Keeping pipefish, what is your take on this?

[mandyplo]

Originally Posted by tim the toolman

I have 2 banded pipes in my 180 gal mixed reef and have had them in there for over 6 months. They eat only live food however so when I first got them I raised brine shrimp to get them started then just let them go pods only. They tend to stay in the lower flow areas while my power heads are on during the day, but during the night cycle when my power heads are off and it's just my return pump moving water they are all over the tank hunting and swimming.
I should state that I have about a 30 gallon fuge loaded with pods and my tank is about 18 months old now so about a year when I introduced them.

Thanks Tim - I literally just set up my sump and got it running 2 days ago (my first attempt at a sump ever). I have a refuge compartment but I haven't put anything in there yet. I also run my power heads day and night so its looking like the banded and blue stripes are out of the question for me... I'm going to look into raising brine shrimp and care for dragonface pipefish, but first I'll get my reef a little more mature and get my refuge going aswell. How does one "raise pods?" I'm going to read up on this also.

Thanks for all the advice guys - it's given me tons of insight! Really glad I didn't hop to buying a pipefish before consulting with canreef. I love this forum site