Pipefish in Active Reef Tank
 

Hello there! It seems that I am losing the battle with bryopsis in my 20 year old 180 gallon sps dominated tank. However, rather than break it down completely, I'm contemplating doing away with the sps corals and keeping only my clams, LPS and soft corals (which seem to be resistant to the toxicity of the bryopsis). I have kept seahorses in the past and know that they require a low flow tank with peaceful tankmates but I'm wondering if the same applies for all species of pipe fish? I have a few tangs, a pair of percula clownfish, a pair of lyretail anthias, a banana wrasse, a blenny, a few dragonettes and a goby. I'd be able to get rid of the fish that I have if need be but would like to keep a few if possible. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!!!

I've been keeping my Jann's pipefish in an LPS/softie mixed reef for over two years very successfully.

Other fish inhabitants are:
hippo tang
kole tang
flasher wrasse (sp??)
mandarin
mated ocellaris
royal gramma
Jann's pipe

He will eat cyclopeeze, and pods. That's all I've seen him go for.

swimmer

Double post

Thanks swimmer!! Are those types of pipefish easy to find/buy or no?

I just realized that I typed "20 year old" instead of "2 year old" in my original post. Oops! :)

Some pipefish are reef pipes (Janns, multibanded, blue stripe, dragon face), so they'll be suitable for a reef tank. The only difficult thing is they usually only eat pods at the beginning (I think some of them never even convert into frozen food), so make sure that you have plenty of pods to sustain the pipefish.

I had kept blue stripe before, and it took about 4-5 months until it started to eat frozen food.
I have a multibanded pipe in my SPS tank right now, and thankfully he finally eats frozen mysis after 3 months. I have him for about 6 months now.
Tank mates are pair of clowns, goby, blenny, rabbitfish, and fairy wrasse.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11319502#post11319502 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by amcarrig [/i]
[B]Thanks swimmer!! Are those types of pipefish easy to find/buy or no?

I just realized that I typed "20 year old" instead of "2 year old" in my original post. Oops! :) [/B][/QUOTE]

The Jann's can be found. They are a fish that needs to be searched for though. They are not readily available in most LFS. I think you'll have better luck looking online for them.

[url]http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=284&N=0[/url]

swimmer

I have a banded that I just added to my softie/LPS tank a few days ago and he is doing great, was eating frozen within 2 hours of being introduced. The reason for that though is one of my local stores will get them feeding on frozen first in tanks of that style for several weeks then sell them. Those kinds of stores are the best.

I have a pair of banded, a single large multibanded, and a pair of bluestripes in my 215 mixed reef, along with 27 other fish of all types (none known to be mean - all mean fish go back to the store) They've been in there for 6 - 15 months. All ate frozen in the first day. They like mysis best, but hardly get any because the tangs and butterflies and wrasses are so fast. They also like cyclops and daphnia, but I think the key to their success has been "Arctipods", by Reef Nutrition. They're a bit expensive, but they're the perfect size - small enough to float around long enough for pipes to get a share, but large enough to be a real meal. I have not had luck with a dragonface or with a pair of the green, top-dwelling, large "alligator" pipes. I've gotten all of them through a LFS where one of the proprietors takes a big interest in them. I'm not sure of his source, but the store's number is 512 323-0537 - ask for Rufus.

Well, I don't have too much experience with pipefish but my friend has some dragonfaces that are doing great in his reef tank, so speaking from what I've seen I'd say that the dragonfaces are your best bet (a local guy buys his tank-raised).

Also... about your bryopsis problem, have you considered a lettuce slug? I know that they're a confirmed bryopsis eater. Granted that they're not known for being that great in captivity, but it's also a viable solution to the bryopsis problem.

Re: Pipefish in Active Reef Tank
 

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11312634#post11312634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by amcarrig [/i]
[B]Hello there! It seems that I am losing the battle with bryopsis in my 20 year old 180 gallon sps dominated tank. However, rather than break it down completely, I'm contemplating doing away with the sps corals and keeping only my clams, LPS and soft corals (which seem to be resistant to the toxicity of the bryopsis). I have kept seahorses in the past and know that they require a low flow tank with peaceful tankmates but I'm wondering if the same applies for all species of pipe fish? I have a few tangs, a pair of percula clownfish, a pair of lyretail anthias, a banana wrasse, a blenny, a few dragonettes and a goby. I'd be able to get rid of the fish that I have if need be but would like to keep a few if possible. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!!! [/B][/QUOTE]

Not to change topic but you might try elevating your Magnesium to 1600-1700 to kill off the Bryopsis. I too was having it take over my tank but in a very short period it started dying off after I got the mg up. I harvested the long fibers of the algea and the base was gone within two days. If you leave it alone and just elevate the mg, it takes a little longer but it turns clear and dies off. See the below thread. BTW, use Kent-M.

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1113109[/url]

Yeah I have seen the dragonfaces do well in reef systems, especially larger tanks like yours.

[quote]Also... about your bryopsis problem, have you considered a lettuce slug? I know that they're a confirmed bryopsis eater. Granted that they're not known for being that great in captivity, but it's also a viable solution to the bryopsis problem.[/quote]

They do feed upon Bryopsis however you will have to have the flow in your tank down, even the weakest powerhead will kill a Sea Slug. So going natural and using a Sea Slug in a SPS setup wouldn't be feasible as they require higher flow levels than most corals in order to thrive as all of you know. Also in a tank that large, the algae will be growing faster than they can eat it.

The best way to remove Bryopsis is by indeed raising your Magnesium levels to 1500-1700 (max).

Starving a tank of nitrates and phosphates won't work because they feed minimally on nitrates and phosphates and use light more for growth than nutrients like Chaeto. So your tank conditions can be perfect and still have an outbreak.