Edvard and Munch- Blue stripe pipefish

[drainbamage]

These two are real hard to take clean pics of for me (please feel free to recommend some good starter settings for shooting fish on a DSLR) but here's a few of them. Currently Edvard gets knocked up about once a month, and so far I haven't been able to raise the babies. Need to move him and his girl into a lower flow tank and see what happens.

They're named Edvard and Munch because the girl's tale has 2 circular spots like Edvard's, but the third one is stretched out a bit, making it look almost like the scream painting (if you turn your head sideways, and bad eyes help.) Name has applied well though as Munch is a much more aggressive eater :tongue"

% <-GPS

 

[swannyson7]

Beautiful fish! How long have you had them? I just picked up a couple dragonface pipefish last week in hopes that they'll eradicate my red bugs and they seem to be doing well thus far.

 

[drainbamage]

Beautiful fish! How long have you had them? I just picked up a couple dragonface pipefish last week in hopes that they'll eradicate my red bugs and they seem to be doing well thus far.

I've had them a few months now, but they actually were in a buddies tank for awhile before that. When he broke his tank down, they got shipped to me and have been doing great since.

 

[swannyson7]

Are they in your reef tank? How do they handle the flow given their small size? I was surprised how well the dragonface pipes did with the amount of flow in my tank, but I thought these only got to be a few inches, so I'd imagine that they'd have a harder time.

 

[drainbamage]

Are they in your reef tank? How do they handle the flow given their small size? I was surprised how well the dragonface pipes did with the amount of flow in my tank, but I thought these only got to be a few inches, so I'd imagine that they'd have a harder time.

They're in my 20 Long, which has an Aquaclear 50, a TLF reactor (dunno the size, has a small RIO powerhead as it's pump, not high flow) a Koralia 1 on one end, and a Vortech MP-10 on the other end of the tank. They hug the rockwork, and only a feeding of cyclopeeze will bring them out into the full current, but if I turn the pumps off for feeding, they come on out. Otherwise, yea, it's sheltering behind the rockwork (where apparently they find a way to pass the time quite easily given Edvards full belly-sack all the time), and sticking to the koralia side of the tank

 

[butts182]

those are sweet fish!!

 

[returnofsid]

Beautiful fish! Photographing fish is much more difficult that corals!! Every lil' bit of movement, can ruin focus. A tip...focus on the eye! If the eyes are in focus, nothing else matters! Our eyes will always move to the eyes, in any photograph. To photograph fish, you'll need to use a faster shutter speed, to "stop action." Follow the fish, with your camera, when you press the shutter button, follow through, continue following the fish. A lot of people STOP following the fish, with the camera, when they press the shutter button. It's just like shooting skeet, or birds, with a shotgun. Follow Through!

 

[jiffy]

i wanted to get one for my 28g until i heard they might eat my sexy shrimp... ive never seen them consume anything but from what ive seen the sexy shrimp couldnt possibly fit in the small(2.5inches) pipefish's mouth.. so is it just about the size, like when they get bigger they may go for them? also do you feed them live foods or frozen?

 

[drainbamage]

Beautiful fish! Photographing fish is much more difficult that corals!! Every lil' bit of movement, can ruin focus. A tip...focus on the eye! If the eyes are in focus, nothing else matters! Our eyes will always move to the eyes, in any photograph. To photograph fish, you'll need to use a faster shutter speed, to "stop action." Follow the fish, with your camera, when you press the shutter button, follow through, continue following the fish. A lot of people STOP following the fish, with the camera, when they press the shutter button. It's just like shooting skeet, or birds, with a shotgun. Follow Through!

Great point- the eyes being out of focus is what really bugs me, so glad to know why! Never thought I'd need to take up shooting guns to learn how to shoot with a camera, hah! Best to shoot in macro mode or the running person mode? Given their size not really sure.

i wanted to get one for my 28g until i heard they might eat my sexy shrimp... ive never seen them consume anything but from what ive seen the sexy shrimp couldnt possibly fit in the small(2.5inches) pipefish's mouth.. so is it just about the size, like when they get bigger they may go for them? also do you feed them live foods or frozen?

