Alligator pipefish feeding help

I got a new alligator pipefish in my 29g. wondering if anyone has any techniques that have worked for them. I got him today and am planning on getting him some live ghost shrimp on tuesday. anything helps. I just have some coral a mandarin and cryptic wrasse in the tank. I bought a gorgonia for him to post on but he wont grrrrrrrr.

 

Ghost shrimp are going to be waaaay too big for that fish. Try nutramar Ova or getting a refugium.

 

By any chance did you research this fish before you bought it? Please read this: http://sea.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.asp?id=107

 

yes i did and he was eating frozen mysis at the store

 

get a brine shrimp hatchery and try baby mysis frozen. he will probably not hitch onto things, as pipefish tend not to do this.

You will need to add A LOT of pods to your system as the mandarin and the wrasse have depleted your supply completely. The pods will need to be replinished almost weekly (even if it is an ora mandarin-they still constantly eat pods)

These fish, seahorses, will occasionally just stop eating frozen food and you will have to be prepared with live. Ghost shrimps will be too big most likely as these fish jaws are locked together preventing them for capturing food. How they eat is they slurp up their food like a straw.

 

Did you actually SEE him/her eating? Reason I ask is once I too was going to buy a pipe fish and was told it was eating but when I asked to see for myself the fish wouldn't touch the food
Another thought. Where is your skimmer placed? If its in the display this too can deplete your pod population as it will pull those that are in the water column out.

 

That pipe can eat ghost shrimp. If the shrimp are too big, they will keep snicking at it until they pulverize it. Seahorses eat ghostshrimp and their mouths are smaller than this pipe. If they come to you as an adult, it may not even look at BBS. This is one of the pipefish that actually hitch.

 

he finally found the gorgonia
trying for pics