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Flagtail Pipefish In The Home Aquarium

By Tamara Weiss
Aquarticles

Flagtail Pipefish, named such because of their large, brilliantly colored tails that they use in courtship and territory displays, are one of the free swimming types of pipefish from the genus Doryrhamphus and Dunkerocampus. This includes roughly 12 - 20 different species, depending which taxonomic source you go by. They are planktivores, feeding on crustaceans and other small prey items out of the water column. Many are cleaners as well, picking parasites off other fish (most notably damsels and cardinal fish.) The wonderful thing about these pipefish is that most fair quite well in captivity, unlike many other pipefish species.

While they are generally easy to keep alive in captivity, there are still some obstacles that need to be overcome when keeping flagtail pipefish. There aren't any commercial sources of captive bred flagtail pipefish, and very few reported hobbyist successes, so you're limited to wild caught individuals, which can be starved and diseased. Feeding, as with any syngnathid is an issue (though you will see, not as big of one as you might expect). They can also be quite aggressive towards their own kind, and other species of flag tail pipefish. In this article, I will cover all of these issues, and what you can do about them.

The first issue is of course their wild caught status. Like most syngnathids, they don't transport well. They rarely get fed appropriate foods at holding stations, and this can lead to a general weakening of their immune system and attack of secondary infections. So it is absolutely imperative that you pick healthy specimens.

One thing to look for is to be sure they are swimming and active. While they do occasionally rest, they spend most of their time actively moving about, or hovering mid water. If a specimen is laying in one spot and doesn't seem interested in investigating you (or hiding from you!), move on. Also, look for discoloration or washed out areas, especially grey film. If at all possible, see if you can get the fish store to offer live food. If you can convince them, bring some newly hatched baby brine shrimp from home (unless you're really lucky and have one of those special stores that have bbs on hand!). If that's not available, ask them to offer adult live brine shrimp. Unfortunately, some will not take LBS, because it's either too large or just doesn't move "right".

Once you've selected your specimen, you'll need to take it home and quarantine it for at least 4 weeks. This is not only to potentially protect any other tank inhabitants from any disease it might be carrying, but also to be able to treat it if an illness crops up. This time also gives the aquarist a chance to feed in an environment where it is easy to observe the pipefish. I also only recommend quarantining one at a time, as they can be quite aggressive towards one another, and a bare tank provides no hiding spaces. If you MUST quarantine more than one together, I suggest using a divider, even if they seem to be getting along.

The bare minimum for a quarantine tank you'll need is a sponge filter, a heater, a top (pipes can and do jump), and a light. Having artificial plants, or even PVC pipe will help, as many like to hide to feel secure. I would recommend at least a 10 gallon aquarium, and it MUST be cycled, as they are sensitive to even small amounts of ammonia in the water.

While in quarantine, you can use this as an opportunity to teach them to eat frozen food. They all seem to learn fairly quickly that dead food is still food, unlike many of their relatives. However, most need to be started out on live food. I have always used newly hatched baby brine shrimp. Some will eat adult brine shrimp, though it isn't nearly as nutritious. And there seems to be no risk of them refusing bbs. Once I have them eating bbs heartily, I start adding thawed cyclopeeze at the same time as feeding bbs. It usually only takes one or two feedings to get them eating the cyclopeeze along side the bbs. While they take to the cyclopeeze pretty quickly, I still tend to offer them bbs at least once a day (Ideally, feed them two - three times a day). Many will also learn to take small frozen mysis if offered. As with any syngnathid, a variety of food is imperative to long term health.

One sad fact of any wild caught syngnathid is that apparently healthy specimens can and sometimes do die for "no good reason". Unfortunately these pipefishes are no different. Once established, this doesn't seem to be a problem, but early on they can be fine one day, and belly up the next. The limited research and evidence for seahorses suggests its an internal vibrio bacteria infection, which probably holds true for pipefish as well. This kind of infection is unfortunately very difficult to treat. You may want to treat prophylactically. Its difficult to know whether or not it is worth it, since you may run the risk of creating an antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria. What you can treat for prophylactically that is shown to be effective is treating for parasites. Fenbendazole and praziquantel are very effective in treating parasites commonly found in wild caught fish. Praziquantal should be administered at a dosage of 1-2ppm for 24 hours and fenbendazole offered via enriched foods (such as gut loading brine or ghost shrimp). Short freshwater dips can also help remove external parasites.

After 4 weeks, your pipefish should be ready to go in the main tank. Now, some people are (rightfully so) afraid that mixing wild caught pipefish with captive bred seahorses can cause disease outbreaks in the captive bred seahorses, as they have no resistance to wild bacteria. This is certainly possible, though I've never seen or heard of it happening with flagtail pipefish. Perhaps their physiology is different enough that they aren't affected by the same diseases. Or perhaps because they behave quite differently, they never interact in such a way to be transmitting diseases between one another. I can't guarantee it won't happen, but thus far mixing wild caught flag tail pipefish and captive bred seahorses does not seem to be a problem.

Flagtail Pipefish are very adaptable and can live in more aquarium types than many of their cousins. Being faster than most seahorses and pipefish, food competition is much less of an issue (though they should probably be kept away from extremely aggressive eaters). Harassment may be an issue, so it's important to keep them from overly terriforial tank mates. I personally wouldn't keep them with the likes of damsels, even if they are some of the fish they normally clean. Water flow doesn't seem to be too important; they are agile swimmers, and don't seem to suffer like most syngnathids when it comes to high current. They prefer to hang out in caves and under overhangs; providing these gives them a place to feel safe and venture out more than if there is no protection. Pump and filter intakes should be covered, but that is more because many like to explore nooks and crannies and may end up being sucked into the intake out of curiosity.

These pipefish are the one animal in the seahorse family that I would recommend as POSSIBLY being okay in a reef tank. Consideration needs to be taken with the type of fish and corals kept with them. I wouldn't put them with really aggressive fish, or corals with a strong sting, and certainly not anemones.

The only really disappointing thing about this group of pipefish is they are very territorial towards each other. In the wild, they live in male - female pairs and stake out a cleaning station or hunting ground, and chase away any competitors. In captivity, they will defend their territory until one or both are dead; even different species are intolerant of related species or similar looking species. Ironically, the most aggressive ones I have encountered are the smallest; the blue stripe pipes (Doryrhamphus excisus). They will kill any intruders in a matter of days, even pipefish two-three times their size.

If you want to keep more than one in the same take, you'll have to try to create a male/female pair. The problem is, there is very little sexual difference. The males carry eggs on a brood patch under their tail, but it is nearly impossible to see if they are not carrying eggs. You also run the risk of two juveniles living together peacefully and fighting as they get older, as the juveniles congregate in some species. Unfortunately, your best chance is to quarantine two animals separately, and watch them very closely when you do put them together and be prepared to separate at a moments notice. Again, because juveniles can getting along for a while, you may end up watching for some time. If you get really lucky, you may find what looks like a pair, but unless you're sure they are full-grown adults, you will need to be vigilant for the first few months they're in your aquarium.

Doryhamphus janss investigating a clownfish pair

Flagtail pipefish are a beautiful addition to the home aquarium, if the time and effort is made to properly acclimate and house them. They are a great fish if you want to venture into pipefish without the heartache that many species provide. While I wouldn't recommend them for the beginner, anyone that's kept seahorses, or even just saltwater fish beyond damsels and clownfish should be able to do quite will with these beautiful seahorse cousins.