Which pipe fish is hardy?

[kris2001]

Hi
I have a mixed 75g reef. I have lots of rock, established dt, with fuge and pods etc....

Which pipe fish is hardy is it the dragon face or banded?...or other kinds?

Can they die from a sting from a rock anemone or LPS?

Pls advice thx
Kris

 

[MUSBFRANK]

I've always kept blue stripe pipes because they have consistently lived many years once established, janss pipes tend to do well also.

 

[kris2001]

I've always kept blue stripe pipes because they have consistently lived many years once established, janss pipes tend to do well also.

Can dragon face get stung by LPS?i had one for couple weeks and it died there was no obvious signs of nipping ,by my Marine beta or any other fish

Friend of mine has dragon face for long time in an aggressive tank

 

[kris2001]

Also which pipe is best known for breeding in captivity?

Thx

 

[MUSBFRANK]

Can dragon face get stung by LPS?i had one for couple weeks and it died there was no obvious signs of nipping ,by my Marine beta or any other fish

Friend of mine has dragon face for long time in an aggressive tank

Can a dragon face get stung by a LPS, of course, if you have stinging corals then they will sting, but I highly doubt thats what killed him, I usually stay away from dragon faces because they tend to be pretty finicky when it comes to eating, I'd only try them if you have a very well established reef tank (several years old) teaming with all kinds of copapods, amphripods, and any other micro crustacean that they can feed upon. As for which ones tend to breed easily in captivity, I don't know the answer to that question, I've almost seen just about all of them carrying in one tank or another once they've established themselves, but I have no clue which ones would breed more often than others.

 

[Almondkc]

I have a dragon face pipe fish in a tank filled with LPS but that being said. I only have a lot of acans and torch corals and a patch of GSP. The real danger to a pipefish is a clam - getting caught in it when it swims over it which they swim over everything. They are terrific to have in a mixed reef. I do echo the sentiment that they should be in a mature tank, but mine is not quite a year. I spent a fair bit of coin stocking with copepods and amphipods. They will typically not eat prepared foods or frozen mysis. I have seen mine eat R.O.E from Reef Nutrition, but I think that is not the norm. They like to forage.

 

[doodledreads]

I second MUSBFRANK. I am new to pipefish and just got a couple of blue stripes. They fight each other unfortunately but have been very hardy so far.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

I second MUSBFRANK. I am new to pipefish and just got a couple of blue stripes. They fight each other unfortunately but have been very hardy so far.

That sounds like you have 2 males or more(idk how many you have) and will probably fight to the death if my memory is correct... sorry

 

[doodledreads]

Yep. I do think that's the case but I think they are both female. I have two. I couldn't catch either one so far. Hopefully I can soon.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Yep. I do think that's the case but I think they are both female. I have two. I couldn't catch either one so far. Hopefully I can soon.

Oh i hope it works out good luck, sorry if i came accross rude

 

[doodledreads]

Thank you. You weren't rude.

 

[Lumpystarpolyp]

I have had good luck with the dragon faced pipefish (as long as they are eating, as someone mentioned up thread).

 

[Peace River]

Here is a link to an article about aquacultured bluestripe pipefish.

I just started working with Chain Pipefish and Gulf Pipefish (Florida native species), but have not bred them yet (emphasis on yet ). I will reiterated the comment about the need for live food - from my experience, although they will eat other types of food it is not enough to sustain them. Good luck if you choose to go that direction!

 

[jefra]

Here is a link to an article about aquacultured bluestripe pipefish.

I just started working with Chain Pipefish and Gulf Pipefish (Florida native species), but have not bred them yet (emphasis on yet ). I will reiterated the comment about the need for live food - from my experience, although they will eat other types of food it is not enough to sustain them. Good luck if you choose to go that direction!

How have you been faring with the Gulf Pipefish? Are they kept in a mixed reef? I see them darting by while at the beach pretty frequently and always thought they would make an awesome addition to my tank. Not having any significant information on them, I've never actually caught one though.

 

[Peace River]

How have you been faring with the Gulf Pipefish? Are they kept in a mixed reef? I see them darting by while at the beach pretty frequently and always thought they would make an awesome addition to my tank. Not having any significant information on them, I've never actually caught one though.

I have caught both gulf pipefish and chain pipefish, but have more experience keeping chain pipefish. The easy visual differentiation is the length of the snout - gulf are shorter and chain are longer. I haven't had luck keeping them in mixed tanks unless the other fish are really passive because they seem to get out competed for food. Also they seem to not be particularly hardy and water quality is particularly important.

 

[SaltBabies]

I don't have a reef tank but... dragonface pipefish tend to lay on or touch everything in the tank. They hang out both high and low and are terrible swimmers. Stinging things would be a danger. I have 4 trained to frozen mysid. They still enjoy poking around to find amphipods and such but my tank doesn't produce enough copepods or amphipods for all the things that would eat them. The blue stripe pipe fish are much more agile and also trained to frozen. I had to swap several in and out to find a pair. I was able to catch the unwanted fish (unwanted by the already established female) some of the unwanted were boys (at least me and LFS thought so). They certainly seemed like she was going to kill the other and it happened fast too.

I did use a brine shrimp feeder to train the pipes to frozen and kept it stock until they were trained. I didn't lose any blue pipefish but did lose 1 dragonface not sure if it starved or what they were fresh from the LFS so could have been anything really.

I have a 70 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. I do have some amphipods just a few copepods, and ostracods. But not nearly enough to support 4 dragonface, 2 blue stripe, 4 erectus, and 3 candy pistol shrimp. They have all been inhabitants for at least 8 months so they are definately sustaining on frozen. There are other fish in the tank but those are the pickers.

 

[doodledreads]

Oh i hope it works out good luck, sorry if i came accross rude

I have to update my experience with the blue stripes, they are still alive and well. They stopped fighting but I don't they they are are a pair.

 

[SaltBabies]

Congratz! I love mine

 

[Devaji]

I have to update my experience with the blue stripes, they are still alive and well. They stopped fighting but I don't they they are are a pair.

nice! can you share some pics?

 

[doodledreads]

nice! can you share some pics?

well I lost the smaller one a while ago. just disappeared. I will try to capture some pics of the one left. It has been doing well.