Freshwater Pipfish?

[summat fishy]

a few years ago i was in bolton aquatic superstore and saw some freshwater pipefish. does anybody know of these specimins and if so, what their water requirements are? thansk in advance summat fishy

 

[Fella]

The difficulty with freshwater pipefish is that the majority are very hard to identify, and they aren't particularly able feeders, and some require brackish water.

They're essentially very difficult to keep with any other fish as they feed so slow, and need quite particular tanks.

I've not kept them, but this is what I've gathered from my research on them, as I've quite often seen them and considered keeping them myself.

 

[nmonks]

Do a search for "pipefish" in the oddballs and brackish sections and you'll get quite a bit of stuff. As Fella says, these are not easy fish. Personally, I'd put them in the category of fishes that are not really suitable for any but the most experienced aquarists. Your problems start with identifying them. If at all possible, try and buy them from stores that use Latin names. This makes your job a 100x times easier, because you can get the water chemistry right. Wildwoods, for example, has Microphis deocata in stock at the moment. These are true freshwater pipefish. Other stores often have subspecies of Microphis brachyurus and these tend to need brackish or marine water.

Your second problem is feeding. Essentially they will only take live food. While they aren't picky about what you use -- bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp are all good -- they are only adapted to frozen alternatives with difficulty. I'd suggest getting a pond or water barrel established in your garden for culturing daphnia and insect larvae, and use these to feed the pipefish.

Adapting these fish to your tank is not easy, and changes in temperature and water chemistry must be avoided.

Once settled in and feeding, these are outstanding fish. Adults can be quite large and when scooting about they are quite hypnotic animals that do repay the extra effort required to keep them. Cologne Zoo has a lovely tank of them, and many zoos have bred them in captivity, maintaining populations for decades. So they aren't intrinsically averse to aquarium life, just demanding.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Loko17]

I'd never heard of them before reading this post to tell you the truth. They look kind of like gar in the fact that they're long so I'd guess they need large tanks.

 

[summat fishy]

thanks! rite they are a no go for me then... thanks a lot for the information! summat fishy

 

[Gill]

I saw these this week in A5 in Nuneaton the Tank was labelled ready for them to be added, as they were still in Quarantine.
Label said up to 10 inches and they were priced at 3.50 each.