dragonface?

[Anonymous]

at an LFS today i saw a beauty to replace my deceased mandarin.

and the candidate is.... a pipefish.
i know the standard response to this is that they are only suitable for species only tank but these seem different from the average pipefish.

they are about 3 inches long and less than a 1/4" in dia.
there prefered mode of swimming is more of a slither around rocks and coral. they peck at the rock in much the same fashion as a mandarin does.

the lfs owner said the many that he had there were already sold and that he was keeping them in his shop until he had determined if they were a possible captivity candidate.
strange that he has a large selection of flame scallops.

anyway, he said he would be getting more in next week and that he was officially selling them at that point.
i may give 'er a shot if all responses here are supportive, and of course a reputable response at that.

so what say you reefers?

oh yeah, it was a beeotch trying to find a pic of these guys but i finally found one

 

[max spl]

i have had mine for a little over a year and a half. he is living in a 160galoon reef with a 30 gallon refugium. as you have mentioned, they behave very similar to mandarins. however, they are VERY slow and i've never seen him eat anything i've tried to feed. so, make sure you have a LARGE food supply (copepods, amphipods, etc...) and very little competition.

i started with two of them, but one of the two 'vanished' after about a month.

here's a pic of mine:

 

[Anonymous]

do you know thier life expectancy?

any compatabilty problems?

 

[max spl]

i am not sure. but i would imagine it would be about the same as seahorses: which is 2-3 years, i believe.

as for compatibility, the two that i had were not fighting at all. they actually were hanging out together. it was too bad that the other dies

 

[max spl]

i am not sure. but i would imagine it would be about the same as seahorses: which is 2-3 years, i believe.

as for compatibility, the two that i had were not fighting at all. they actually were hanging out together. it was too bad that the other dies

 

[Anonymous]

I've been watching one that my LFS has had in their frag tank for months. It is always hunting, and seems fine so far- in probably a lot worse conditions than you would supply...

 

[Anonymous]

I had a pair in my invert system for about a year. No problems, always alert, always eating. But we have a ridiculous amounts of pods too.