Expert-Only Pipefish?

[footgal]

I don't really see any benefit to a feeding station for pipefish. I had one for my seahorses (a nice open shell that I stuck hitching posts to) and the pipefish never went near it.
They (bluestripes) are easy to train to a pipette or tweezers so you can simply hold the food in front of their snout. The are slow methodical feeders but have a really strong suck (snick) that literally disassembles the food instantly before a satisfying puff of smoke (well tiny exoskeleton fragments) emerges. This means they can take food far larger than you'd imagine. My two easily managed full size pe mysis and reasonably sized krill, which are far more filling than pods. As they also spend the day hunting for pods it's not hard to just feed them a few mysis to help keep the weight on, they truly ime aren't a hard fish to keep for a semi dedicated aquarist (and you sound really dedicated).

Dragon faces are much harder ime though.

Thanks! I can definitely take the time every day to feed them with tweezers, is any frozen food okay or should it be shrimp/krill based? I usually feed LRS nano but I don’t have a problem with getting mysis for them

 

[mort]

Thanks! I can definitely take the time every day to feed them with tweezers, is any frozen food okay or should it be shrimp/krill based? I usually feed LRS nano but I don’t have a problem with getting mysis for them

We dont get lrs over here so im not sure of the mix but i think there would be things in it they eat. Any frozen is fine if they take it. Mine liked brine shrimp (occasionally only as it doesn't have much nutrition), mysis, krill plus fish eggs, lobster eggs and baby brine shrimp. They tend to do better with whole animals as they look right but I've seen them take shaved prawns and tiny bits of other animals as well.

 

[footgal]

We dont get lrs over here so im not sure of the mix but i think there would be things in it they eat. Any frozen is fine if they take it. Mine liked brine shrimp (occasionally only as it doesn't have much nutrition), mysis, krill plus fish eggs, lobster eggs and baby brine shrimp. They tend to do better with whole animals as they look right but I've seen them take shaved prawns and tiny bits of other animals as well.

Thanks!! I’ll keep both on hand and see what they like

 

[Montagne]

Hey @mort, could you please elaborate on what you found so challenging about the dragon faced pipefish? Thanks

 

[ThePurple12]

Seems like there’s a bit of confusion on keeping bluestripes together—2 males will fight to the death. Not sure about females.

I don’t have to feed my pair, as my 125g tank visibly has plenty of pods and they feed all day. They trained themselves onto frozen mysis over a few weeks however, which I was thrilled to see. They won’t eat LRS, as they don’t recognize the white chunks as food.

If you get them eating mysis, no need to use tweezers or anything. They’ll eat right out of the water column and get enough to eat even with all the other fish.

They have no problems with the BTAs and the Magnifica nem, just like all the other fish in the tank.

The male is always pregnant and the fry are born on the 4th night of the pregnancy. The next morning, he’ll have eggs again. Easily my favorite fish. If you choose to, you won’t regret buying them!

 

[mort]

Hey @mort, could you please elaborate on what you found so challenging about the dragon faced pipefish? Thanks

Hi, they just tend to be more finicky than Bluestripe pipes. If you have a large population of natural foods then they are easier but they can be hard to get onto supplimental foods and have a tendency to look ok for a while and then dissappear.
The ones I had in my seahorse tank completely ignored the mysis my horses ate but they did take live pods and baby brine shrimp.
A lot of the poor experiences out there could be attributed to adding them to the wrong type of setup for the wrong reason. As an example many people chucked these into their sps systems because they were reported to help with red bugs. They can do alright in a full reef but you still need to make sure they are getting good amounts of food and aren't out competed by more vigorous pod eaters.

There is an old thread on here where someone likens them to mandarins in terms of care and I think that's a fair comparison. If you have the right setup they can thrive but you do need to consider where they are being kept. It's just part of the reason why some other pipefish are easier but not necessarily as cool.

 

[Paul B]

I love my pipefish.

 

[bherbold8]

They are in a 25 Lagoon. I plan on doing a fuge soon but for now I just have one of those 3d printed Copepod caves and dose phyto.

I know this is old but I read it is best to keep this fish as a pair. Anyone have any success keeping them solo ?

 

[ThePurple12]

I know this is old but I read it is best to keep this fish as a pair. Anyone have any success keeping them solo ?

They’ll be fine solo

 

[bherbold8]

On Pod patrol already !! Love this guy

 

[ThePurple12]

Can't see it!

 

[bherbold8]

Can't see it!

 

[bherbold8]

Dang I'll do it at home !

 

[bherbold8]

Can't see it!

Can't see it!

Can't see

Can't see it!

last try haha crappy video but what a great fish

 

[bherbold8]

Never I hate this website haha

 

[ThePurple12]

Bluestripe, my favorite!

 

[bherbold8]

Bluestripe, my favorite

 

[bherbold8]

For whatever reasons these videos won't load but if you're on Instagram we can share our pipefish content lol @ATXreefer

 

[Weasel1960]

I read on a couple of other supplier sites that the dragon face supposedly has a smaller mouth. They also apparently have quite the appetite for red bugs

 

[bherbold8]

I read on a couple of other supplier sites that the dragon face supposedly has a smaller mouth. They also apparently have quite the appetite for red bugs

Can't speak to the dragon face. My bluestrip so far has only ate the live tiggers I put in. Trying Ova and or cyclops this weekend. Great little fish