Where can you get "out of the ordinary" Pipefish & Seahorses?

The Reef Expert

The Reef Expert

New member
Where can you get "out of the ordinary" Pipefish & Seahorses? Such as:
- - Pipefish:
- Yellow multibanded pipefish Doryrhamphus pessuliferus (Its never in stock anywhere) * very interested
- Schultz's pipefish Corythoichthys schultzi * very interested
- Alligator pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus
- Honshu pipefish Doryrhamphus japonicus
- Redstripe pipefish Dunckerocampus baldwini
- - Seahorses:
- Spiny Seahorse Hippocampus hystrix * very interested
- White's seahorse H. whitei
- Réunion seahorse H. borboniensis
- Japanese seahorse H. mohnikei
- Zebra seahorse H. zebra
- Hedgehog seahorse H. spinosissimus

Any input I thank in advance!
 
The Reef Expert said:
Where can you get "out of the ordinary" Pipefish & Seahorses? Such as:
- - Pipefish:
- Yellow multibanded pipefish Doryrhamphus pessuliferus (Its never in stock anywhere) * very interested
- Schultz's pipefish Corythoichthys schultzi * very interested
- Alligator pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus
- Honshu pipefish Doryrhamphus japonicus
- Redstripe pipefish Dunckerocampus baldwini
- - Seahorses:
- Spiny Seahorse Hippocampus hystrix * very interested I think these are the H. barbouri.-
White's seahorse H. whitei The UK or AU.-
Réunion seahorse H. borboniensis Wishlist
- Japanese seahorse H. mohnikei Wishlist
- Zebra seahorse H. zebra MEGA Wishlist.-
Hedgehog seahorse H. spinosissimus Paper out of vietnam talk of a breeding program. Wishlist.
Any input I thank in advance!
Click to expand...
 
The LFS i work at just got in 3 of the yellow banded pipefish this past week, they are all about 4-5inches long. But i notice you are in France sooooo i'm not much help, sry
-Tyler
 
have you tried to work with a local shop so they know you are looking for them? If the fish is rare or cost more than normal the LFS tend to stay away unless they have a buyer waiting.
 
Most, if not all of the seahorses are not available in the aquarium trade - at least not in the US. Partially because of a lack of interest, partially because of CITES restrictions, partially because where they're native to there isn't a lot of collecting, and partially because to many people, a seahorse is a seahorse is a seahorse. (same for pipefish).

Chance are pretty good that they won't be. I was speaking to someone that works at live aquaria, and they've never seen H. histrix available. (they're on my super seahorse wish list.) I've heard of people seeing them in the hobby before the CITES restrictions, but in the few cases I've seen photos, they were mis-identified.

A long time ago, someone from Seahorse.org had H. mohnikei. It was a long time ago so I don't remember the details, but he lived in Asia or the Philippines, someplace that was much more local to where they are native from.

H. zebra will probably never be available. Only a few specimens have been observed ever. Ocean Oddities, who went out of business a number of years ago managed to obtain a female for their breeding program (with permits) but never found a mate. However, you might be able to get a hold of the zebra form of H. trimaculatus. They used to show up from time to time in the hobby before CITES; its possible that they could be legally brought in but since there really isn't much interest these days in wild caught seahorses, its probably pretty unlikely.

Same for H. spinosissumus, used to sometimes make it into the hobby before CITES, but probably won't anymore.

As for the pipefish, yellow bandeds and alligators do make it into the hobby at times, they're just no common. Keep an eye on the online vendors and they'll eventually get them.

The rest of the pipes; well there just isn't enough demands. I wish there were, there are some amazing pipefish species out there I'd love to get my grubby paws on; but if they do make it, its probably going to be a one off thing because the majority of people aren't too interested in the different varieties.
 
