I Need Advice on Ropefish.

[SaveTheRainbowfish]

I am considering getting a ropefish for my 54-Gallon corner aquarium.

Any advice?

My sand has bits of lava rock in it. Is that okay?

Thanks!

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

How rough are the lava bits? They somwtimes like to burrow, but not always. Honestly I have found them to be very easy keepers. Be sure not to have any openings they can fit through. They are jumpers and can crawl a considerable distance on dry land. They will hunt on land sometimes if they have the chance. Care is basically the same as a bichir. They are very social, and like to hide together. I hear tell of albinos, but have yet to see one in person. Give them something to hide in.

[SaveTheRainbowfish]

Thank you for responding. The bits of lava rock are pretty small, around 3-4mm if they had a diameter. I have a sturdy lid with no gaps larger than a centimeter. I also am concerned about one eating the bits by accident, though I will probably feed them with tweezers. I plan on getting two for a 54 gallon corner tank with angels, bleeding heart-type tetras, Siamese Algae Eaters, and possible smaller rainbow fish. What do you feed them? Thank you again for your help.

[Biotope Biologist]

Here is a journal that might help I really enjoyed reading it:

 

Never kept ropefish personally but when they were at the store they were quite shy and fed them various frozen worms from what I remember.

[SaveTheRainbowfish]

Thanks!

[SaveTheRainbowfish]

On 2/7/2023 at 2:41 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

How rough are the lava bits? They somwtimes like to burrow, but not always. Honestly I have found them to be very easy keepers. Be sure not to have any openings they can fit through. They are jumpers and can crawl a considerable distance on dry land. They will hunt on land sometimes if they have the chance. Care is basically the same as a bichir. They are very social, and like to hide together. I hear tell of albinos, but have yet to see one in person. Give them something to hide in.

Thank you for responding. The bits of lava rock are pretty small, around 3-4mm if they had a diameter. I have a sturdy lid with no gaps larger than a centimeter. I also am concerned about one eating the bits by accident, though I will probably feed them with tweezers. I plan on getting two for a 54 gallon corner tank with angels, bleeding heart-type tetras, Siamese Algae Eaters, and possible smaller rainbow fish. What do you feed them? Thank you again for your help.

[Luciferkrist]

Just make sure your filter has a prefilter sponge or, if using a HOB, the outflow is well above the waterline. If not they WILL end up in your canister or HOB media, and may injure or kill themselves on the moving parts in there. I thought mine had died or got trapped in my substrate for about a month before I found the bugger in my canister. The dude swam/crawled down through the OUTPUT of an FX6! I assume when it did its daily cycle to purge and trapped air. I know cleaning out canisters can be gross, but NOTHING prepared me for a little squirmy noodle.

Mine loves frozen bloodworms, and will eat the Hikari sinking pellets once they start getting spongy.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I fed mine cooked shrimp, earthworms and live baby crayfish. My tank had a deep layer of leaf litter and mulm. They LOVED burrowing in there.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[RickHunter]

@Biotope Biologist thanks for the tag, it reminded me that i need to go back and update that, lots going on in the last year.

 

@SaveTheRainbowfish a good general way to go about it is don't keep anything that can fit in their mouths (decor or animal wise). Ropefiah tend to suck a bunch of water in when they find food so you run the risk of them pulling it in with the food. Snails aren't really a big deal when it comes to that but I would worry about something like lava rock of its small enough for them to accidentally suck up.

Mine were pretty picky eaters at first but after a few months they went for pretty much anything. Tubifex worm cubes are a good start that I've seen them generally go for every time. Now days I feed a mix of tubifex and things like carnivore tabs or broken up algae wafers. Pretty much anything I give to my other fish they will take. The only thing I haven't seen them take an interest in is krill. Tried that a couple of times but nobody seemed really crazy about it.

 

Are there any other fish in the tank you'd be putting the rope in?

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I’m planning on getting some rope fish to hopefully keep with my lungfish. From what I read the tetras may not be a good pairing since they tend to sleep near the bottom and could be easy pickings for the rope fish.