HELP!!!!!!!! With Pipefish & Seahorses.

I just bought 1 red banded pipefish and 2 captive bred Sri Lankan sea horses, which are bout 2 - 3 inches long. They are in my 50 gal, 304 fluval, Remora C skimmer, lots of bloomimg calerpa including grape etc, I squamy clam, toadstool softy, 1 chromis, 1 yr established tank, salinity is 1.025, lighting: coralife: 4 halogen bulbs: 2 white 2 actinic. I was told that the sea horses where eating frozen brime/mysis. So far I have tried with a turkey batser but they seem to prefer the copepods for now. I might go out tomorrow and buy just frozen mysis as they are smaller than what I thought.

The pipefish is worrying me. I have not seen him eat yet. I just brought them home yesterday so it hasn't been 24 hours yet... he seems to like hanging around the top part of the tank in a vertical position. He isn't breathing hard and seems to be fine but si that normal? What does he eat?????? It was a knee jerk reaction to get the pipefish. The seahorses I have been planning for a while.

Any tips, help ideas on feeding, water conditions etc would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alfonso

 

I have a seahorse tank as well. A few things to consider: The pipefish is brand new, so him not eating may just be some new tank syndrome. I don't want to sound preachy, but this is research that should be done before getting the seahorses. One of the first things you want to do is get rid of the clam. Seahorses can get trapped in the clams and get killed. Bivalves in general are highly dangerous to seahorses. You also might want to get rid of the chromis as it is a fast moving fast eating fish that can stress seahorses and eat food before the horses and pipes will get to it. Also, there is potential for harassment of the sygnathids by the chromis.

As for tank conditions, you want decent water flow, but not too rapid. The temperature should be between 68 and 74 degress. Other than that, water conditions can be about the same as a reef setup. Be careful that no harmful hitchhikers came in with the rock or macroalgae like aiptasia or hydroids that could sting the horses. Closely watch the seahorses for disease. Being captive bred, they will only have been exposed to certain pathogens. Pipes are almost always wild caught and could spread disease to the seahorses. At 2 or 3 inches, captive bred seahorses should be able to eat frozen mysids, but a small pipefish may have trouble eating larger mysids. You may have to chop them into finer pieces for him. Feel free to ask any other questions, and best of luck.

 

Thanks so much for tips. I'll take you up on your offer though: The pipefish is about 6 inches long. How do you feed them? I am using a turkey baster? Is that a good idea. I'll try to catch the chromis. I'll take my chances with the small clam. Today I've tried to squirt twice with frozen mysids/brine shrimp but neither the seahorses nor pipefish are eating. Could be as you said: new tank syndrome. What do you recommend I feed the pipefish? I'm going to the pet store tomorrow?

Thanks Again.

PS. Please see original post as I have poted a few pictures.

 

i got frozen copepods. i dont have any pipefish or seahorses, but i did a bunch of research on them a while ago. try copepods, alive or dead. thats there natural food for the most part. mysis/brine are also in there but copepods are the main course.

 

Pipefish have small mouths, so try to feed him small mysid shrimp or finely chopped mysids. Turkey basters can work, and you can also try a feeding dish. Give them a couple days to adjust and see if they start eating. If they don't you need to figure something out like trying live food because if they don't eat for more than 4 of 5 days, their digestive systems can start shutting down. If you have a good pod population keep in mind that they may be eating even if they aren't eating what you feed them. I strongly advise not to keep the clam, but if you must, that is a risk that you will have to assume.

Normally I wouldn't use one forum to refer someone to another, but for your situation, I recommend getting an account on seahorse.org and posting on their website. There are more people on that forum than there are here on 3reef that have knowledge of sygnathids and will be able to help you.

 

Well it's been 4 days now that I brought home the 2 seahorses and banded pipefish. I sea the seahorses hunting for tiny things and eating but I have not seen the pipefish actually eat something. I have tried feeding them frozen mysis, brine, etc and they don't seem to be going for that. Could it be that my tank has a natural supply of tiny creatures for them to be munching on? The seahorses are small at only 2 inches or so. The pipefish at 4 I would say. The seahorses are active, moving aorund from perch to perch, always on the lookout. The pipefish seems ok too, but have not actually seen him eat as I said.............I'm a bit worried?

:-/

 

As I said, the pipes are probably wild caught. Wild caught seahorses and pipes can be very difficult to get to eat frozen food. I think you need to research how to train wild caught pipes to eat frozen and work on that, or else you will need to get some live food for them. They may be eating pods and things in the tank right now, but if that is their entire diet they will quickly deplete them.

 

One very important factor: do NOT- and I seriously mean this for the sake of your seahorses- do NOT let the temperature fluctuate or reach higher than 74 degrees fahrenheit. the Seahorses can get the disease called vibrio.

 

Vibrio is a genus of bacteria that commonly infects seahorses. Try to keep the temperature below 74 degrees. However, it is not a disaster scenario if the temperature fluctuates higher occasionally. If it is consistently below the 74 mark, that considerably reduces the bacterial population in the tank. A fluctuation to 75 or 76 for a day or two in the summer probably won't kill your seahorses.

 

Pipefish eat copepods and often dont take prepared food