I am particularly interested in Haliichthys taeniophorus! I failed to mention it in the above list... oops. I like it because I don't have the moola to keep seadragons, and it looks like a seadragon x pipefish. I don't know if it has been in the hobby before or anything about caring for it. Any help? Its distribution is off Irian Jaya which I believe is tropical or subtropical water... quote from eol: Indo-Pacific: Indonesian waters around Irian Jaya (northern coast and Tanamerah Bay) and Australian waters from Shark Bay, western Australia to the Torres Straits in northern Queensland.
EOL - Haliichthys taeniophorus The Ribboned Pipefish
02326_large.jpg
http://content4.eol.org/content/2010/03/24/09/02326_large.jpg
haliichthys--taeniophorus-02.jpg
http://a7.idata.over-blog.com/3/03/14/36/Contributions/01/haliichthys--taeniophorus-02.jpg

Thanks for answering my questions on this thread and plz keep visiting as I will probably need more answers about pipefish and seahorses! Thanks for any answers in advance!:)
 
The Reef Expert said:
I am particularly interested in Haliichthys taeniophorus! I failed to mention it in the above list... oops. I like it because I don't have the moola to keep seadragons, and it looks like a seadragon x pipefish. I don't know if it has been in the hobby before or anything about caring for it. Any help? Its distribution is off Irian Jaya which I believe is tropical or subtropical water... quote from eol: Indo-Pacific: Indonesian waters around Irian Jaya (northern coast and Tanamerah Bay) and Australian waters from Shark Bay, western Australia to the Torres Straits in northern Queensland.
EOL - Haliichthys taeniophorus The Ribboned Pipefish
02326_large.jpg
http://content4.eol.org/content/2010/03/24/09/02326_large.jpg
haliichthys--taeniophorus-02.jpg
http://a7.idata.over-blog.com/3/03/14/36/Contributions/01/haliichthys--taeniophorus-02.jpg

Thanks for answering my questions on this thread and plz keep visiting as I will probably need more answers about pipefish and seahorses! Thanks for any answers in advance!:)
Click to expand...
^That Pipe is soooo cute! They look so much like Seadragons. It would be awesome to be able to keep one of those. But as far as H.Hystrix. Ocean Rider (Seahorse.com) sometimes has them but it says "Sold Out" right now. They also have Whiteis (Only 75 bucks!) but saying "sold out" as well. You may be able to contact them about this because they breed them all on their own facility, so they will definitely be able to tell you when they'll be available again.
As for Alligator Pipes, Saltwaterfish.com sometimes has them, and if you google "Alligator Pipefish for sale", there's a few smaller online stores with them in stock, but I don't know anything about their reputation.
 
Blitzburggirl said:
How much are those pipes Tyler?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what Cindy priced them at. I believe we got them in on Friday afternoon and they were eatting pods and some of the mini mysis shrimp when i fed them...i think she had 3 yellow banded pipes and 3 or 4 Yellow stripe cling fish. Might be worth calling I havent been back in the store since Sat. though so they may already be gone.
-Tyler
 
tjohnson27209 said:
since I'm a newbie to the whole pipefish and seahorse game...what is the aqucon scam?????:hmm5:
-Tyler
Click to expand...


Certain online vendors have different website set upped. They do not have your or the animals best interest at heart.

If you want to go cheap. You get what you pay for.
 
On aquacon: I recommend everyone to do their own due diligence on this subject. However, I offer this as a starting point: BBB link. Also, although saltwaterfish.com and I have not always seen eye to eye, I do not believe they are part of the aquacon guise of deception. Somewhere I saw a list of names they had used, but I could not find it in the 3 minutes I just spent looking.

On to more fun stuff, Reef Expert, have you tried contacting a company like aquatouch (based in phoenix, AZ)? They are importers and cut much of the supply chain out and also collect to order (for a price of course). There are other companies like this (I think wetpets, with whom I have no experience) out there you can look into as well.
 
Oh I hadn't heard of this Aquacon thing. I don't buy online too much. The only livestock I've gotten online are my seahorses (Seahorse Corral. They're great, but only have Erectus and Zosterae).
 
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