Banded Pipefish (Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus)
Fish in the family Syngnathidae. Hard care. Reef Safe.
Quick facts
Appearance
The Banded Pipefish has an elongated, slender body with distinctive yellow-and-brown or yellow-and-orange banding along its entire length. Like all pipefishes, it features a tubular snout, a single dorsal fin, and a prehensile tail used for anchoring to seagrass and coral. The body is well-camouflaged to blend with vegetation in its natural habitat.
Diet and feeding
Feed small live or frozen foods such as copepods, amphipods, mysis shrimp, and other zooplankton. A varied diet of small crustaceans is essential; prepared foods alone are often insufficient for long-term health.
Difficulty and care for the Banded Pipefish
Banded Pipefish are challenging to keep, requiring stable water conditions, frequent small feedings of live or frozen zooplankton, and careful tank-mate selection. They are best suited to established reef tanks with good seagrass or coral holdfast vegetation and should only be attempted by experienced hobbyists.
Common health issues
Poor feeding response, starvation, weight loss, parasitic infection, bacterial disease in poor water quality
Origin and habitat
Indo-Pacific region, from Indonesia and the Philippines through to Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, typically found in coastal reef environments at shallow to moderate depths.
Log Banded Pipefish in your reef tank
Reef Trak gives you the full record on every species in your tank: acquisition date, source, photos, parameters at time of stocking, and links to maintenance and feeding events. Track Banded Pipefish alongside everything else in your reef.
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