Pipefish Zebra

The Zebra Pipefish has a long creamy white body with and an oval-shaped flag-like tail. The vertical rings which start at the nose and continue all the way down to the tail can range from black to dark red. The bright red tail with a yellow dot in the centre acts as a false eye to give the impression of the creatures head and avoid unwanted attention.

The females look very similar to the males in this species. There has been some success with breeding the Zebra Pipefish in captivity. They will form mated pairs and the female will lay her eggs on the underside of the male who will then carry the eggs until birth.

This species of Pipefish, like most, is also quite shy and slow-moving yet they will display an interesting array of behaviours. Whether crawling along the bottom looking for prey or darting in and out of the water column with lightning speed, the Zebra Pipefish will make any expert aquarium owner extremely happy.

These fish are originally from the Indo-West Pacific region ranging from the Red Sea to East Africa and north of Japan to South Australia. They will be found hanging around at depths of 2-40 metres in crevices and located in outer reef slopes and lagoons.

Tank Recommendations for Zebra Pipefish

The smallest tank size for this species is 210 litres. Make sure to organise plenty of caves and crevices but keep the water movement to a minimum. Although these fish are slightly stronger swimmers than their cousins they can still easily get sucked into water intakes. Make sure all intake areas are covered with a strainer.

Include lots of live rock and a wide variety of artificial coloured corals as well as seahorse-safe soft corals which will help mimic its natural environment.

Suitable Tank Buddies

As mentioned before Zebra Pipefish are a shy, slow-moving species. So they should be kept with other non-aggressive slow-moving fish who will not compete with them during feeding time. Pipefish can be known to nip so other peaceful tank mates are a must.

Usually Compatible

These fish are best kept together as a mated pair and will do extremely well with other species of Pipefish and Seahorses. Other good species to keep them with are Cardinalfish, Dragonettes, Gobies and Hawkfish will get along fine too.

Sometime Compatible

It can be slightly difficult to combine Pipefish with other species. Caution should be taken with Anglerfish, Batfish, Blennies and Boxfish. Clownfish and crustaceans should be kept a careful eye on also as the slow-moving Pipefish can be nipped at. Rays should be approached with care as well as certain species of live coral. The Zebra Pipefish can be easily eaten by larger anemones.

Rarely Compatible

Larger more aggressive fish such as Angelfish, Butterflyfish and Damselfish should be avoided altogether. Filefish, Goatfish, Grunts and Hogfish should not be kept with Pipefish either. Predators including Sharks, Snappers, Lionfish and Eels will treat the Pipefish as prey and more boisterous species such as Triggers, Wrasse and Parrotfish will bully the Pipefish into starvation.

Feeding Your Zebra Pipefish

This species is carnivorous and as such will do extremely well on a meat diet of live and/or enriched frozen brine shrimp. Krill and mysis shrimp can also be provided. Feed them at least thrice a day but remember that due to their tiny mouths portion size should be on the smaller end and shrimps can be minced prior if they are too large. In a well-established tank with an abundance of live rock, these Pipefish will also feed on copepods and micro-algae provided there is a large enough copepod population. If not then we do also sell live copepods that you can use to top up your aquarium supplies.