View Full Version : New Pipefish Nano System
new system is finally coming together - main tank is a 24x15x12 - fuge is 12x8x8 - fuge is located on window sill (didn't trust the shelving!), and is fed by a fluval 203 canister filter under main tank - water from fuge overflows back into main tank approx 5-10 times per hour (adjustable). Fuge houses piccolo skimmer, heater and a small chunk of LR for the time being. Fuge was drilled and fitted with a bulkhead - returns to tank via a flexible pipe for time being (plan to upgrade to a glued fixed pipe to enable curtain to close properly, hiding trailing wires). Main tank is lit by an oceanlight 150w 9hrs - contains 6kg of LR plus another 2kg rubble - hoping caulerpas (prolifera, racemosa, taxifolia and unknown type) will take hold enabling me to transplant to the fuge - also added 5 red banded trochus the other day... other circulation is a powersweep powerhead - rejuvinated thanks to some white vinegar! - oh yeah, main tank is fan cooled too - steady now at 76-77f
Thats it for now really - I will be adding a pair of (or poss 2 female) bluestripe pipefish in next couple of weeks (currently reserved). Maybe some gorg frags from my other reef.... big plans for the fuge too. :dance:
fluffycoat
14-03-05, 20:58
How do you adjust/control the flow back into the tank. Looks a super set-up!
Jackie
cheers Jackie - I adjust the flow by turning one of the control taps on the fluval external. Whole set-up should look much better when I replace that black pipe with a fixed one - a curtain will then cover up all those wires etc..... the fuge isn't lit at the moment, but I may consider adding a small light, or removing the background for natural light..... I was originally going to put the fuge on the shelf above the tank actually, but when I added the two centre black brackets I discovered that the wall was extremely thin (by drilling right through! :wacko: ) - the consequences of it all coming down would have been terrible.....
JasandJules
15-03-05, 08:58
Looks great !
Keep us posted.
Jas
Looks like a great little project Clippo. How long has it been set up and running?
Si
cheers mate - well, its quite complicated. Originally, the main tank was a slightly taller one which acted as my frag tank. This was set-up around xmas time last year. I emptied the frag tank and put more live rock in just over a week ago now - I added the fuge, changed the main tank and did a water change all together over the weekend..... so I can't put a specific 'born on' date on it really! :P - I realise that I am running a slight risk of disrupting the cycling of the tank, but I am monitoring this carefully and am not noticing any problems (infact my stomatellas spawned just before I started working on the tanks over the weekend) - I am planning another large water change mid-week anyway (RO/DI plus RC).
Sean the Prawn
15-03-05, 10:41
I've seen your reserved pipefish, they're lovely. Nice home for them too.
Sean
cheers Sean - yeah, they're wicked aren't they? - bluestripes are quite active swimmers for pipes, and very aggressive if 2 males are mixed I hear.... I am pretty sure that these must therefore either be a pair or 2 females (either if which is fine by me!). Big thanks to Aqua-World for holding them for me....
Not 100% sure about this yet, but I am planning to move my 2 cleaner shrimps out of my other reef tank in with the pipes. They are normally full of eggs which would make a nice addition to the pipes diet I believe, plus it would remove the problem they cause my corals (particularly LPS) in the other tank. Slightly wary of one or the other becoming aggressive though....
:thumbsup:
will look forward to seeing the more established pics in time, a piefish species tank will be very unique imo. :thumbsup:
Looking really good, impressed with that aquascaping :thumbsup:
cheers Gary - yeah nice shaped rock that.. should look even nicer when encrusted with clams, gorgs and sps! :dance: - might have a chat about upgrading the black flexible pipe that I added on, to a fixed one, next time I'm in too - I'll bring a diagram! ;) cheers again for all your help with this project mate!
Looks great Clippo, very interesting idea. Did you think of that yourself or have you been looking at ideas from elsewhere? (Just that I'd seen an article in PFK and I've been waiting for someone to do something similar)
cheers! - no not read PFK for years.... its just something I have been wanting to do for a while - to keep something challenging and out of the ordinary... joined seahorse.org and syngnathid.org recently to check a few things.... I am hoping to use these two tanks to do some interesting photography experiments too.... :wave:
pipes have now settled in... pretty sure they are a pair.... :thumbsup:
chris allsop
20-03-05, 20:33
very nice, are they very expensive?
good luck with them.thanks chris
This is ace clippo.
It just so happens that I have a spare 10 gallon tank now sitting empty follwing the loss of my Mantis (old age!!).
I'd like to learn more, any other resources you can point out?
chris - hi mate, no not too pricey. I paid 28 quid for the pair.
Mikey - cheers! - well, I couldn't find a massive amount of information on them really. I ended up joining seahorse.org and syngnathid.org to see if I could find out more.... here's a summary.
they originate from the Indo-Pacific
best temp approx 78f
excellent water conditions required
max size approx 3 inches
males will fight if mixed in a tank
they are quite good swimmers for pipes, but low flow tank is best (10x)
they require tiny live foods, but may take frozen (mysis etc)
best in a species tank with lots of LR - maybe a fuge for pods
a few people have bred them, but not sure if fry have been raised
appears male has tiny growths on upper surface of snout, pouch is visible
looks like there is a strong bond between the pair
:)
I wonder if they would eat cyclopse ease!
