Keeping pipefish, what is your take on this?

[kien]

Oh, and my tank was about a year old when I added my first dragonface pipefish.

[mandyplo]

Thanks Kien! This has definitely given me some insight. It looks like I'm going to hold off on the banded / blue stripe for now and look more into the dragonface... but perhaps also wait until I have some coral for some of those guys aswell. Any idea where I can get some of these guys if I live in Ontario?

[kien]

Originally Posted by mandyplo

Thanks Kien! This has definitely given me some insight. It looks like I'm going to hold off on the banded / blue stripe for now and look more into the dragonface... but perhaps also wait until I have some coral for some of those guys aswell. Any idea where I can get some of these guys if I live in Ontario?

In Calgary they seem to show up at pretty much all of our local stores. In fact, Big Al's had some dragonface a couple of weeks ago and even some green Double-ended pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus). I would personally never put any other kind of pipefish other than the dragonface pipefish in a mixed reef unless you have super low flow. Those other pipefish are much closer in requirements to seahorses and should probably go into a species dedicated tank.

[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.

[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

[sphelps]

[kien]

Love that pic! one of my fav of all time.

[kien]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I wonder if your pipe ever thought about going deeper into that clam.