Pipefish care and tankmate questions

[AC1211]

First question is can I keep bluestriped pipefish with seahorses and a diamond watchman goby? What about a ctenochatus tang?
Do pipefish and seahorses do well on once a day feeding with a refugium for pods?
Do pipefish adapt well to nutramar ova?

 

[rayjay]

I was never successful keeping pipefish with seahorses and have not attempted again for over 10 yrs. I wouldn't try it unless I could buy captive bred pipefish to go with captive bred seahorses. I believe it is most likely the fact seahorses don't do well when exposed to pathogens they haven't grown up with and wildcaught pipefish seem to give them that new exposure. Even other fish can be the source of the problem many times. It partially will depend on the individual seahorse, as seahorses like people, have varying degrees of susceptibility to disease and illness. You DON'T, however, know that your seahorse(s) capabilities are, often until it's too late.
One reason I had so many tanks for so many years was of my fondness for tangs. I have had many and I've never found any that I would put in a seahorse tank. Too much possibility of aggressive movements if not actual aggression and that causes stress in the seahorses that leads to disease or pathogen outbreak. That particular tang should have at least a 60g tank and that's without considering what tankmates it has.
No seahorse will do well with once a day feeding with a refugium IMO.
First of all, most pods are of little value to a seahorse because they are too small and only an inordinate amount of them would suffice at best. Also, most seahorses beyond several months of age will have an interest in feeding off them.
The exception here is that seahorses will definitely feed on amphipods as they are a sufficiently large enough pod. However, they would very quickly decimate the pod population of even a VERY LARGE refugium.
My personal feeding regime has evolved over 17 yrs to feeding Hikari mysis four times a day, and once a week feeding of enriched live adult artemia. I've found that feeding only what they can eat in about 15-20 minutes max, and feeding more often, leaves them more nourished and healthier to deal with potential problems. It also suits their natural feeding better as seahorses have no stomach, only a rudimentary digestive tract, and are day long grazers for food. Excessive food all at once means pushing the food through the tract too fast for adsorption of sufficient nutrition.
I can't comment on Nutramar Ova as I've never used it.

 

[matchmakersmagic]

+1 On everything Ray said.

Can pipes and SH's go together? Simple answer, yes. Lots of ppl keep SH's with pipes. However both species are prone to different disease/parasites from and more often than not succumb eventually. The same reasons we dont generally recommend mixing different SH species in the same tank.

Diamond goby/tang compatibility? Simple answer is both a no, for me anyways. Diamonds get big and can be quicker eaters, out competing the SH at meal time. Tangs - I've never seen one that was compatible, they simply move too fast and feed too quick.

As far the refugium - yes and no. While the pipes would appreciate the constant supply of copepods the adult SH's will likely ignore them entirely. Same idea as feeding mandarins, but rarely are refugiums producing enough to 100% support the dietary needs of a pipe or two.

Ova? Sure... if they will take them. Alot of pipes never transition to accepting frozen foods. Some will, yes. But in my experience that is not the norm. Unless they are captive bred, whole different ball park but still see above regarding pathogens. Still applies.

 

[rlpardue]

I kept a pair of blue-striped pipefish in a high-flow SPS-dominant 150g tank for a few years. Richard Ross has a blue stripe in his home reef that has very high flow and a variety of large, fast fish. Blue stripes are more robust than people expect. They will love Ova.