New love!

[CFC]

Not with salt in the water you shouldn't

 

[bunjiweb]

they all brackish are they?..

 

[nmonks]

Not, not all of them, but as I said in my post the two species you're most likely to find do best with at least a little salt. You can keep the Microphis in freshwater probably indefinitely, which is how they were in Cologne, but in the wild it inhabits brackish water and the sea, so my guess is that keeping it in freshwater is just creating work for yourself.

Funnily enough Tatchbrook Tropicals in London has a single Microphis freshwater pipefish, but they're asking 20 GBP for it... rather more than I'd be willing the pay. Otherwise, I've hardly ever seen this fish on sale. I chatted with the manager of a big tropical fish store about them a few months ago, and he said he'd imported them once or twice before, but he doesn't any more. Problem was, many of them died in the shop, and the people who bought them didn't have much luck with them. Bottom line, these are difficult fish that cannot really be kept in a community tank. I don't think they're delicate any more than seahorses are (seahorses are actually quite hardy, once they're feeding); it's just that you literally have to keep them swimming in live food.

Cheers,

Neale

they all brackish are they?..

 

[zendarx2]

Pipefish are closely related to seahorses and pipehorses and as such care is pretty much the same as for them. They are available captive bred and these are generally alot easier to care for than wild caught due to being more resistant to disease, readily accepting dead food rather than live, etc. Unlike seahorses, male pipefish will often fight so it is best to keep one male per tank. Generally it is best to keep them in a species tank but there are a few fish suitable as tankmates (seahorses for instance). Before buying considerable research should be conducted as they aren't your typical danio, etc when it comes to needs, care, housing, etc. If you are still interested in keeping pipefish then just post and I will put up some more detailed info and where you can do further research.

Hey I would love to find a place for better research on pipefish if you could give me a link that would be great

 

[Dragonscales]

seahorse.org has info on pipes as well I think (haven't been there for a while) and if not then you can find tons of info on syngnathid.org.

 

[SherriSixxx]

Oh wow! That's such a lovely looking fish! Real cutie! Pity they are so hard to look after. How big are they? Not gonna get one, am just curious!