Captive bred pipes?

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

As I’m putting together my final stocking list for my current build, pipefish are front and center.

Buying captive bred is important to me and I have actually changed stocking ideas in the past due to availability of captive bred specimens. And I’m starting to get bummed out in my research for captive bred pipes, is there anyone doing it and offering them?

Reef AquaCult · Feb 28, 2020

I haven’t heard of this. Don’t think pipefish are the top targets for aquaculture unfortunately. Not a big market

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

Reef AquaCult said:
I haven’t heard of this. Don’t think pipefish are the top targets for aquaculture unfortunately. Not a big market

Hmm maybe I can just start my own breeding program.

rayjay · Feb 28, 2020

The only source I've read about is Ocean Rider but I haven't heard of anything lately even from them.

Reef AquaCult · Feb 28, 2020

ReeferSteve said:
Hmm maybe I can just start my own breeding program.

That would be awesome!

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

rayjay said:
The only source I've read about is Ocean Rider but I haven't heard of anything lately even from them.

I looked into ocean rider last night but you’re correct, nothing new on that front in a while.

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

Reef AquaCult said:
That would be awesome!

I’ll definitely give it my all. It should be a fun and rewarding journey regardless of outcome.

Reef AquaCult · Feb 28, 2020

ReeferSteve said:
I’ll definitely give it my all. It should be a fun and rewarding journey regardless of outcome.

You should create a thread on your endeavors and share the knowledge. I would definitely enjoy following along.

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

Reef AquaCult said:
You should create a thread on your endeavors and share the knowledge. I would definitely enjoy following along.

I will for sure!

Reef AquaCult · Feb 28, 2020

ReeferSteve said:
I will for sure!

Send pics of tank too. I’ve never really been interested in pipe fish but seeing your interest in them makes me want to learn about them. Thanks. My tank is 90% aquacultured animals as well. Just a wrasse and some snails are wild caught.

ReeferSteve · Feb 28, 2020

Reef AquaCult said:
Send pics of tank too. I’ve never really been interested in pipe fish but seeing your interest in them makes me want to learn about them. Thanks. My tank is 90% aquacultured animals as well. Just a wrasse and some snails are wild caught.

That’s awesome! I love hearing other people knowing they’re housing animals that are aquacultured. I’ll have to check out your setup!

rayjay · Feb 29, 2020

Not sure which, and maybe both, but on Facebook there have been postings about pipefish fry so join Seahorse Source's Group and Seahorse Solutions Group there and post a query. Hopefully someone will respond.
Unfortunately it's not as easy as these forums are for finding what you want from previous posts, but even if those doing the pipe fry don't see your query, others will tag your post for them to find you.

ReeferSteve · Feb 29, 2020

rayjay said:
Not sure which, and maybe both, but on Facebook there have been postings about pipefish fry so join Seahorse Source's Group and Seahorse Solutions Group there and post a query. Hopefully someone will respond.
Unfortunately it's not as easy as these forums are for finding what you want from previous posts, but even if those doing the pipe fry don't see your query, others will tag your post for them to find you.

Thank you!

Ox100 · Feb 29, 2020

ReeferSteve said:
As I’m putting together my final stocking list for my current build, pipefish are front and center.

Buying captive bred is important to me and I have actually changed stocking ideas in the past due to availability of captive bred specimens. And I’m starting to get bummed out in my research for captive bred pipes, is there anyone doing it and offering them?

I don't know much about pipe fish but they do seem cool make the thread i'll follow along and may want you in the future and good luck!!!

ReeferSteve · Feb 29, 2020

Ox100 said:
I don't know much about pipe fish but they do seem cool make the thread i'll follow along and may want you in the future and good luck!!!

Thank you!!

ThRoewer · Mar 9, 2020

One of the primary issues is the low number of larva you generally get per hatch. This number will be even smaller if you use larva catchers instead of transferring the "pregnant" male to a breeder box in the larva tank. This alone makes them rather unpopular with commercial breeders.
Then there is the fact that they don't change sex but rather are male or female from the beginning. With some of the more aggressive and territorial species such as bluestripe pipefish, this can quickly lead to problems on how to get them to a sellable size in just one tank instead of having to set up individual tanks for each (or one male and one female).
Initial larva food is also somewhat not trivial.

All that said, I plan on breeding at least some pipefish as soon as I get my fish room organized and a lava tank built. I already have one spawning pair and a single female.
Of even more interest to me would be to get offspring of the Janssi pipefish as these are very hard to find. I have one established adult female and just found another, a tiny juvenile that is so far too small to sex (but might be a female as well).