AusBonsai

Taking suggestions on what to do with this tree...

Let this one grow on for trunk girth, or give it lots of wire and movement in the trunk.

Ken

can you recognise the species?

Bit hard to tell from the photo supplied but I don't think it is a pine. Possibly juniper species?
We'd need a closer look at the leaves to make a better assessment.

maybe this will help....

Yes, much better but unfortunately it is not something I know well. Now that I see it closer I don't think it is a juniper but I have a couple of other guesses - Possibly Norfolk Island pine or other Araucaria species. Possibly Cryptomeria - I think some of them have juvenile foliage like that?
Let's see if someone else can be more definite.

i bought some seeds online (cypress pine etc) which had foliage like this when they were really young but it seemed to have changed when they got a few months old which lead me to think it was some sort of pine (even though it doesnt really have needles).

Not knowing all pine species intimately I would not rule out some unusual pinus species but the bark does not look like pine and, while the needles do look vaguely like juvenile pinus foliage it would normally be showing some adult needles by now.
Do you have the species names of the seed you purchased? I'm sure that would help narrow it down a bit and probably rule out some of the possibilities. If it was a mixed lot of pine seed they may have included some non pinus species that have pine in their common names eg Norfolk Island pine.

I'm going to have a rough guess and say cryptomeria japonica. Any thoughts anyone?

Squizz

Thanks Squizzzy. That was one of my guesses earlier too though I have not had one for many years so was not sure. From memory, and what I can see of it, the bark looks right and I thought some varieties had needles that looked similar. Cryptomeria is usually called Japanese cedar - maybe cedar and cypress are close?

Yep Cryptomeria japonica. Its probably one of the dwarf forms and as such a bit hard to train. Formal upright only for this spp.

Looks similar to my Japanese cedar.

Yep definitely japanese cedar, looks just like the two I have which I've grown from seed.
Mine change colour in winter from green to gold/brown, they almost look dead actually!!
So be mindful of that and don't throw it away at the end of winter if yours does this too