I think so... they seem happy with pods at the moment though, snicking them off the glass - I also have a batch of bbs about to hatch.
I had a pair of those Pipefish in my reef tank prior to breaking it down. Had them for several years and they regularly bred and the male carried the eggs under his belly, Eventually one of them died but the other was still going strong and I sold it. IME, they need to be able to pick around the rocks. They seemed to spend a lot of time doing that as well as gobbling up any frozen food that i put into the tank. They seemed to go specially for the broken up Mysis shrimp.
I expect that you have identified them but just incase I found them in
"Fishes of the World" by Alwyne Wheeler".
he named them as: Doryrhamphus melanopleura.
Bob
Cheers Bob - yep, found this link very useful too:
reefkeeping (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/hcs3/)
Originally posted by clippo@Mar 22 2005, 10:41
Cheers Bob - yep, found this link very useful too:
reefkeeping (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/hcs3/)
Cheers, Nice site.
Bob
JasandJules
22-03-05, 14:45
They are lovely.
cheers - here's another - male is the lower one.
He looks like he is carrying eggs.
Bob
Nice Clippo...
Love these fish... :wub: Also had a pair of these too... few years ago now...but always thought about getting another pair...but every time I saw some I never could bring my self to buy them... they are such graceful fish...and I think look best in a small tank
Sadly lost one when he tried to swallow a small bristle worm... :( and the other one eventually perished couple of years after that…not a long lived fish in captivity I am led to believe... ;) Great to see them again mate!
Mark… :)
Hi Bob - yeah I am pretty sure there are eggs in there - had a good look last night. Do you know what to expect with the actual birth? - would the babies handle being sucked up with a baster/dip tube and transfered to the fuge? (I worry they would get sucked down the fuges overflow though.....)
Mark - cheers mate :thumbsup: - you have worried me now though - I saw a few little bristleworms in there last night.... :unsure:
well, they're still doing well. The male is getting fatter by the day. Here's a pic form tonight.
and another - this is the female. :wub:
Very pleasing to see Clippo... :wub:
Regards to my comment on one dieing by getting a small bristle worm stuck in the mouth...I have never herd of it happening else were...so I regard this as rare and a one off...so please don't worry...I may well have been very unlucky at the time...
Mark... :)
Beautiful (http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/uploads/post-4-1112216844.jpg)
Cracking little project you've got going there. Unfortunatly we can't keep every fish we'd like but if we could these would be near the top of my list but in my current tank the Stream would gobble them up i'm afraid.. N
yeah they do like a low flow environment - rules out sps I guess, but I may add a few gorgonians. The macro-algae in the tank is doing really well, particularly the racemosa and taxifolia. The pod population has diminished, but there are plenty on the glass in the fuge. They still don't seem to be interested in frozen food (or artemia for that matter), but it seems they are finding something.....
man - that last post was way back in March. I've only recently started putting some thime in on this tank due to other commitments, but the pipes and Mandarin are still fine (pic here: photography thread (http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=54141&st=0&#entry435171)). Had a neon goby, but lost that. Recently upped the flow quite a bit and the pipes love it - some more sps to go in soon, plus a smaller pinnacle of rock on the left (when I can find a nice bit!) B)
very nice it also looks like you got your black sand is it arogonite(spelling) :whistling:
very nice tank love the aquascaping.the pipes are nice did it have eggs?
bunglehaze
28-11-05, 00:02
Looks great John, nice tidy setup...
cheers
leigh :D
cheers all - yeah got my black sand, its more grey though which is nice. Matches the rocks quite well. Ray, the males pouch is often bulging, but I have never seen any babies unfortunately - guess he spawns at night and they get eaten.... I have thought about using one of the new flatworm traps from AquaWorld to see if any congregate in the container at night....
Cheers Leigh - most of the equipment is located in the overtank fuge (along with my yellow mantis) - main tank has just been cleaned too - you can't beat old credit cards for scaping coralline!
Sean the Prawn
28-11-05, 09:17
Looks great clippo :thumbsup: I really like the pinnacle effect with the scaping
Sean
thanks dude - yeah, its just the right height - I got that rock from you guys actually....
Very nice tank mate what beautiful fish they are you got any pics of the manderin? Do you add supplements for your SPS corals? I have a Nano Ive just added a tunze Nano skimmer to. I will soon be purchasing an ocean light. Id love to try some sps but I wory about Ca levels in such a small tank?
Cheers Daza :thumbsup:
Hi mate - I drip Kalk occasionally, do water changes occasionally. Its not stocked heavily enough to have a high demand at present. I'll have to get a new pic of my mandarin actually.
