Pipefish are close relatives of seahorses. They have armored body and fused jaws that form a tube-like snout. Most pipefish live in marine condition but there are a few species that live in freshwater. Pictures shown in this article is the pipefish of the genus Doryichthys which lives in freshwater.
Similar to seahorse, pipefish eat by sucking food through their snout. They like to hide between aquatic plants to ambush their preys.
Pipefish share similar breeding behavior with seahorse as well - the males are responsible for parenting. They have a special body part where females deposit their eggs into. Breeding in captivity is possible if kept in species-only tank and provided optimum condition.
Pipefish are not aggressive feeder, therefore they need to be kept in species-only tank. Starving is extremely dangerous to pipefish; they need to have a constant live food supply such as Daphnia Moina, tubifex worm, or fish fry. They can be trained to consume frozen food such as frozen blood worms but most will only accept live baits.
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| We make sure our pipefish have a constant supply of food by providing them with a cup full of tubifex worm in the tank. |
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| We feed them a variety of food including Daphnia Moina, Tubifex worm, brine shirmp, shrimp's egg, and fish fry. The picture shown is the hatching container for brine shrimps. |
We keep a school of eight pipefish in a tank with rocky substrates, jawa wood, and aquatic plants. Some shrimps are added into the tank to provide the pipefish with eggs.
Pipefish are rare in the aquarium trade. Some fish stores might sell brackish water pipefish as freshwater pipefish, hence identifying the species of your pipefish is crucial.
