Pigeonduck Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 I thought that maybe some people might be interested to see my freshwater pipefish Doryichthys martensii. I'd also be interested to hear from anyone keeping these or similar species. Has anyone bred them? Apparently it's not too difficult with some species. They're like sea horses so the male takes the eggs from the female and holds them in a pouch until they hatch. These guys are also known as long shouted Pipefish and they come from Southeast Asia. They're true freshwater fish unlike many that are estuarine or fully saltwater. I have 5 in a 50l tank because they enjoy company. They're not quite full grown yet (assuming 15cm full size) so I might upgrade them but for now the tank works well because they don't move much or fast and they require mostly live small foods. The smaller tank size makes it easier to get the food to them. I have neocaridina shrimp and amano shrimp with them as an extra food source. They will pick eggs straight off the amano shrimp, it's quite funny to see. Here's a video of them being useless at hunting daphnia. I like how they move their eyes. It reminds me of puffer fish. 8 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanish Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 I've never seen them before. Neat! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Wow, those are neat! It's funny to see how the shrimp boldly walk up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBWell Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Those are awesome could definetly watch them for a long time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Do they use their tails like seahorses to hold on to things? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 do you need to have a constant supply of live food in there tank like you do with seahorses 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Kept a group of 4 of these last year. Awesome fish. Just found the daily feeding of live baby brine to be bit much for me. I did get them on frozen daphnia and cyclops though. Certainly a fish I might reconsider down the road. Be very curios on how your breeding project goes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeonduck Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 On 10/8/2021 at 11:40 PM, PineSong said: Wow, those are neat! It's funny to see how the shrimp boldly walk up. The blue dream shrimp ride them occasionally! On 10/9/2021 at 12:53 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Do they use their tails like seahorses to hold on to things? They do. Often they sit in the plants in a vertical position and hold on with their tail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeonduck Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 On 10/9/2021 at 12:55 AM, Colu said: do you need to have a constant supply of live food in there tank like you do with seahorses They can go overnight or a few hours in the day without food so they don't need a constant supply but very regular feeding is required because like seahorses, they have no fat reserves. They do actually eat frozen cyclops which is handy as a backup food. On 10/9/2021 at 1:00 AM, Robert said: Kept a group of 4 of these last year. Awesome fish. Just found the daily feeding of live baby brine to be bit much for me. I did get them on frozen daphnia and cyclops though. Certainly a fish I might reconsider down the road. Be very curios on how your breeding project goes. They're definitely on the high maintenance end with their food needs. It will be nerve wracking trying to keep the fry fed if they do ever breed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixfishroom Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 I ordered 10 of these guys and they are the best looking pipes I ever got in the mail. 9 of them look great and are eating frozen baby brine, rotifers, and calannus for me. The daphnia I have is too big I have to get some hikari daphnia tomorrow. once they are out of quarantine they will go into a 30 gallon walstead style tank with shrimp and daphnia in it (eventually, it took awhile to get the daphnia established in the other Pipefish tank…. A long while, and a lot of daphnia). I thought about adding scuds but I don’t know if they will hunt the daphnia or not. I am pretty comfortable with them because I also have the other doryichthys species, doras Pipefish, I have been keeping those for about 2 years now and I am hopeful that they will spawn soon. There are 2 males and 5 females in that group (and I am always looking for more, my dream is to have like a 60 breeder with nothing but like 30 fresh water pipes in it) My understanding is they become sexually mature at around 2 years. I love them so much and my goal is to eventually find all of the species of freshwater pipes, I would like to have some of the African species like enneacampus ansorgii but I have not ever seen those for sale. I did made an attempt with rainbow belly and all I am gonna say about that is I would be willing to try one more time but I would definitely not order them from the place I got the first batch, they were very small and came looking like they hadn’t eaten in a while. For a minute I thought that a couple of them might bounce back but unfortunately even the ones that kind of started eating never really bounced back. Once they go too long without food and their gut bacteria dies you can’t really save them. Anyway, I would love to hear an update on how yours are doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixfishroom Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 Mine are too young but I do know people who have spawned them, they do not receive parental care but are unlikely to get eaten by the parents. To raise the fry you need to have infusora as the first food. Then you can move up to things like micro worms, rotifers, and finally baby Brine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston John Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 The fry start out eating paramecium. They are ugly but grow pretty quickly and look like little adults pretty quick. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Amazing dude @beastie check them out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastie Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 Wow that looks even smaller than my indostomus. Though longer at least :))) I keep confusing mine with twigs 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlindsey Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 I have a pair of Doryichthys Martensii that has spawned but male has lost 4 of the developing eggs from his pouch. Did research on a seahorse forum and found out this happens sometimes with inexperienced pairs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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