Native saltwater fish and maybe.... a pipefish?

[KATALEKEEPER]

Hi all. Like I said in the native killifish thread. I am going to keep a native saltwater tank. Maybe a 20 gallon. or a 40. Unheated, very low tech. Im going to try some native marsh plants too! I have no experience with salt, but plan not to meddle with magnesium and proper dosing and all that stuff. Instead I will do daily water changes with the water from where I collected the fish since I am on the water. Is that viable? I am planning to stock either or:

(Killifish are going in on top of these)

juvie black seabass

Juvie porgy

Northern kingfish

Juvie fluke

Juvie blackfish and or bergall

This may sound bad but this is an experiment, yes I know most of these are predators and I may lose Killis. I will just replace them because im on the water. They are suppppeeeerrrr common. This is just a summer project and all the fish will be released in mid september

 

[The Masked Shadow]

As far as I can tell, the title is related to the actual thread. When captive fish are released, they expect a giant hand to feed them.

 

[KATALEKEEPER]

As far as I can tell, the title is related to the actual thread. When captive fish are released, they expect a giant hand to feed them.

bait then

 

[The Masked Shadow]

bait then

I don’t know if anything will eat a predatory fish besides a shark. Maybe you could use them as catfish bait.

 

[KATALEKEEPER]

I don’t know if anything will eat a predatory fish besides a shark. Maybe you could use them as catfish bait.

no the killifish.

 

[Fishnerd360]

I’ll probably skip the pipe fish, from what I known and why I didn’t buy any, is they need a lot of work to take care of. Don’t know if this also applies to saltwater fish, but once you take a fish from captivity, it’s yours now/you can’t release it back. I’ll probably look into more permanent residents.

 

[0wen_96]

ye I'll skip on the pipe fish. they need live food and generally they're pretty... fragile?

Don’t know if this also applies to saltwater fish, but once you take a fish from captivity, it’s yours now/you can’t release it back.

ye pretty sure its illegal in some places.

 

[EntoStentor]

Pipefish and seahorses are plankton feeders in the wild. You're going to have to accommodate that with a copepod colony and live rock that it can grow on, since the pipefish is going to be feeding nearly 24/7. However, you also need a 1 year+ mature tank for the colony to prosper.

In terms of care requirements, I'd liken pipefish to a harder version of mandarin dragonets. At least with dragonets you can wean them onto baby brine, mysis and the like. Pipefish don't do well on those and so should only be fed on prey they can naturally catch, i.e. live copepods. They also need to be kept in groups in a mature tank. Add in the fact they don't look that cool and don't do much, and in my opinion they're not worth it.

 

[KATALEKEEPER]

Pipefish and seahorses are plankton feeders in the wild. You're going to have to accommodate that with a copepod colony and live rock that it can grow on, since the pipefish is going to be feeding nearly 24/7. However, you also need a 1 year+ mature tank for the colony to prosper.

In terms of care requirements, I'd liken pipefish to a harder version of mandarin dragonets. At least with dragonets you can wean them onto baby brine, mysis and the like. Pipefish don't do well on those and so should only be fed on prey they can naturally catch, i.e. live copepods. They also need to be kept in groups in a mature tank. Add in the fact they don't look that cool and don't do much, and in my opinion they're not worth it.

ill pass on it maybe lol. Although I have had luck catching them on squid and clam?

 

[Deadeye]

Quick question, do you mean the pipefish (like seahorses), or the gar-like ones (needlefish).

https://i1.wp.com/mexican-fish.com/wp-content/uploads/F658-Atlantic-Needlefish-2.jpg?resize=570%2C340&ssl=1