RickHunter

Hoping to get them mostly on a dried food and pellets if possible. We are also considering taking any local neocaridina culls since they are similar to what have been found in wild Ropefish to give them the chance to "hunt".

The Hairgrass has been trial and error so far (This is the 2nd time putting it into the 75 gallon, last set weren't getting enough light). I initially only had a Fluval Aquasky 2.0 on the tank and while the plants were doing fine for the most part, anything that was on the bottom proper was only just hanging on. Turns out the Aquasky cant get enough light to the bottom of the 75 gallon so I picked up the Plant 3.0 light and put it on the tank with the Aquasky and now my hairgrass has been growing and spreading really well (along with literally everything else in the tank). Like....I haven't done anything to that grass other than plant it and put some fertilizer in every now and then haha.

@SWilson Sorry for the delay. Here is the full shot of the tank I promised last night We put some freeze dried tubifex in for the Congo Tetras today and one of the Ropes swooped up to the top and stole the whole thing in one gulp haha

@SWilson The tank is 75 gallons, I will try to get a picture of the full tank a little later today. @Biotope Biologist Yeah I can understand that. I have seen them listed as brackish as well but again with all the conflicting information on them its really hard to know where to go with it. Thats why we need to talk about them more and make the right knowledge the common knowledge concerning them 🙂

Something huge for me that I found out about a week ago. So we've all tried freeze dried foods and they take forever to sink etc. Now, you can sink them by pressing them against the glass etc but that doesnt always work and with cube stuff once someone takes a few bite it knocks loose and goes right to the surface. So here's the super cool trick I heard about, solves it with science 😄 Picked up some large syringes meant for horses from tractor supply (without needles) 1. Pull out the plunger in the syringe and put some freeze dried food in. 2. Replace the plunger and pull a little bit of tank water into the syringe 3. Push plunger until water is reaching the tip but not coming out 4. Cover the opening and pull back on the plunger This creates a pressure difference that squeezes the air out of the freeze dried food and causes them to be instantly saturated by the water inside without squishing the food into a clump etc 5. Once the food inside the syringe is sinking in the water inside you can remove the plunger a dump it into the tank where it will sink. Or if the syringe opening it big enough you can squeeze the food out of the syringe into the tank.

Update: The Ropefish have now been moved from the quarantine into their new home tank. They are adjusting and starting to take food again but are still fairly shy when it comes to eating. The Brazilian Pennywort bundle in the corner has become their choice spot. They are active and out an about wiggling around every corner of the tank. I really like how they dip and weave themselves through the hairgrass. We did have 12 full size Amanos (or what we thought were 12...turns out half were Tiger Shrimp but cant really dispute that with AquaHuna since it took so long for their stripes to grow in) in the big tank where the Ropes were going. We decided to try keeping them in but after the first night we pulled them all out because two had died near the front of the tank. No signs that the Amanos that died were eaten or damaged so its likely that it was due to the stress of the Ropes frequently swimming through and around their hiding spots so frequently. Hopefully as they settle in over the next few weeks they will more readily eat so we don't have to shower them in bloodworms 😛 They also like to hide in the Pennywort and just lay like this up against the glass

Yes I'm aware of them being escape artists 🙂 I think part of it is that they are known to come out of the water onto land at the edge of the water to look for insects to eat. While I cant replicate that entirely I have a small turtle dock that I'm going to setup for them to slide out of the water in the hope that it curbs some of the crazier escape behaviors. Still have the gaps in the back of the lid sealed and am using a canister filter with a sponge cover in their future home. So far they have been very active swimming all over their quarantine tank. They just settled down about an hour ago and I was able to snap this shot of them all together under a small piece of wood. Thanks' @H.K.Luterman I am aware of Oddball, she's one of the best sources for information on ropefish that isn't hidden in some archive or buried in scientific papers 🙂 I'm hoping when I move them over to the larger tank I can get some shots of them next to some coins so that people can better understand their size. They get long but like to curl up and they are about as round as a penny.

