Rope Fish

[Squidward]

Hi All,

How predatory are Rope Fish?
What is the minimum size of other fish they can be kept with?
What is the minimum size tank they should be kept in?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Squidward

 

[england]

Hi rope fish i beleive are all individuals, they are best kept in groups, anything bite size is a possible meal, however i managed to keep my happily with ticto barbs, even for a few months dwarf puffers, but i would not reccomend keeping with such small fish, They do best in a group so with this in mind your looking at a bigger tank like four-five foot... The latter being better, good ammount of hiding spaces, if kept singular which mine was/is then you will find it hides much much more, the reason mines solo is i can not find any around my way, my sister now has him with some angels and ticto's...
Males have 11 to 14 rays in the caudal fin, females have 9. Id say anything over 400litres really

 

[reeeedfish]

Hi Squidward! I have a rope fish ( and getting more after christmas). I dont know thhe minimum tank size, I think it is 30 gallons. However, aim for bigger. I have mine in a 55 gallon and he's a foot long now! Rope fish have bad eyesight and really bad reaction time. However, they can and will eat shallow bodied tetras, shrimps, and some snails. For example I have my ropefish with severums, pictus, and synodontis europtis and they are all happy. Sooo.. They will eat fish under 2-3 inches UNLESS they are deep bodied( like Bleeding Heart Tetras ). They are vey gentle, and can really easilly get killed and harrassed by other tankmates. Also, more active fish will steal these slow fish's food and starve them. Mine eat sinking carnivore pellets and anything meaty, live, or frozen. It is an extremely good idea to keep as many as the aquarium can support beacuse thay love to interact with each other. They will curl up together and act really cute!!! Also, they need a tightfitting lid with ABSOLUTELY no holes. Mine braved the power filter's current to leap out of the small space where the water flows back into the tank. However, thay can survive out of water for 2-3 hours and I saved mine.

OVERALL....

Min. 30 gallons
OK with anything bigger than 2-3 inches
Feed live or meaty frozen foods
keep as many as possible
really gentle, can starve in tanks with more active fish
tight-fitting lid with no holes


GOOD LUCK!

 

[always4lora]

Hi Squidward! I have a rope fish ( and getting more after christmas). I dont know thhe minimum tank size, I think it is 30 gallons. However, aim for bigger. I have mine in a 55 gallon and he's a foot long now! Rope fish have bad eyesight and really bad reaction time. However, they can and will eat shallow bodied tetras, shrimps, and some snails. For example I have my ropefish with severums, pictus, and synodontis europtis and they are all happy. Sooo.. They will eat fish under 2-3 inches UNLESS they are deep bodied( like Bleeding Heart Tetras ). They are vey gentle, and can really easilly get killed and harrassed by other tankmates. Also, more active fish will steal these slow fish's food and starve them. Mine eat sinking carnivore pellets and anything meaty, live, or frozen. It is an extremely good idea to keep as many as the aquarium can support beacuse thay love to interact with each other. They will curl up together and act really cute!!! Also, they need a tightfitting lid with ABSOLUTELY no holes. Mine braved the power filter's current to leap out of the small space where the water flows back into the tank. However, thay can survive out of water for 2-3 hours and I saved mine.

OVERALL....

Min. 30 gallons
OK with anything bigger than 2-3 inches
Feed live or meaty frozen foods
keep as many as possible
really gentle, can starve in tanks with more active fish
tight-fitting lid with no holes


GOOD LUCK!

Note that these can be trained to eat pellets. mine mainly eat pellets now.

 

[england]

Oh yes weldone reeeeedfish, i totally forgot to say they are escape artists...Amazing even watch them when cleaning tank,mine jumped out once while i was syphoning and crawled across lounge floor,mine at pellets/bloodworm an chopped prawns

 

[reeeedfish]

Thanks nelly! And good luck squidward.

 

[Squidward]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your responses.
As you may have seen in other threads, I am rescaping my tank this week, and am really keen on something different for it.

How does this work:
2/3 rope fish.
Angels
Congo Tetras
Some of the bigger Rainbowfish?
Pearl guaramis.
Any other ideas?

Also, what sort of catfish would work?
Platydorus?
Some of the larger Plecos?

Thanks
Squidward

 

[reeeedfish]

What size is the tank?

Don't know much about pearl gouramiis but I had a gold and it killed 5 of my fish. If possible get some arfican knives, which mix well with the larger congo tetras. Also some pim. pictus or synodontii would work. Don't know about the pleco. Some of the more aggressive ones would suck on the rope fish's slime coat and harm it and the rope fish has no defense capabilites.
Angels would be okay without the pearl gourami and congo tetras. They are pretty delicate and be harassed by them.

 

[gasmask]

Rope Fish will need 55gallon tank min IMO.

 

[carp]

Hi All,

How predatory are Rope Fish?
What is the minimum size of other fish they can be kept with?
What is the minimum size tank they should be kept in?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Squidward

I have a rope fish in a 55 gal. with mostly tetras and corys. I have had it about three years no problems. Added a couple more odd balls about a year ago that you may want to look at, a black rubber worm and a dragon fish still no problems. I find Java fern works well for planting.

 

[reeeedfish]

Hi All,

How predatory are Rope Fish?
What is the minimum size of other fish they can be kept with?
What is the minimum size tank they should be kept in?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Squidward

I have a rope fish in a 55 gal. with mostly tetras and corys. I have had it about three years no problems. Added a couple more odd balls about a year ago that you may want to look at, a black rubber worm and a dragon fish still no problems. I find Java fern works well for planting.

What do you mean by "black rubber worm"? and what type of tetras did you keep with the ropefish?

 

[Squidward]

My tank is 55 gal, so it should be ok to keep 2?
Just want some suitable tank mates that aren't going to get eaten!

 

[reeeedfish]

that'd be good. But try to get some congo tetras, they are large and beutiful.

 

[carp]

Hi All,

How predatory are Rope Fish?
What is the minimum size of other fish they can be kept with?
What is the minimum size tank they should be kept in?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Squidward

I have a rope fish in a 55 gal. with mostly tetras and corys. I have had it about three years no problems. Added a couple more odd balls about a year ago that you may want to look at, a black rubber worm and a dragon fish still no problems. I find Java fern works well for planting.

What do you mean by "black rubber worm"? and what type of tetras did you keep with the ropefish?

Black rubber worm is hard to discribe I have seen it on this sight under oddballs. I would suggest a general search on the internet for a good look. Mine loves shrimp pellets. Tetras are black Tetras and Lemon Tetras in fact I have found young in the tank how they survived long enough for me to see them I don't know. Dragon fish is another good fish to look at.

 

[reeeedfish]

Hi All,

How predatory are Rope Fish?
What is the minimum size of other fish they can be kept with?
What is the minimum size tank they should be kept in?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Squidward

I have a rope fish in a 55 gal. with mostly tetras and corys. I have had it about three years no problems. Added a couple more odd balls about a year ago that you may want to look at, a black rubber worm and a dragon fish still no problems. I find Java fern works well for planting.

What do you mean by "black rubber worm"? and what type of tetras did you keep with the ropefish?

Black rubber worm is hard to discribe I have seen it on this sight under oddballs. I would suggest a general search on the internet for a good look. Mine loves shrimp pellets. Tetras are black Tetras and Lemon Tetras in fact I have found young in the tank how they survived long enough for me to see them I don't know. Dragon fish is another good fish to look at.

you do know that caecillians or "black rubber worms grow 2ish ft long right?

Ps- dragonfish are pretty cool and can fit in a 55