dragon faced pipe fish breeding like rabbits

W

wolfman1973

New member
hey everyone,just would like to see if there are any people out there that can give me any info on the pipes. i added two to my mixed reef 90 about 2 months ago and i for sure got a male and female because they are on there 3rd batch of eggs.i have done alot of reading on them and there doesn't seem to be to much info on them(really forums seem to be the best place to find info on them)they seem to breed like rabbits and i have seen no were that anyone has had any luck with the young,infact i am pretty sure that noone has!! just would like to here from the dragon faced pipe fish lovers out there.they are very cool little guys and gals. thanks dan
 
I don't think anyone has raised dragonface pipes yet, but other species of pipes have been successfully raised in captivity, mostly in Germany and Australia. I recently found out there was someone in Germany raising bluestripes. And there are people in Australia raising other flagfin pipes. Here in the U.S. I know people who have raised U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean pipes, which are a bit easier to raise than the tropical pipes.

The dragonface fry are TINY when born and are pelagic. Like CuttleKid said, you'd probably have better luck with a Kriesel style tank rather than an aquarium. You can make a cheap and effective Kriesel out of a fishbowl, though. I can PM you some plans if you'd like.

Your biggest hurdle, though, is going to be feeding. The dragonface pipefish fry are smaller than any seahorse fry that have been raised so far. First you'd need to learn to culture live rotifers and very small copepods. Then decapped small strain baby brine shrimp.

People always ask me why I don't raise baby seahorses. I'm half joking when I say I'd have to quit my job and devote all my time to it. It takes a huge amount of time and work to raise baby Seahorses. Pipefish are worse ;) You could do everything right and still lose your whole batch. The key is to not give up, you'll get it eventually. I sure hope someone figures out how to raise these.
 
Certainly doable, just takes alittle time and patience. Collect the fry and try the rots and cops like molly said.Actually not that hard compared to other marine fish species.
 
mollymonticello said:
I don't think anyone has raised dragonface pipes yet, but other species of pipes have been successfully raised in captivity, mostly in Germany and Australia. I recently found out there was someone in Germany raising bluestripes. And there are people in Australia raising other flagfin pipes. Here in the U.S. I know people who have raised U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean pipes, which are a bit easier to raise than the tropical pipes.

The dragonface fry are TINY when born and are pelagic. Like CuttleKid said, you'd probably have better luck with a Kriesel style tank rather than an aquarium. You can make a cheap and effective Kriesel out of a fishbowl, though. I can PM you some plans if you'd like.

Your biggest hurdle, though, is going to be feeding. The dragonface pipefish fry are smaller than any seahorse fry that have been raised so far. First you'd need to learn to culture live rotifers and very small copepods. Then decapped small strain baby brine shrimp.

People always ask me why I don't raise baby seahorses. I'm half joking when I say I'd have to quit my job and devote all my time to it. It takes a huge amount of time and work to raise baby Seahorses. Pipefish are worse ;) You could do everything right and still lose your whole batch. The key is to not give up, you'll get it eventually. I sure hope someone figures out how to raise these.
Click to expand...
I hate to kick a dead horse but I just got some dragonface pipefish and I think I ended up with a male and female. If so, I know it a long shot but could you send me the plans for the kriesel? I would like to at least give it a try at raising them if they breed. Just want to be ready if they do breed. Thanks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
Hi, I have a pregnant dragonfish. Has ordered a mixed pod culture and rotifer culture. I will try to use magnetic stirrer for water movement. Any advises? Thanks
 
I was speaking with someone from one of the public aquariums a couple of weeks ago that had raised some of these! I haven't but based on the description of size, sounds like copepods would be the best bet as first food. Problem will be to have enough. With pelagic seahorse fry, I figure 1 to 2 copepods per minute during lights on.

I have raised Blue Stripes. We used a simple glass rectangular tank for them.

Dan
 
DanU said:
...

I have raised Blue Stripes. We used a simple glass rectangular tank for them.

Dan
Click to expand...

How did you harvest the larva. And what did you feed them?
I have 3 pairs and the two pairs in my reef tanks are always "pregnant", but I never see any larva, not even in the low flow refugium below my 40B that houses my oldest and largest pair.
The one pair that I keep separated in a large acclimatization box hasn't spawned yet.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
We had them in a 15 gal tall bare bottom tank that was center drilled for a bulkhead. The standpipe had a sleeve and was designed to drain from the bottom. The sleeve was covered with micron screening, 670 microns if I recall correctly. Flow was pretty low. In any regular tank with decent flow and it has surface skimming drains, you could lose the fry quickly. Most fry go to or near the surface to feed on plankton.

For first food, we use collected plankton. Started with 125 to 250 micron size If I recall correctly. Worked up to 500 microns and then switched to enriched artemia. I don't know how similar these were to Dragon Face Pipes as I haven't had them. Blue Stripes seemed pretty easy.

If I were to do these again, I would probably setup a rack with 5.5 gallon bare bottom tanks on a common sump. PVC could be used as hide outs. 1 pair per tank.

Dan
 
The advice I got from a pipefish breeder in Australia was to shine a flashlight on the surface of the tank when the lights are off. The fry stay at the surface and are attracted to the light. I used a turkey baster to suck them up and place them in the nursery tank. He also said if you don't catch them the first night they are born most will not be around in the morning.

Using this method I was able to separate some fry but I lacked the pelagic pods to feed them so I was not successful.
 
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