Finally got a pair of Blue Stripes

[ThRoewer]

... or more precisely 3.

It all started February when I got a pair Doryrhamphus excisus through a LFS. Unfortunately the female developed a damage (parasite or infection) on her mouth and ultimately starved to death.

I placed the male into my 18" cube where he did well and by now has reached full size.

Unfortunately my local store wasn't able to get more so in summer I decided to try ordering a female from LiveAquaria. Unfortunately the female they sent me was in such bad shape that it didn't make it through the second day.

After that failure I took a break to see if some would show up in local stores here, but nothing.

So my next attempt was with Blue Zoo but the female they sent me turned out to be a male. Not a big deal as I wanted another pair anyway. But now I needed 2 females.

So I ordered two more females but got a pair. Their shipment got delayed over the weekend and the male never recovered from that and died a week later.
In the meantime I had given LA another shot only to get another pair instead the 2 females I ordered.

With the second Blue Zoo male dead by then I only needed another female and tried it with Blue Zoo again. And this time they got it right.

So when all are through QT, I will have 3 pairs.
I plan to keep at least one in a small tank to try to breed them.

[kizanne]

Wow you really stuck in there. Are you planning on breeding them?

[teemee]

this is the first time i've heard of people being able to sex them...
please tell me how!
thx

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by kizanne

Wow you really stuck in there. Are you planning on breeding them?

Yes, my plan is breeding them. They are very common fish in Germany but seem to be harder to get here in the US, at least at local stores. It is the one pipefish that is perfect for reef tanks, even with bigger and faster fish. They usually pick up taking small Mysis quickly and females or pairs are pretty outgoing after a while. Only single males seem to be more reclusive.

Originally Posted by teemee

this is the first time i've heard of people being able to sex them...
please tell me how!
thx

They are actually very easy to sex. The males have a saw like structure on the top of their nose while the females have a smooth nose. I will post pictures later.

Both, Blue Zoo and LiveAquaria can sex them when you ask for it but of course they don't look as closely (or with a magnifying glass) and may get it sometimes wrong, especially with smaller specimen.

[ThRoewer]

Unfortunately the last female I got died - may have been a bacterial infection form the looks of it, but with these little fish you have little to no time to react.

[fearyaks]

Both, Blue Zoo and LiveAquaria can sex them when you ask for it but of course they don't look as closely (or with a magnifying glass) and may get it sometimes wrong, especially with smaller specimen.


Wait, you can request BZ or LA to sex fish when you order them? For example, I could request a female Green Mandarin when going through them?

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by fearyaks

Both, Blue Zoo and LiveAquaria can sex them when you ask for it but of course they don't look as closely (or with a magnifying glass) and may get it sometimes wrong, especially with smaller specimen.


Wait, you can request BZ or LA to sex fish when you order them? For example, I could request a female Green Mandarin when going through them?

Sure! They will do their best but won't give you a guarantee.

[kizanne]

Originally Posted by fearyaks

Both, Blue Zoo and LiveAquaria can sex them when you ask for it but of course they don't look as closely (or with a magnifying glass) and may get it sometimes wrong, especially with smaller specimen.


Wait, you can request BZ or LA to sex fish when you order them? For example, I could request a female Green Mandarin when going through them?

With easy to sex fish (like Mandarins) they will usually sex them and send them. As the above says they usually don't guarantee it but they also usually get it right unless it is a juvenile fish. I usually call the help line to find out if they can sex it. And I include in my comments if you can't sex it I don't want it (assuming that is true). Both BZ and LA do a good job. Lots of online places will not do that.

[ThRoewer]

Last time I specified that I only wanted female on an order to LA they called me back at said that the only can send the request to their supplier (Quality Marine) but if they don't have females I may get males. I was accepting the risk and got a pair instead of two females.

So yes, you can request it, but there isn't a guarantee you get it. Chances are though that you will get a pair when you request it.

[fearyaks]

Thanks so much all!! And congrats on the pair of Blue Stripes! Totally cool fish.

[squillaempusa]

pics?

[ThRoewer]

Still all in quarantine.

I tried pairing the first male I got from Blue Zoo and the surviving female of the pair they sent me, but the male attacked her. So I had to separate them again.