Banded Pipefish or Bluestripe Pipefish for a 50?

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Hi! So I'm building a Macro Algae Aquarium out of an old 50 gallon that's going to consist of different types of Macros, Gorgonians, and some Softies and LPS. So I thought this would be a really good setup for a pipefish, after doing a lot of research and going through forums, i found the 2 species that are the most beginner friendly for people who've never kept pipefish (besides the dragonface) are the Banded Pipefish ( Doryrhamphus dactylophorus ) and the Blue Stripe ( Doryrhamphus excisus ) I would most likely get 1 of them, although I might take a gamble to try and get a pair of Bluestripes, but which one of the 2 would be the better fit? I know the Banded gets about double the size, but they also look nice. They would be probably the last fish in the tank so theres time for pods to colonize. Other Tank Mates I'm highly considering are: A Pair of Orange Spotted Filefish, a Yasha Goby and Red Striped Pistol Shrimp pair, and some other peaceful fish. For Inverts, basically snails and different Shrimp, and a few smaller crabs. People who have had experience with either species advice would help a lot

 

[living_tribunal]

Hi! So I'm building a Macro Algae Aquarium out of an old 50 gallon that's going to consist of different types of Macros, Gorgonians, and some Softies and LPS. So I thought this would be a really good setup for a pipefish, after doing a lot of research and going through forums, i found the 2 species that are the most beginner friendly for people who've never kept pipefish (besides the dragonface) are the Banded Pipefish ( Doryrhamphus dactylophorus ) and the Blue Stripe ( Doryrhamphus excisus ) I would most likely get 1 of them, although I might take a gamble to try and get a pair of Bluestripes, but which one of the 2 would be the better fit? I know the Banded gets about double the size, but they also look nice. They would be probably the last fish in the tank so theres time for pods to colonize. Other Tank Mates I'm highly considering are: A Pair of Orange Spotted Filefish, a Yasha Goby and Red Striped Pistol Shrimp pair, and some other peaceful fish. For Inverts, basically snails and different Shrimp, and a few smaller crabs. People who have had experience with either species advice would help a lot

Banded is more difficult than the others.

Pipe fish are a hit or miss for newcomers. It’s kind of the luck of the draw. Some are incredibly picky eaters. Some are not. I would say most are picky.

If you are buying these from an lfs, take the time to see if any of them will eat frozen cyclops. I’ve found the longer a pipe has been at the lfs, the more likely he will eat frozen.

One reason why many don’t have success with pipefish is because they eat a substantial amount of pods but they primarily eat from the water column. They will scavenge pods from the rocks/snipe off the glass and to a lesser degree the sand but for the most part, it’s gonna be in the water column.

I have the worlds laziest banded pipe fish. He sometimes eats the 30,000 pods I painstakingly culture for him every week but really only likes hand fed frozen cyclops. Pipe fish need food that’s large enough for them to see but small enough to fit in their mouths.

 

[living_tribunal]

Hi! So I'm building a Macro Algae Aquarium out of an old 50 gallon that's going to consist of different types of Macros, Gorgonians, and some Softies and LPS. So I thought this would be a really good setup for a pipefish, after doing a lot of research and going through forums, i found the 2 species that are the most beginner friendly for people who've never kept pipefish (besides the dragonface) are the Banded Pipefish ( Doryrhamphus dactylophorus ) and the Blue Stripe ( Doryrhamphus excisus ) I would most likely get 1 of them, although I might take a gamble to try and get a pair of Bluestripes, but which one of the 2 would be the better fit? I know the Banded gets about double the size, but they also look nice. They would be probably the last fish in the tank so theres time for pods to colonize. Other Tank Mates I'm highly considering are: A Pair of Orange Spotted Filefish, a Yasha Goby and Red Striped Pistol Shrimp pair, and some other peaceful fish. For Inverts, basically snails and different Shrimp, and a few smaller crabs. People who have had experience with either species advice would help a lot

To answer your question, I’d go with the dragon face or blue stripe. But choose whichever one will eat frozen. People don’t have very good success with pipe fish.

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Thank you! I've heard mixed opinions so this helps a lot. I might try and go with 1 Blue Stripe, and see how it does when the tank is mature enough

 

[ThePurple12]

They're easy to train onto frozen just by adding the frozen food to the tank every day. Eventually they'll catch on. It took my pair I think less than a month. If you can get them onto frozen, you can keep a pair in a 50.

 

[ThRoewer]

Bluestripes are reef pipefish and do better in a higher flow tank in my experience. Once acclimated, feeding them has never been an issue for me as they learn quickly from other fish and have no issues competing with fast eating fish. Also to kep in mind, Bluestripes are cleaner fish.

In a low flow macro algae tank I would rather go with Dunckerocampus species like Dunckerocampus dactylophorus (they are not Doryrhamphus species and all sites, books, or other sources putting them into Doryrhamphus got it wrong!)