Breeding Journal, Species: Doryrhamphus excisus

I shipped my first batch of these out to Dan U., who will be wholesaling them to I'm not sure who.  There were 32 in this shipment -- so few, primarily because it was my first time shipping fish, and I didn't want it to be a total disaster if I did something wrong.  There are another 40 that will be ready to ship in 2-4 weeks or so.  I also set aside three more pairs, and have placed them in separate tanks, and hope to have more than one active breeding broodstock pair soon!

I'm a very happy fish breeder today -- for the first time ever, captive bred Bluestripe pipefish are available in the US from an online retailer:  http://www.saltwaterfish....ptive-Bred_p_5950.html
 

This is great,Jim!
I am anxious to find a male for mine and follow your path.They dont show often here though

This is awesome! I want some, and I congatulate you on a job well done, Jim!  That is a major goal for me, not just to breed one, but to make them available more broadly, and be able to keep the ones in the ocean, in the ocean!

Congratulations, Jim! I'm proud of you, man.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Thank you very much, Luis, Kathy, and Andy.

Now, it appears I'm about to "close the loop" on these guys.  I have a couple of pairs of my CB pipes that I've separated into different tanks.  Today, for the first time, I see one of my males I raised holding eggs!
 

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Great!What age are they?

Uncertain exactly what age, but they are somewhere between 5 and 6 months old.

 
Excellent first Jim, very cool indeed!  Better get them to change it to "USA tank bred" though!
 

 
You're on a roll this year and it is only February!  I hope this is just a glimpse into your future achievements this year. 

Thanks, Mindy!  You are too kind.

It is a very sad day in our fish room today.  The female of the original broodstock got her tail caught in the grooves of a powerhead and died. They have been living in the same tank with the same powerhead setup for over 2 1/2 years without anything like this happening.  I'm depressed.
 
Fortunately, I have a pair of her offspring that are breeding regularly, and I've started raising the fry from that pair.  I'll have to see if I can get the one last hatch from the eggs the male is holding sometime over the next 4 nights.
 
While I could pair him up with one of his granddaughters, I think I'll see about getting some more WC bluestripes that I can QT and sex a new female for him, to increase the genetic diversity of my Bluestripe line.

Oh, Jim. I'm sorry. It always kills me when stuff like that happens. I found one of my H. comes with his head stuck inside a power head. Sigh.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

There is this odd, unpleasant feeling I get whenever I lose one of my fish.  It is a sad, unhappy feeling, combined with a very stressed feeling, like I've just had a very unpleasant argument with someone, or been through some other stressful event.  There is also a "frustrated" aspect to the feeling.

I've had that feeling all day today, without having any idea why.
 
I came home tonight to find the female bluestripe from the F1 pair in the 29 nanno just laying on the rockwork, dead.  I have no idea what happened.  Everybody else in that tank is fine.  She was looking fine this morning, and eating just like normal.
 
I now have 0 breeding pairs of bluestripe pipefish.  I do have 3 fry in growout, and two adult males in two different tanks.  Looks like I need to get some more WC broodstock, and sort out some more females and/or pairs.
 
At least now I know why I had that feeling all day....
 

Well, that just sucks.
 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Sorry to hear it.
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Update:  The three F2 offspring I mentioned as "3 fry in growout" above have been doing well and growing nicely.  Their main diet is a combination of Tigriopus, Moina, and Apocyclops from the mixed culture buckets in the greenhouse.  I have identified them as one female and two males.  The two males do fight a lot, but not seriously enough that anybody gets hurt.
 
Tonight, when feeding them, I noticed that one of the males is holding a few eggs!!!!  They sure do grow up quickly.  I haven't kept good enough records to know exactly how old these are, but it can't be much more than about 5 months or so since they hatched.

thanks a lot for repport ...and congrats
i'already have a femelle waiting for a boy ..
sure i had to use this topic when i got one .
 

That's pretty quick!

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I must ask, Jim, what's your opinion on harems of blue stripes? I noted in your thread that your original females did not get along and that you noticed some aggression between mature brothers, but do you think a harem can be pulled off with heavy feedings and lots of turf to share? Now I'm well aware that the authors of the numerous care sheets encouraging harems likely have never even seen these fish in real life but I can't help but wonder if there may be some substance to this.

I ask because there has recently been an abundance of these fish in the LFS's where I live. While I currently have a pair that is getting along quite well (though not yet spawning), the opportunity to expand to a breeding harem will not likely knock again soon.

I really don't know.  With that disclaimer out of the way,  I suspect, based on what I've seen, that if there are enough individuals, and a reasonably even male/female population distribution, and enough turf, as you say, that multiple pairs can coexist peacefully, although there will probably still be aggression due to lone individuals attempting to "cut in" on established pairs.  In larger populations (more mature fish in growout), I was surprised at how well they all got along.  It is when you are down to just a few fish that things get dicey, based on my observations.

How many fish are available to you from the LFSs?

That I am aware of, there are 2 males and 3 females available across 2 different stores. That being said, the thought of purchasing another male didn't even cross my mind. I was leaning more towards adding one or more females to the standing pair.

Perhaps a bad idea given that I may not have enough females available to create a large functionally peaceful group. Or perhaps ratio is more important and multiple males would actually cut some of the aggression between females whom may or may not actively compete for mates. That would be an interesting theory to test, eh?

I would NOT add more of just one gender to a pair.  Recipe for disaster, IME.  I do believe that ratio is important.
 
My first Bluestripes were two pairs.  They got along just fine.  Then, one male died.  The females would not stop fighting.  I've also seen one female and two males, and the males would not stop fighting.
 
I think that if you got all 5 fish currently available, or the two pairs, then you would have high probability of aquatic bliss.

I just may take a trip for another look at those fish tomorrow morning. Thanks, Jim. Did you get my PM btw?

Can you give me a description of "Chad's snagger", or link to where it is described?
 
Also, you mentioned that "Plus, you can collect seahorse fry in the daylight, and count as you collect them.  Pipefish parents are fry eaters, and you have to get the pipefish fry out of the tank under cover of darkness.". These sentences seem contradictory. Did you mean that you can't collect them in the daylight? If you can only catch them after dark, how long typically after lights out?
 
Thanks for any insights. I have a trio with a perpetually "pregnant" male but I never see any fry and am not sure how I might best retrieve them from the tank.

"If everything is going good, you've obviously overlooked something."- Martin Moe, Jr

Google "Chad Vossen larval snagger".
 
You must collect the fry at night, shortly after "lights out".  They are not strong swimmers, so all pumps/powerheads must be off.  In a pinch, a flashlight to draw them to the surface and a scoop of some kind would probably work.  Good luck!