Freshwater pipefish

Care at a glance

Overview

This slender pipefish is a slow, careful hunter that needs calm surroundings and cannot compete with quick, greedy tankmates. Keep it in a small group and only with peaceful, gentle fish. Feeding is the main challenge: most take only live or freshly thawed foods such as small shrimp, blackworms, and mosquito larvae, and many need live food to start. Give it a densely planted tank with fine substrate, some roots or branches, and gentle flow near the bottom where it spends its time. A tank of around 120 liters suits a small group.

In the wild

Doryichthys martensii lives in freshwater rivers and streams across Thailand and the Sunda Islands of Southeast Asia, moving slowly among plants and submerged roots in warm, clear to gently stained water. Recreate this with heavy planting, tangled wood for cover, fine sand, and calm, well-oxygenated flow. Keep the temperature between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius and the pH from about 6 to 7.5. Mature, stable water is important, as pipefish react badly to poor conditions.

Good to know

The freshwater pipefish is a member of Syngnathidae, the seahorse and pipefish family, and grows to about 15 centimeters. It has the long, ringed, armored body and small tubular snout typical of the group, feeding by drawing tiny animals in with a quick suck. As in all pipefish, the male carries the fertilized eggs, brooding them along the underside of his body until the young are released. Aquarium breeding is rarely documented.

Did you know

Like a seahorse, the freshwater pipefish reverses the usual roles of parenthood. The female passes her eggs to the male, who carries and protects them on his own body until the tiny young are ready to swim free.

Related species

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• 

  Honduran red point cichlid

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• 

  Spotted hoplo

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• 

  Spotted raphael catfish

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• Arrowhead Puffer

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• 

  Bloch's catfish

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