Originally posted by Sean the Prawn@Nov 28 2005, 09:17
Looks great clippo :thumbsup: I really like the pinnacle effect with the scaping
Sean
Just like a rising volcano from the deep...especially considering the colour... :D
A very nice Look Clippo :thumbsup:
Mark... :)
thanks Mark - yeah I guess I must have been subliminally influenced by Keiths hawaiian tank! - I'm not going for a full on biotope approach though - I'm just aiming to keep some creatures that I couldn't keep in my other set-up in here... its been on the back burner for a while.
quick update - added a few new bits
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/uploads/post-72-1134333808.jpg
JasandJules
12-12-05, 09:33
Looks really nice.
cheers! - will be upgrading cannister filter from a fluval 203 to a 304 after xmas, and running with carbon etc - also got an actinic T5 to add. Lots more livestock planned.
Hope you dont mind me copying your ideas for a pipe tank in the next couple of months, got a pair of multibanded and a pair of dragonfaces on order to go in a 2' Cube. Hopefully go the SPS route also.
So expect some pipe questions :)
ask away, but I only have experience with bluestripes.
With regard to proposed stocking, I'd say you will need copious amounts of enriched live foods, no other fish in the tank, and a large refugium to have any chance of success. Those species aren't the best pipes to start out with really. Flow may present a problem as, although dragonfaced pipes should be OK being a creeping species, I am not so sure about the multibanded. I'd think it will be hard for them to feed. Anyway, not saying you won't succeed - indeed, best of luck! - I try to avoid wild caught stuff as much as possible, particularly if there is any risk to its health involved.
Clippo the fish look lovely.. a nice setup you've got there :thumbsup:
Twistedpro
14-12-05, 12:30
another stunning tank clippo, i would love to setup a pipe fish system at some point, they really are interesting fish
withoutabix2002
26-12-05, 23:16
ive just brough a pair of blue stripe pipes to go in my 25 gal nano along with my banded pipefish and 2 ocelaris cowns. my tank also is quite natural and i think this is important with pipes as it encorages alot more small food sources although all 3 of my pipes eat frozen brine if theres 1 thing i can say about buying pipefish is make sure they are feeding in the shop make apoint of asking them to show u them eating worked for me nd my pipes are as fat as pigs...
neil
Damn – I knew things were going too well!
Last night I came home and noticed the substrate had been disrupted in the main tank. WTF has done that? I think to myself….. then I see the eyes.
Yep, mantis has somehow got over the overflow in the fuge (leaving the water!) and descended through the pipe into the main tank. Panic stations, but I manage to detain mantis in a tall glass with some nifty prodding. I pop her back in the fuge and construct a small cross out of egg crate to insert into overflow tube – preventing another escape hopefully!
Back to the main tank to evaluate the damage – my heart sinks as I can’t find either pipefish or either boxing crab…. Mandarin is fine though. Later on I find male pipefish cowering behind powerhead in top corner with shredded tail – he looks freaked but other than tail seems fine, and he even takes some food. Female is still missing though presumed consumed :( . Later still, I find smaller boxing crab looking fine – large one is still missing though, but they are very hard to spot anyway. All corals, clam etc unharmed, although clam didn’t appreciate disruption too much.
What a relaxing evening!
Update - second boxer is OK! - female pipe is gone though.
chronic2005
11-01-06, 19:56
Sorry to hear that Clippo, i hope you find your other pipefish and that everything else is ok :thumbsup:
withoutabix2002
11-01-06, 21:53
really gutted for u i would die if any of my pipes went missing my male has got his first clutch of eggs wish i had the time to try and somehow raise them but there u go.. do u knw how regualary they carry the eggs and how often they get a new brood?????
neil
cheers lads - I think its a matter of 2-3weeks IIRC. I never see any babies though. Think he releases after lights out.
After a new female (or 2). Male is recovering quickly.
withoutabix2002
12-01-06, 21:07
cheers for that i doubt i will see anything either he still seems vey fat i can actually see the eggs completely in his pouch..
just wondering did your female pay less attention to the male when hes got the eggs because lately since his got the eggs she seems to be spending less time with him compared to before???
neil
can't say noticed that... I did think the male fed more than the female though, I guess to sustain breeding. Sounds like male may be getting close to giving birth. Maybe keep a diary to establish cycle time (depends on temperature I think). Babies are much smaller at higher temperatures.
that's a real shame clippo, i'm guessing you will be on the look out for another female?
just a quick update for anyone who's interested - got another female now, good size too - slightly larger than the male at about 3". It was fantastic to see the male greeting her and showing her his favourite sleeping spot (on a black sponge). She's also taking frozen.
Might be looking to upgrade fuge to a slightly larger 16x8x8 shortly with improved pipework (still haven't done that fixed pipe!) to handle flow from the 304 (as it'd make the fuge overflow if on full throttle at present). Also looking to add a spotlight - basically a nice upgrade for the mantis which is a good 3-4" now.
Another option is to go for a 24x8x8, divided into 2 sections allowing me to keep something else - maybe a saron shrimp or another mantis.
Watch this space!
Thats fantastic to hear you've found a new partner for your male ;) Cant wait to see some more updates. Really love this tank :thumbsup:
Tom
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