Pipefish mating or fighting?

[td3025]

I have a setup for seahorses and pipefish. Today I introduced a second banded pipefish because I assumed my one pipefish would want a friend.

They immediately approached each other and began doing a dance, spinning around each other and bobbing their head with sudden jerky movements.


I don't know if this is a bad sign or good?
Is this a fighting thing or a mating thing or just normal behavior??

[ThRoewer]

If it looks like they try to snap at each other they were likely fighting.
I just had that with my D. janssi.

[BlueCat1949]

Two males will not coexist in the same tank, so this could be a big problem. There are ways to tell the sexes apart and you need to know right away if they are both males or one will probably kill the other. Most likely it is the newcomer who will lose.

[iluvmyfishes]

If they were a pair they would be swimming side by side

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by BlueCat1949

Two males will not coexist in the same tank, so this could be a big problem. There are ways to tell the sexes apart and you need to know right away if they are both males or one will probably kill the other. Most likely it is the newcomer who will lose.

With Doryrhampus I found that the females fight each other to the death as well. It's a pair or a single, but never 2 of the same sex or more than 2 in any configuration. Only immature juveniles may be accepted for a while, though I wouldn't take that risk.