Freshwater pipe fish?
- Thread starter Carter020108
- Start date
Is it brackish? I always take it with a pinch of salt (yeah pun intended) when fish store owners tell people that 'it's freshwater!'
I had a bunch of them the past 2 or 3 years.
They are awesome.
Some are shy and some are like other outgoing pets.
The key is too have live Brine Shrimp / daphnia available.
This was a chore.
- Almost a store visit for brine each week.
The pipes are the most likely to die the day they arrive or the next few days (shipping).
They never acclimate well.
After that, they are awesome. They have small articulating eyes like lizards.
As stated, some have personality and beg.
We had pipefish dwarves, as well as some long snouted ones with larger bodies.
We purchased some of the ones that have a rainbow belly, but they did not ship any that displayed the belly band.
There is also a buch of Daphnia raising colony videos and info to get into.
Our pipefish journey was coming to an end by the time I started getting into the RussRed Daphnia Magna and all those feeders.
If I could have a steady supply of food the pipes, and the species I hand-picked, I would love to see a tank of these each day.
Slowly the poulation of them dwindle.
I'm not fully sure on the life span, but they are a great project for oddball fishkeepers as long as you have the food.
A planted tank is a great start for piefish tanks.
33 longs, 40 breeders are normal.
20gal, is pushing the low end in my opinion.
55 and up is getting toward a much better space for scaping, plants, and equipment.
1.)
If you have a filter that runs 24/7:
You can add the perfect size PPI sponge to an intake to help catch the brine for a second before they go in the intake.
This gives the Pipefish a second to grab more food.
2.)
A clever tank build with a filter hooked to a feed timer was another option.
We used a Tidal 110, 75 , and th 55 series that would come back on after 10 or 15 minutes.
The ChinaTimer (Nearpow) worked.
Prett cool gadget for timers and pumps.
Some small DCpumps can be rigged to the bottom of the tank running near a quet 75% poer and then turn OFF w/ an Easy-button.
See photo.
DC pump with feed timer.
Use a sponge over the intake.
Good luck.
Post pics. Enjoy.
I'd agree with
OhioCLE
adding that an older/established tank with a certain amount of "natural" microfauna is a good idea. Sandier sediments (no bare bottom) and plenty of light-weight hides/decoration. I'd advise against stones & heavier stuff as they've got a terrible prepencity to get tightly under, to get squooshed when you clean or jostle. Also be very (VERY) careful of your filter intakes & outlets and any gaps in the lid - they're far more athletic than you'd ever expect. In the wild they climb waterfalls; I've no idea how, but there they are 
Maybe start an in-house culture of daphena (sp?), ostracods, amphipods etc - easy to do with a little pond-water and a handful of grass in a big glass jar. Better, set up several jars so you can feed a jar at a time. Fingers over the end to hold the grass & tip the water (with food-beasties) into the moving water of bubbles or filter outflow, then refill jar (with same grass & leftover/clingy/lucky beasties, maybe add a little new grass) with tank-water. Little tetras & other smaller mid-bottom stuff will also thank you.
If the fish is bigger (>20cm) maybe go to farm store and ask about California red-wriggler earth-worms, as they're little, they do fine in a kitchen compost & survive a pretty long time submerged.
Any food will have to get down into the bottom as the pipefish is unlikely to rise - though some might do, or might be trained.
OhioCLE
adding that an older/established tank with a certain amount of "natural" microfauna is a good idea. Sandier sediments (no bare bottom) and plenty of light-weight hides/decoration. I'd advise against stones & heavier stuff as they've got a terrible prepencity to get tightly under, to get squooshed when you clean or jostle. Also be very (VERY) careful of your filter intakes & outlets and any gaps in the lid - they're far more athletic than you'd ever expect. In the wild they climb waterfalls; I've no idea how, but there they are Maybe start an in-house culture of daphena (sp?), ostracods, amphipods etc - easy to do with a little pond-water and a handful of grass in a big glass jar. Better, set up several jars so you can feed a jar at a time. Fingers over the end to hold the grass & tip the water (with food-beasties) into the moving water of bubbles or filter outflow, then refill jar (with same grass & leftover/clingy/lucky beasties, maybe add a little new grass) with tank-water. Little tetras & other smaller mid-bottom stuff will also thank you.
If the fish is bigger (>20cm) maybe go to farm store and ask about California red-wriggler earth-worms, as they're little, they do fine in a kitchen compost & survive a pretty long time submerged.
Any food will have to get down into the bottom as the pipefish is unlikely to rise - though some might do, or might be trained.
