my yellow clown gobies. Within 2 days the OSFF were eating ova, and within a week ate just about anything.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Interesting thread. Thanks for your contributions, Thumbsy. (and cool handle)
I saw one at my LFS about a month ago but passed because the manager thought it might harass/eat my bluestripe pipefish. I have no idea if that's likely or not. I believe that they do live commensally with a species of urchin, not sure which one. Super cool little fish. I think my new "skilletfish" is in the same family though they look completely different.
I saw one at my LFS about a month ago but passed because the manager thought it might harass/eat my bluestripe pipefish. I have no idea if that's likely or not. I believe that they do live commensally with a species of urchin, not sure which one. Super cool little fish. I think my new "skilletfish" is in the same family though they look completely different.
Woogiekids
New member
I've had one in my work tank for over a year. He's very social and eats pellets.
Actually now that you mention it, I rarely saw my Jann's pair carrying eggs. I just assumed it was because the tank was too small for them to do a proper transfer, but it could've been the clingfish #2 picking them off. The Jann's didn't seem afraid of or timid around him, but I wouldn't be suprized if they tried to snatch an egg if they were hungry enough.
I also have a pair of bluestripes currently, and for a time (few months?) they were together in the same 58g and later 57g with clingfish #5. I never noticed any aggression, and the blues are substantially larger then the clingfish (not to mention the clingfish mouth is tiny) so I doubt it would actually eat the pipefish. But I could see them being a meanace to a pipefish carrying eggs... or anything with eggs for that matter. Mine seemed to be okay together. In all the time I've owned the bluestripes I have never seen my male without a belly full of eggs, including when he was with the clingfish.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Thanks for that info. I was going to add a female bluestripe to my existing male recently but she disappeared first night in qt. bummer. I'll try another as soon as I see one. Maybe a clingfish too!