Well, these two are pretty much full grown, and have trouble eating Hikari size mysis- they'll rip a few in half to eat, but really prefer the ones already in pieces, or cyclopeeze sized food. I'd feel safe trying a sexy shrimp, but if I had a big population of Mini-Mikes, I'd be hesitant to toss them in and have something bad happen.

 

[akabryanhall]

Amazing looking creatures! i would love to have these in my reef, too many stingy things.

 

[jiffy]

i have a 28g not too much rock work, at least half the tank is an open sand bed.. do they prefer alot of rocks and caves or open space? and i also have a lil 1 inch randalls goby, shouldnt no problems with them right?

 

[drainbamage]

i have a 28g not too much rock work, at least half the tank is an open sand bed.. do they prefer alot of rocks and caves or open space? and i also have a lil 1 inch randalls goby, shouldnt no problems with them right?

I don't see the goby being a problem at all.

As for space- in my tank they prefer the rockwork, but as soon as the pumps come off they like to swim out in the open, though typically along the glass. Basically they just like hunting for food anywhere they can find it, while not getting pummeled by too much flow.

 

[Bio-nut]

I had the pipes for four years they have been in a multitude of environments. the best they ever did was when they were in my acan only tank. on an average of every 10 days the male would have a new batch of eggs. only once was I home to catch the larval release, unfortunatly I was not equiped or educated enough in the matter to capture and rasie the larva. cyclopods and prawn eggs seem to be there favorite diet. Take good care of them brian they are my babies.

As far as shooting fish I have my best luck if you shoot in a sports mode and set it to shoot multi-shoot this will give you a faster response time and you will be able to select a few pictures out of the biunch to work with.

 

[drainbamage]

I had the pipes for four years they have been in a multitude of environments. the best they ever did was when they were in my acan only tank. on an average of every 10 days the male would have a new batch of eggs. only once was I home to catch the larval release, unfortunatly I was not equiped or educated enough in the matter to capture and rasie the larva. cyclopods and prawn eggs seem to be there favorite diet. Take good care of them brian they are my babies.

Will do Ian! and having the same lack-of-success with the babies as of yet, but going to plumb a 12 gallon flatback hex into my new frag system that will be a macro algae and zoa tank, low flow, with a surface skimming overflow as only point of risk for the babies, and just move the pair into there. Hopefully the micro fauna will be sufficient for the youngins to have something to eat while they learn about frozen cyclopeeze.

Good to hear from you btw, Ian, hope all is well

 

[Bio-nut]

I edited my last post and added infor on shooting fish pics

 

[johnanddawn]

those are quite cool and it would be cool to give them a home that would be more like a seahorse type setup = would a little pod would be enough for a pair of them?

 

[returnofsid]

Pipefish do not need the same environment as Sea Horses. Surprisingly, they do very well, in a full reef tank, even one with high flow. As for tank mates, one that'll come as a surprise to a lot of people, to AVOID, is Lawnmower Blennies. Do NOT put Pipefish in with Lawnmower Blenny. The Blenny will kill the Pipefish. It's really weird, because Starry Blennys are fine with them. Not so much with Lawnmowers.

 

[jiffy]

is it easy to determine the sex of a pipefish? and is it better for survival if they are bought in pairs?

 

[drainbamage]

is it easy to determine the sex of a pipefish? and is it better for survival if they are bought in pairs?

males have a belly pouch to carry the eggs/babies, but I had a heck of a time seeing it before the male got pregnant. Once he did, it was real obvious.

As for survival- these are the only pipe's I've ever had, so can't really give you much on that-that said, the two are almost NEVER apart. Ever during feeding, the max they'll seperate is about 3~5 inches.

 

[kingfisherfleshy]

Sweet! My favorite pipefish. Enjoy them!