Pipefish
- Thread starter Wonderboy
- Start date
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Yes, you can get them.
No, you probably don't want to.
I've seen freshwater pipefish for sale in three shops here in London over the last 12 months. Species of Microphis I believe. Anyway, they are extremely difficult to maintain. The first problem is identifying them: a few species are strictly freshwater, but many of them are estuarine and migrate freely between fresh and salt water. You need to get a Latin name for the species being offered, and then check up on Fishbase. Aquarium books rarely carry any species of them, the exceptions being the high-end catalogues like Baensch's Atlases.
Even assuming you have identified your species, the problem you next need to deal with is feeding. With no exceptions, these animals will only readily take live foods. Possibly you can wean them on to dead foods later on, but to begin with, it's daphnia, bloodworms, and brine shrimps. Some species are benthic (Enneacampus spp.) and eaty wormy foods happily enough, while others are midwater and only feed on swimming things (Microphis spp.).
I tried pipefish once, lost them within 24 hours. By contrast, I kept a seahorse for years. That's how difficult they are. I think I lost mine because it was a juvenile brackish water fish and my aquarium had soft/acid water, so the immediate issue there is water chemistry shock. But it might have been that I transported them from store to home on a very cold day, and they suffered from heat loss.
On the other hand, in a quiet tank with the right water chemistry and copious live foods, they could do well. Freshwater pipefish are regularly maintained in public aquaria, and I have seen some very large and healthy specimens over the years. They look fantastic in the right tank. I have some pictures of an amazing pipefish tank in Cologne Zoo that is certainly inspirational.
Cheers,
Neale
No, you probably don't want to.
I've seen freshwater pipefish for sale in three shops here in London over the last 12 months. Species of Microphis I believe. Anyway, they are extremely difficult to maintain. The first problem is identifying them: a few species are strictly freshwater, but many of them are estuarine and migrate freely between fresh and salt water. You need to get a Latin name for the species being offered, and then check up on Fishbase. Aquarium books rarely carry any species of them, the exceptions being the high-end catalogues like Baensch's Atlases.
Even assuming you have identified your species, the problem you next need to deal with is feeding. With no exceptions, these animals will only readily take live foods. Possibly you can wean them on to dead foods later on, but to begin with, it's daphnia, bloodworms, and brine shrimps. Some species are benthic (Enneacampus spp.) and eaty wormy foods happily enough, while others are midwater and only feed on swimming things (Microphis spp.).
I tried pipefish once, lost them within 24 hours. By contrast, I kept a seahorse for years. That's how difficult they are. I think I lost mine because it was a juvenile brackish water fish and my aquarium had soft/acid water, so the immediate issue there is water chemistry shock. But it might have been that I transported them from store to home on a very cold day, and they suffered from heat loss.
On the other hand, in a quiet tank with the right water chemistry and copious live foods, they could do well. Freshwater pipefish are regularly maintained in public aquaria, and I have seen some very large and healthy specimens over the years. They look fantastic in the right tank. I have some pictures of an amazing pipefish tank in Cologne Zoo that is certainly inspirational.
Cheers,
Neale
Thanks for the help, Neale. I'll probably go a different route. I think I could care for a few, but I would rather leave the lives of such unique fish in the hands of someone that knows how to do it right. Thanks again!
~ Wonderboy!
ps - those shots in that link are all very great shots! Good camera-work! B)
~ Wonderboy!
ps - those shots in that link are all very great shots! Good camera-work! B)
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
To be honest, I think it best people skip freshwater pipefish. I'm sure that they can be maintained, it's just not that easy. At least in a marine reef tank, my seahorse couold scrounge a meal by looking over the living rock. In freshwater tanks that's not an option, so the need for regular live food becomes critical rather than merely desireable.
Also, the fact that they aren't shipped with Latin names makes it difficult to do any research on the fish.
Cheers,
Neale
PS. Thanks for the comment on the photos.
Also, the fact that they aren't shipped with Latin names makes it difficult to do any research on the fish.
Cheers,
Neale
PS. Thanks for the comment on the photos.
I completely agree with you on that. I just wanted to do a little info gathering before I started to look into getting one. Thanks for the help.
ps - when does your 'Brackish' book come out?? It looks very handy, I am thinking of getting a copy if it comes out soon.
ps - when does your 'Brackish' book come out?? It looks very handy, I am thinking of getting a copy if it comes out soon.
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Officially, next month some time, but somehow I don't imagine that's actually going to happen. I've written a number of books, and not one of them has been printed at the time it was supposed to. But certainly within the next 2-3 months.
Cheers,
Neale
Cheers,
Neale
Dragonscales
Fishaholic
If you can find them captive bred over there then they become a much more prosperous undertaking as they will already be weaned only frozen foods, have alot less chance of dying from disease, etc and will be alot more robust, enabling a much better chance of surviving the stress of moving.
Over here there are a few places that sell captive bred pipefish and the results have been extremely good, their ease of care is comparable to captive bred seahorses and are equally capable of being kept as their captive bred cousins. Alot of the research you will need to do overlaps with seahorses so this is the best way to start and, to be honest, there is alot more info out there on seahorses than pipefish. The real major difference between the two (other than the obvious ones such as salinity levels, etc) is their level of sociability, pipefish males will fight where as male seahorses won't, other than this, 99% of info on the two are interchangable for both wild and captive bred counterparts.
The captive bred pipefish industry is still in it's infancy stage, even compared to seahorses so I am not sure how successful you will be finding and/or obtaining them, there are only a handful of places over here who actively breed them and the waiting list can be a bit long at times. I haven't heard of any overseas places breeding them for commercial sale but who knows? You might get lucky and find some through an lfs or, more likely, through a private breeder.
Over here there are a few places that sell captive bred pipefish and the results have been extremely good, their ease of care is comparable to captive bred seahorses and are equally capable of being kept as their captive bred cousins. Alot of the research you will need to do overlaps with seahorses so this is the best way to start and, to be honest, there is alot more info out there on seahorses than pipefish. The real major difference between the two (other than the obvious ones such as salinity levels, etc) is their level of sociability, pipefish males will fight where as male seahorses won't, other than this, 99% of info on the two are interchangable for both wild and captive bred counterparts.
The captive bred pipefish industry is still in it's infancy stage, even compared to seahorses so I am not sure how successful you will be finding and/or obtaining them, there are only a handful of places over here who actively breed them and the waiting list can be a bit long at times. I haven't heard of any overseas places breeding them for commercial sale but who knows? You might get lucky and find some through an lfs or, more likely, through a private breeder.
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