I bought them thinking they ate tiny food like a sea horse and since I hatch artemia every day it wouldn't be an issue... but artemia are far too small. They are a devil of a fish to keep because they only eat live, moving food, and even then it has to be the right size and has to move in the right manner. 1/2 grown shrimp and 15mm fish fry are the perfect food... They've killed nearly all the Darwin Algae Shrimp in the tank trying to eat them (but they are too big to swallow). They are voracious predators and hoover up chameleon shrimp and juvenile fish like a living pipette - they somehow "snap" their mouth cavity/gills open which instantaneously sucks shrimp and prey up the snoot so fast you don't see it go.
I've been struggling to keep up the food using mainly Daphnia and copepods from a suburban lake (2 trips a week!) - they wont touch blackworms nor grindles nor artemia. Mosquito wrigglers are great... but finding some in Melbourne winter isn't easy... c'mon warm weather!!!!! Some of my shrimp tanks have less shrimp in them now. I started with 5 fish and lost one early on (possibly weak from lack of food prior to buying them).. and then a friend gave me another two (because he couldn't keep the food up to them) and I lost one of his (the skinny one)... My local lake is now bare because its been too cold so I'm down to a couple of tubs at home that have daphnia and I've started a tank to try an raise some adult brine shrimp. Anyone know a shop in Melbourne East that sells adult brine shrimp? Honestly I suspect 99% of these fish are bought then starve to death....
And tonight...... I found 20-30 "wrigglers" in the water - I thought they were midge larvae... but no! The male broods the eggs in a pouch just like a sea horse... but I didn't witness the main event. I wasn't sure he was "pregnant" just that I had a mix of fat and skinny fish.
Lord knows how I'm going to feed fry but I poured some paramecium and vinegar eels into the tank.. (which is why the photos are a bit grainy looking). The adult fish might just eat them.
Aquarium Industries recently put up a video - I suspect they came from there.
Last edited by Grubs; 07-09-17, 01:16 PM.
07-09-17, 12:05 AM
I'm now thinking perhaps they are Microphis brachyurus https://australianmuseum.net.au/shor...s-bleeker-1853
Atlas of Living Australia entry
Wikipedia entry - photo below by Yuriy Kvach looks just like mine
Last edited by Grubs; 07-09-17, 01:20 PM.
I could not supply enough live food to keep these guys alive. They are jumpers and a couple jumped to their death. The remainders ate all the fish fry and Mosquito larvae I could breed and I never got them to eat frozen foods. You need a really reliable and extensive supply of live food. I had about 100 breeding platties... but could not keep up the food to two pipefish!
