bluestripe pipefish pair.

[thumbsy]

Thought I'd post some pics of my pipefish pair. They're not the best, but hopefully they show enough detail.

They've been a pair for about a month now. I bought the male about a week before I got the female. Within 48 hours of adding her to the tank, the male was carring eggs. I missed the first batch and he's now getting ready to release the second.

Pod hunting in the red algae.

Hanging out in their sleeping corner. The male is on the left, hopefully you can make out the little bumps on his snout which is how you distinguish males from females.

Terrible close up of the male with some eggs.

 

[rssjsb]

Cool! I love these fish. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mollymonticello]

Where did you get these? They are fantastic. The blue is just popping right out of the picture.

 

[thumbsy]

The first pic is pretty accurate, the other two not so much.

I bought them from 2 different LFS. I've seen many blue stripe pipefish that were sorta dull, and cheaper. These were labeled 'African' which I assume means they are a bit more colorful then those collected from other locations. Or maybe an excuse to charge more for the colorful ones. One other thing I noticed is the duller ones are a bit smaller, so it could be these are just fully mature.

4th night in a row on frywatch and it doesn't look like it's gonna happen. The happy couple is already nestled in their algae bed.

 

[Seanewb]

Those are amazing! Do they always hang out together? Are you going to attempt to raise the fry?

 

[danfrith]

My male Bluestripe usually releases his fry on the 4th or 5th post- spawn. I turn off all the pumps and power heads, the larvae are pretty phototrophic too. So try using a flashlight to attract them. You can read up on my breeders log here:
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=727

 

[thumbsy]

Well tonight was the night. I spent about 3 hours trying to scoop them up into a tiny cup and dumping them into a breeder net. I believe it was around 30 total. However once I turned the pumps back on, they seem to have all dissappeared. I'm not sure what happened, but I don't think I have any left. It could be the pumps are too strong and it's pushing all the fry into a corner of the net, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow.

Seanewb, they spend a good deal of time together. The female likes to spend some time cruising and hunting alone, the male tends to stick to his little territory. If they go a long time without seeing each other, they'll rush together and get really close, as if they missed each other.

Danfrith, thanks for the link. My male has definately had these eggs longer then 5 days, I think tonight is the 13th day he's had them. Those pics of the fry are exactly what mine look like. I basically did the same thing, turned off the pumps and lights and just left my moonlight on to bring them up.

Honestly this was a pretty half-hearted attempt on my part.

 

[thumbsy]

Confirmed, there are no fry in the breeder net. They must be small enough to fit through the netting.

Good news is the male already looks like he's carrying again.

 

[mollymonticello]

If you want to raise those fry, you'll probably have to quit your job

The ones from Africa are prettier, they are the D. excisus excisus. The taxonomy is being revised, but right now I think the smaller, duller ones are D. excisus melanopleura. I have 2 of them. They are about 3" long and are still dull blue and orange. You can see them in my gallery. I love them, though.

 

[thumbsy]

Interesting, I didn't know they were different species, I just figured there was some variability in coloration. Also makes me feel a little better since I saw a pair of the duller ones selling for a little more then I paid for just one of mine. What really makes them intersting is their personalities. My pair are doing their 'good night' dance at this very moment. Lights go out in 6 min and they always come right to the front of the tank and do their little bonding ritual before bedding down.

I really don't have the time or space to setup anything too elaborate for the fry. They seem to be breeding every 2 weeks so I should have plenty of chances to try and rear them.

 

[mollymonticello]

The parents might eat them. I know, most Syngnathids don't, but apparently, the bluestripes do. And they are notoriously tiny. I don't know a single person who has gotten them past 5 days, and that is even a stretch. Other species of pipes, yes, but not these bluestripes.

 

[seacraze]

Beautiful pipe fish! Our pipes gobbled the babies faster than we could scoop them - what did work was putting the fish with eggs in the platic breeders where the fry fall out the bottom - even then they still managed to eat some.

Good luck I would sure love to see little pipe fry!

 

[sly fox]

awesome fish..

 

[skeeter-doc]

wow! I wish there was a place around Houston to buy blue-stripe pipes! They certainly are lovely!

 

[thumbsy]

Thought I'd post an update.

So, I've been having a little trouble with these guys. The male started carrying less eggs, then I think he started dropping them too early, finally he stopped carrying them at all. There was a period of time he was a full 2 weeks eggless.

I believe the problem was I stopped feeding live bbs. Both my pipes will eat cyclop-eez, but they either don't eat enough, or they're missing something.

So I broke out the hatchery disk and about a week later the male had another batch of eggs on his belly.

A new camera, and I haven't quite figured out how to get good shots with it. Pic is a bit blurry.


Umlaut stands guard while Ene sticks her nose in a rock.

 

[danfrith]

I'd also recommend frozen Mysis. Mine love them and it keeps them fat. I havent seen my male eggless in 5 months too.

 

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12742155#post12742155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by danfrith
I'd also recommend frozen Mysis. Mine love them and it keeps them fat. I havent seen my male eggless in 5 months too.

+1

 

[Ralph ATL]

are these sps reef safe with 2 x tunze 6000 flow? no stingers.

 

[danfrith]

mysterybox, I think it could work. I have mine in my 58 gal. SPS reef with 2 koralia 3's ( 850 gph a piece). they actually seem to love riding the currents.

 

[Ralph ATL]

thanks!