Some questions from the fish I got today:
what do pipefishes eat? And what kind of fish is the second one and how big does it get?
what do pipefishes eat? And what kind of fish is the second one and how big does it get?
New fish questions
- Thread starter Caveden
- Start date
Pipefish feed on live small invertebrates like shrimp. The pic of the fish is a African Peacock Cichlid.
Did you buy the Pipefish?
They require live food but possibly be weaned on frozen Mysis Shrimp. Tbh the Pipefish is a slow feeder and needs to be in a specie only aquarium.
Please call the lfs you bought the Pipefish from and ask them what they were feeding it.
I would invest in live freshwater copepods, amphipods, and other microorganisms. Pipefish are not easy to feed or get onto frozen. They need to be kept species only or with other slow feeders (sticklebacks, dwarf frogs, etc.). Expect 4-8 inches based on species. They need pristine, soft, slightly acidic water if I’m correct.
Second fish looks like a juvenile red zebra mbuna. High ph, hard water. Very aggressive and should not be mixed with any fish in your tank. Really only good with other mbunas, loaches, and syno cats.
Mine for comparison:
Second fish looks like a juvenile red zebra mbuna. High ph, hard water. Very aggressive and should not be mixed with any fish in your tank. Really only good with other mbunas, loaches, and syno cats.
Mine for comparison:
Ah oops. Both pipefish I bought died as they got attacked by my tetras and honey gouramis. I thought they were peaceful community fish. Learnt my lesson on pipefish ?. For the red zebra Mbuna, I didn’t know it was aggressive. Maybe if it starts attacking my other fish it’ll become a feeder for my bigger fish. Should have researched before I bought the fish. Impulse buy.
It's very possible the Pipefish although alive when you purchased them were starving. That is why I asked you to find out what the lfs was feeding the Pipefish. I would suspect the Cichlid before anything else.
Pipefish are notoriously difficult to keep, many will only accept live food like, animated, and moving daphnia, copepods, mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp, dropped right in front of their nose,s and must eat small meals constantly throughout the entire day.
There are about 3 freshwater species here in Panama, and one that needs brackish water, some live in Lake Bayano with fairly hard, highly alkaline water.
I would only attempt to keep them if i could devote a tank only to them, with no other fish, and was breeding a ton of the live foods listed above. Much in the same manner seahorse keepers do.
I would also suspect the cichlid "might" have attacked them, but Tlindsey's theory of them starving (and been starving for a while) is most plausible.
There are about 3 freshwater species here in Panama, and one that needs brackish water, some live in Lake Bayano with fairly hard, highly alkaline water.
I would only attempt to keep them if i could devote a tank only to them, with no other fish, and was breeding a ton of the live foods listed above. Much in the same manner seahorse keepers do.
I would also suspect the cichlid "might" have attacked them, but Tlindsey's theory of them starving (and been starving for a while) is most plausible.