@xXInkedPhoenixX They get to be about 18 inches and about as round as a sharpie marker from what I've heard from the few owners I've gotten to speak with. I feel like part of the reason people dont discuss them more is that there isnt as much information out there on the fish and that the information that is out there in cases doesnt always match up. For instance some people will insist that the ropefish can reach 3 ft in length but from what I've been able to dig up this was in the wild many years ago and there was never any other sightings of one at such a length. This case I feel makes some people insist you shouldn't keep a rope fish in anything less than say 180 gallon tank when some mentions they are looking to get one which causes the person to either never get a ropefish or not talk about it after getting one for fear of being constantly told their tank is not big enough.

Hi everyone, I've been building up a tank since September of last year to house ropefish in. Our LFS was recently able to finally get some and they are now in quarantine for the next few weeks. I've noticed there hasnt been much discussion on ropefish here or elsewhere so I wanted to make this thread not only to talk about my journey owning these fish as I'm able to but to also discuss them in general. There tends to be alot of conflicting information about this fish around from whether it's brackish or freshwater, to what size it truly grows to on average. To start things off say hello to Slender, Denim, and Gene who are currently in their quarantine tank.

The hairgras is actually spreading quite nicely compared to when I put it in. I actually bought too much which is why it's in larger clumps because I was expecting smaller pots of it than I recieved. This was the hairgrass on Feb 6th to compare with the previous photo for reference (You can also see how much smaller the baby tears was)

Update since it's been awhile. Plants seem to be doing pretty well with the new light. Hairgrass is spreading out nicely. The baby tears were brand new about a month and a half ago and took off like crazy. The bottom of the baby tears is starting to yellow and die back now though sadly. Other than that everything is looking really good.

If you do ever end up getting Panda Garra just know that they aren't shy fish either 🙂 Last time I went to put plants into my tank and rearrange some things they swam around my hand a bunch and started to perch and suck on my hand as well. I wont lie....it tickled a lot and was surprising but it was fun.

Id say given the timing and that you just did a loading dose its probably the Excel. Remember the active ingredient in Excel is glutaraldehyde which is used also used as a disinfectant (its essentially the part that's choking the algae) From what I know Vallisneria is on the more simple end of the plant spectrum in terms of the bio complexity. glutaraldehyde affects the simple things (algae) more than it would something more complex. Since Vallisneria is so simple compared to other plants it makes sense that it would take a hit from that chemical more than other plants. That also why its better to take the less is more approach since if you dosed high enough it would start to break down the other plants as well. Bottom line, less is more with chemicals.

Vallisneria is known to be very sensitive to the active ingredient in Excel and other "liquid carbon" products. I have heard some people where the Vallisneria will melt back aggressively and come back stronger once it adapts to encountering the chemical but I've also heard the inverse where they melt off an never come back (but that also may be a product of the circumstances of those setups. such as them melting aggressively and then not being tall enough to reach enough light to bounce back from the bottom) I would say in the end it depends on how attached to your Vallisneria you are and how much you want to stop the BBA. Another option would be to cut your dosing and see if the Vallisneria tolerates that better until it possibly adapts to the Excel. You could also try a spot dosing method using a pipette to target the most stubborn BBA (this also acts as a way of reducing the dosage the Vallisneria is getting if you don't approach it as hitting everything at once)

Im sad I didn't see this thread sooner so I could have recommended a Panda Garra(or 4 if you wanted more but would have avoided 4 with the tank load you posted). Super active fish and they just dart around grazing on algae all over the aquarium. Glad you're liking the otos though. Stock Panda Garra image 🙂

Thank you for all the info. @Seattle_Aquarist I will probably try the Hydrocotyle if things dont work out after trying the hairgrass one more time with a better light. I also was using Cyprus Helferi in the tank rather than Pogostemon Helferi as you were mentioning. Still good information regardless 🙂 I should mention (since it looks like I forgot in the initial posts) that when the tank had the hairgrass and C. Helferi that it had root tabs put in the substrate and was receiving a weekly dose of liquid fertilizer (or as me and my fiancé like to call it, plant fart juice 😛). I'm leaning towards picking up a Fluval 3.0 and some plants from Coop (namely some hairgrass and Vallisneria at least). Do you think I should wait for warmer weather before ordering the plants since this would be shipping to northern Pennsylvania?

