Pipefish people

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

I can only get the banded ones here locally apparently, (which is probably just as well since they are supposedly one of the easiest to get feeding).

Make sure the ones you buy are feeding at the store. If they are being fed brine shrimp, you may have a problem switching them to frozen mysis, which is the food of choice for pipe fish and seahorses (we now have 4 horses in a species tank and have done scads of homework on the subject). If they are accepting mysis at the store, buy the type of mysis that the store's been feeding so they're more likely to eat for you once they get in your own tank.

Soaking frozen mysis in Kent Zoe is also good for both seahorses and pipe fish. Frozen PE mysis, which can be bought from J&L, if you can't find it locally, is the most recommended food.

Pipe fish should be kept in a species tank because they are extremely shy and may be picked on or even eaten by other fish. They also need to be very slowly acclimatized to a new tank.

Here's a great link I found on pipe fish:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/hcs3/index.htm

HTH.