Freshwater Pipefish Advice

[yoruyongbpei]

I am currently working on getting my aquarium environment ready for a freshwater pipefish, currently the tank is stocked with a small school of peaceful fish, shrimp, snails, and many plants, I have added in java moss as well to make housing for cultivating planktonic organisms, I am wondering though is this enough?, I am beginning a culture of infusoria and have a small 1.5 gallon circulating tank with 3 small shrimp and some snails that i was going to use as the combined culture tank for infusoria and the amphipods, copepods, Daphnia, freshwater rotifers, and Ostracods i was going to use for feeding, I am hoping to slowly intoduce colonies to the main tank at the sites where there is java moss growing, will this be enough to create a sustainable environment for Freshwater Pipefish? we are looking at Doryichthys Martensii as the favored choice to add into the tank, but we just discovered the Enneacampus ansorgii breed, and now are debated on that variety possibly even stocking both if we can get the plankton cultured, we also have a steady supply of blackworms as well

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

What dimensions do you have for their tank?

 

[yoruyongbpei]

its a 45 gallon bow

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

What's the length and width of that? And how many pipes do you plan to house?

 

[yoruyongbpei]

36x16x21, and we really only plan on housing 2 for a breeding pair, I know Doryichthys deokhatoides and Doryichthys martensii can be bred in freshwater, and Enneacampus ansorgii is a brackishwater pipefish but I've read many journals that they can be kept in freshwater and even spawn in freshwater but do well in .5 percent salinity. We are hoping to acquire a Doryichthys Matensii or a Enneacampus ansorgii 

 

[TooManyChoices]

I wouldn't keep them with any other fish ( maybe tiny microrasbora being the exception ), also make sure to feed them as often as you can 3+ times per day, however if you keep your plankton cultures going well, when you add a net full of culture it should have plenty of things for them to hunt down.

Personally I'd keep them in a smaller tank whilst you try to get them feeding. You'll likely never see them in a 45 gallon and if one dies you'll NEVER find the body before it breaks down/gets eaten.