Thanks for the input, So based on that then is it correct to say that with a depth of a standard 75 gallon tank that the Aquasky ends up being low light by the time the light gets to the substrate and that the Fluval 3.0 ends up being more of a medium light by the time the light hits the substrate? Just trying to get all my logic straight before I go about ordering stuff trying to fix everything. As for the substrate I have the sand in there since I figured it would be better for the Corys and bottom feeder fish. That and I do enjoy the aesthetic of the sand. Are you thinking I should be putting gravel in or just find a larger grain sand?

Im looking to get more plants into this 75 gallon again but want to get a better understanding on some things before I dive in again on grabbing more plants. There was some dwarf hairgrass and some C helferi in this tank that did really well for awhile(2 months) and then just started to die back until there was nothing left of them and had to take them out. I would like to get a carpet going but again that's why I would like to get a better idea about what I have/need here. Currently the tank has a Fluval Aquasky 2.0 on it. Is this light not suitable for a lot of these medium/high light plants at the 75 gallon depth? Should I replace the 2.0/add a 3.0 with it? These are the things I'm trying to understand. Interesting plant suggestions are also welcome.

I actually thought the python wasn't going to fit my faucet but then I felt like an idiot when I realized you can remove the rubber ring inside the metal connector and there were threads on the inside that did fit my faucet. Its not explained well that there are threads on the inside of the metal connector that screws into the hose nozzle attachment so I've seen quite a few people go out for connectors never realizing it.

We found one of our Corys with a really red belly this morning. He seems to have been hiding awhile which is why we didnt catch it earlier. He came out after a 35% water change in the tank. Thinking its possibly the red spot disease (his fins a ripped too). We've moved him to a small 3.5 gallon tank we keep a few snails in to start treating with API Erythromycin. Looking for second opinions. No similar signs in any of the other 9 Corys in the tank he was in. pH - 7.0-7.4 range Nitrates - 20-30 (probably lower as this was pre water change) Hardness - (dont have a specific number but we do have water thats on the harder side) Nitrite - 0 Ammonia - 0 KH/Buffer - (Unknown) Water Temperature - 77 F

I actually just moved my bristle into our 75 gallon with sand substrate. He does end up digging lots of holes with his tail but its mainly from him trying to move around while on the driftwood and rocks in specific positions. I've had to clear giant piles of sand off the baby tears like 3 times in the last day because he buried them 😢

Hello, My name is Rick and I joined to share experiences and gather information for my stocking/care plans. Its actually been about 20 years now since I last had an aquarium and I was quite young then. My fiance has been keeping a 10 gallon for the last year or so with some harlequins, a few corys and a bristlenose. We recently got a 75 gallon and got it setup with live plants and a school of 6 congo tetras. The plan is to move the bristlenose over to the 75 here soon and the corys once the newer ones get a little bit bigger. We want to make a few ropefish the core fish of the 75 gallon but what little information there is online for them seems to vary wildly on their size and care so I'm hoping to talk with more people who have had them. Here are some pictures of one of the corys and bristle in the 10 gallon and some of the 75 gallon with the congos. Edit: Im waiting for some Crinum Calamistratum to come in stock at Co-op to order with some root tabs, I want to put it behind the right side of the driftwood arch to give a good focal point. that and I'm a sucker for long wavy plants. (sorry for the varying picture quality there seems to be some compression issue with some of them, I will get more later tonight)