Dragon face pipefish

[Uptowngirl]

Can someone who has kept these fish give me some more information on them? My LFS has had one for 4 months and I’ve had my eye on it. It’s been eating frozen food. Do they have a risk of going into a gyre wavemaker? Are they okay with anemones in the tank or sensitive like seahorses? How about a tank with a clown pair? I already raise brine shrimp for my tank. I just did a tank move so my pod population is probably way down though.

 

[Webslinger]

Can someone who has kept these fish give me some more information on them? My LFS has had one for 4 months and I’ve had my eye on it. It’s been eating frozen food. Do they have a risk of going into a gyre wavemaker? Are they okay with anemones in the tank or sensitive like seahorses? How about a tank with a clown pair? I already raise brine shrimp for my tank. I just did a tank move so my pod population is probably way down though.

Look up PaulB

 

[ThePurple12]

I’ve never kept a dragonface, but from what I’ve heard and observed they like to stick to the rocks, so not much risk of being chopped up.

Anemones are always a risk, although LPS corals are probably more of a risk than bubbletips.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Same as seahorses, anemones and some lps will kill them wend stung. On the good side they really good swimmers and can handle high flow.

 

[2Sunny]

I had a pair and one went into the overflow, but I have 2 anemones including an Heteractis Magnifica and a Bubbletip and the remaining Dragonface seems not be interested or bothered by them. I do have an active supply of copepods and my reef is large, 240 gallons. I have had the one now for almost 18 months. I got them to try and see if they would eat Red Bugs as I had bugs on one SPS at the time. I never saw them pick anywhere near a coral. Happily I was able to treat for the Red Bugs and then re-establish a copepod population with the help of AlgaeBarn. I say give it a whirl

 

[Oscar47f]

they keep them at TSA in a frag tank with LPS and softies in there, they run some MP 40’s and the pipe fish remains on the far end away from the pumps so you may be able to get away with a gyre just use the foam guards... pipefish are essentially elongated seahorses but they can swim better imo they’re super cool just make sure you research and get the right tank mates for it if anything

 

[Paul B]

I love those guys and have kept them many times.


They are voracious feeders and if you plan on feeding them with frozen food, forget about it.
They eat constantly much more then you can supply and need a tank that is very natural so they can hunt pods all day like a mandarin.

I keep a lot of pipefish and hatch a lot of brine shrimp.







I have not found anything that bothers them and have not lost any in my large anemones, not to say it can't happen.

 

[Oscar47f]

I love those guys and have kept them many times.


They are voracious feeders and if you plan on feeding them with frozen food, forget about it.
They eat constantly much more then you can supply and need a tank that is very natural so they can hunt pods all day like a mandarin.

I keep a lot of pipefish and hatch a lot of brine shrimp.





I have not found anything that bothers them and have not lost any in my large anemones, not to say it can't happen.

They look awesome man!!! Do you have a fuge and stuff ?

 

[Paul B]

They look awesome man!!! Do you have a fuge and stuff ?

No fuge and stuff but the tank will be fifty years old in a few months so plenty of food

 

[Oscar47f]

50 years old whoa! That’s awesome man congrats !

No fuge and stuff but the tank will be fifty years old in a few months so plenty of food

 

[Uptowngirl]

All very good advice thank you everyone!

 

[monti mike]

I have mine with two MP10s running on reefcrest random 75%. I don’t use the foam guards. No issues with wavemakers. I also have a bubble tip anemone and a big lobo brain and they haven’t caused any issues for my dragon. Feeding was my biggest worry because they hunt for pods all day. I trained mine to eat tigger pods. I mixed live pods with the dead ones from reef nutrition. He gets fed twice a day to supplement eating the pods in the tank. They’re really interesting fish!

 

[KingTideCorals]

I adore mine... about a couple weeks ago I took my GF younger sister to the fish store...

Told her, "Alright you pick the fish, but just in these tanks." The tanks were the nano systems, and well she ended up picking a gem and one that was actually probably feasible in the tank.

She got up on the step ladder and immediately goes, "This one, and his names Gary" she pointed in the direction of a chunky dragonface pipefish. I shrugged so "Maybe..." but she immedately got bummed so I asked the LFS worker about Gary and well to my surprise was taking to some meaty frozen and hunting and eating well. With the systems I have at home I decided my deep sand bed mangrove system would work for Gary.

I really enjoy the guy. Doing well in the tank, and done some extra steps about keeping him. Contemplating starting a thread as well. Here's Gary! (Gary chasing after Zoo Med Cyclops)

 

[Uptowngirl]

I adore mine... about a couple weeks ago I took my GF younger sister to the fish store...

Told her, "Alright you pick the fish, but just in these tanks." The tanks were the nano systems, and well she ended up picking a gem and one that was actually probably feasible in the tank.

She got up on the step ladder and immediately goes, "This one, and his names Gary" she pointed in the direction of a chunky dragonface pipefish. I shrugged so "Maybe..." but she immedately got bummed so I asked the LFS worker about Gary and well to my surprise was taking to some meaty frozen and hunting and eating well. With the systems I have at home I decided my deep sand bed mangrove system would work for Gary.

I really enjoy the guy. Doing well in the tank, and done some extra steps about keeping him. Contemplating starting a thread as well. Here's Gary! (Gary chasing after Zoo Med Cyclops)

Gary is cute, I’d follow the thread.

Since I just did a tank move it’s probably not a good time until I get my pod population back. The tank is gonna be a macro display tank so I think he would be a good fit.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

These little dudes are adorable!

 

[KingTideCorals]

Gary is cute, I’d follow the thread.

Since I just did a tank move it’s probably not a good time until I get my pod population back. The tank is gonna be a macro display tank so I think he would be a good fit.

A macro tank would be super fun, a pair would be even more fun! Always wanted one. Saw Gary and said I would give him a new home since he'd been in the shop for a couple months at that point.