Pipefish with seahorses

**Cyclura** · 03-09-2007, 10:24 AM

Having been told that WC fish such as pipfishes are bad to have in my seahorse tank with my CB horses i was originally turned off to the idea. But after doing some research on banded and blue-striped pipefishes im reconsidering.

Renee i want your opinion especially on this as well as any pipefish keepers on here. My questions are:

Are there CB specimens of banded and/or blue striped pipefish available in the trade?

Can and are any trained on frozen foods?

how hard are they to find and whats the best place to order them from?

Would one of these two species fare well in my 29gal seahorse tank with 2 erectus?

With proper or extended quarantine procedures followed, are there still substantial chances that pipefish will introduce diseases to my seahorses?

I would like to start quarantining a specimen next month after the seahorses are through with their QT. But i dont want to do anything that could pose a substantial life-threatening risk to my horses as i have grown extremely attached to them. Please give me your opinion on this.

-Adam

**Seahorsedreams** · 03-09-2007, 11:36 AM

I warn ya.... it's not going to be what you want to hear.....

I would never mix a WC pipe and CB horse. Some people have managed to successfully mix the two... most have not been successful doing this. I would recommend any other appropriate fish over them.

I personally don't mix any WC fish with my horses. This isn't the popular trend and a lot of people now-a-days mix them with appropriate critters. But I always think of how much time, effort and moola that has gone into building a tank centered around seahorses. Then to find the right seahorse and wait for them.... then to actually buy them and have them shipped... my Reidi cost 250.00 to get 4 of them here. I can't see plunking a WC fish in with my CB horses.

But that is just totally my opinion and the key to this "game" is to get as many opinions as you can. But I've seen many people add "appropriate" fish to their tank to only have to pull them out lately because they negatively affected the horses.

Watch what others are adding to their tanks and see what they have to say.

BUT, I will say this. Don't make the mistake of adding anything too quickly. With your experience level with horses it is best if you just get use to them and their natural behaviour. You need to know this inside and out so you can recognize what is not "right" and recognize it early. Remember, these fish have not seen any other type of fish in their lives. They were born and raised in "sterile" little environments. It's going to be a big stressor for them to meet other friends in the sea. Give them lots of time to feel comfortable.... and lots of time for you to feel comfortable with them as well.

There are no real suppliers of CB pipes here in the US. I know of some hobbyists that have done pretty good in raising them but none that have done it well enough at this point to sell any. If you run across a place, do let me know.

We have a pipe in the reef and yes they can be trained to frozen.

David? Greg? What are your opinions?

**JustDavidP** · 03-09-2007, 01:55 PM

He he he... well... as my mother said.. "Do as I say, not as I do".

I do, in fact, have a bluestripe in my Reidi system. Before I got him, he had been in another tank, for some time, with Captive Bred Reidi (in New Hampshire) and all of the Reidi and pipe tank mates were fine.

I did QT him for weeks anyway, but then put him in the 26 Bow with my herd.

Yes, even though the other fish in his previous tank were happy and healthy for some time, it was still a crap shoot. The issues of "wild" pathogens and resilience against said pathogens with Captive Bred fish does still exist. This is why most sygnathid keepers are very strong in their opinions on this matter.

Let's face it. Sygnathids are just NOT very easy to keep. The only people who are crazy enough to dedicate their free time to keeping them MUST be passionate about them. With that said, they would not take that gamble. These lil fish are their babies, and we would never put our babies in harms way right?

If I had an opportunity to get additional pipefish, I'd to it. However, I'd not put them into the pony tank unless I had a high confidence rating like I did last time. Actually, I've moved on into "species only" biospheres now. I'd have no problem setting up a system for the pipes. Finally, there are a few pipes (like the Janss' Pipefish - Doryrhamphus janssi and the Bluestripe Doryrhamphus excisus) who fare very well and actually preferr the currents etc. of a reef-like system.

Dave

**saxman** · 03-16-2007, 11:51 AM

i'd definitely, DEFINITELY get the hang of SH keeping first, but as Renee said, it's not good practice to mix WC's and CB's, or any syngnathid species IMHO. you honestly have NO idea how many tragic stories we hear about, and often from keepers with YEARS of experience who have done EVERYTHING "right".

it's a definite toss of the dice, but as mentioned, get some SH experience under your belt. set up another system for pipes, get them and keep them as well, for a good, long time...then decide if you wanna toss the dice. this is something i would NOT trust a "normal" QT on.