Dragonface Pipefish In A Reef?

[Squishie89]

So, I finally found the fish to possibly round out my stock list. A dragonface pipefish. Current fish; 2 clownfish, 1 tribal blenny, 1 mandarin, 1 gumdrop coral croucher, 1 randalls goby. I plan on also having; 1 copperband butterfly, 1 coral beauty angel and 1 purple tang. I do have corals (frogspawn, plates/fungia, candy canes, duncans, flowerpot. Only going to be doing a few more). Not doing clams in this tank. Inverts; 1 tiger pistol shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, 1 pom pom crab, 15+ hermits, 150+ snails.
What are peoples thoughts on having a pipefish in a reef? In my readings I have seen some people think they should be in dedicated tanks like (most) seahorses, and some think they are fine in a reef and have had fine experiences with them in the reef. I think I have enough low flow areas for him to go if he needs a break, and there are plenty of places to hide. The tank is not packed with corals so he will have places to go away from them. Would love some opinions/thoughts and especially stories/reviews of having them in a reef.

 

[jedimasterben]

Should be fine. Dragonface pipes do not really swim, they sorta 'slither', so they don't particularly care about flow as long as it isn't direct and insanely powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZFBB4GTvcE

FWIW, I had two yellow stripe pipes in my tank for a few months before stuff started all heading south, and they had no problems. They slept in front of one of the powerheads, and are incredibly agile swimmers. I plan on acquiring another pair as soon as I can find them available.

 

[mgdth]

I have one in my 90 DT...does just fine.


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[Genesis Corals]

Following as I too am curious about this.

 

[jvdub20]

Following as well

 

[Squishie89]

Well to give an update we have decided to go with the pipefish. We will be getting 2, either a male and a female or 2 females. I might actually be ordering them today to have them ready for the first birthday of my tank next month. I will be breeding/culturing my own pods to keep up with the demand of 3 pod eaters.

 

[gar732]

They'll be fine. Swannyson7 had a pair in his reef for some time. He was running 3 mp40s and 2 mp10s with no problems. I had a pair in my reef but lost them in a tank move, they were doing well until the move. They actually will swim out into the water column from time to time but mostly just slither around like was said.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I know several people that have great success with pipefish in reef tanks. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[kes]

are these the ones that may eat red bugs from acros?

 

[Squishie89]

Yes they are (although not the reason I am getting them)

 

[Edzo]

I had one for several months with no issues, really added a lot to the tank poking around and swimmimg. I had a move and sadly it did not make it. I was going to get another but I read that there are no captive bred pipefish so they are all obviously wild caught. Also read that they are rife with skin diseases that you cannot detect with the naked eye very easily. I have held off due to this information. I am not an expert and would love for someone with a lot of experience to chime in if anything I have stated here is incorrect. I would really like to get another one someday.
Ed