Are Rope fish primarily bottom dwelling?

I've been eyeballing a rope fish at my local LFS. They are such interesting creatures! I want some info before I get gung ho about getting one.

I currently have a 75 gallon that is housing a bearded dragon. The dragon is getting a nice new habitat this weekend which frees up the 75. My plan for the tank was to rehome my 2 veiled angels into the 75 and add a bottom dwelling fish. From what I've seen at the LFS and in videos, the rope fish will swim around all levels of the tank, but are primarily bottom dwelling. Is this the case? Will a rope and my angels be able to cohabitate in this size tank?

I know rope fish are carnivorous, but will they eat freeze dried, or frozen like my angels do, or do they need live food?

Any words of wisdom or warning surrounding rope fish?

 

From what I understand they also need some friends. They are great fish, But are escape artists. They need a very secure top with no way for them to get out. I think they would work with a couple of angels if they are temperature compatible. I had one but that was over 40 years ago and at the time I didn't know they were social fish. There was no internet at the time. Mine used to like cubes of freeze dried tubifex worms as a treat but I think they do need some live food as well. Hopefully someone will come to help that has some current knowledge and keeps them. Mine got out a few times, once he seemed kind of stiff and dry but revived when placed back in the water. I rehomed my fish eventually and turned them into turtle tanks. If I had a big enough tank and could physically handle it I would get them again. Alison

 

They will do fine with your angels. They will eat whatever you feed them and they don't need live food. Will spend most of their time near the bottom but will use the whole tank and have to go to the surface to breathe. A pic of mine it's 16"-17" long.

 

Great looking tank! aliray brought up that they're social fish. Would it be suggested to get a pair? Would this be a strain on a 75 gallon with 2 large angels? I'm a big fan of understocking for peace of mind and fish well-being.

 

I think 2 would do just fine together just cover your tank well or keep the water level a little lower than normal to prevent jumping. Mine is solo and does quite well with a variety of other fish.

 

Great. Ropes officially just became a front runner for the tank! Thank you for the input.

 

Don't forget to post pictures when you get him or her. Alison

 

Very awesome fish! I am with aliray. If I could set up a 75 gallon from scratch, I would build it around ropefish.

I would personally do three or more in a 75 gallon since they do better in larger numbers and would be out and more active.
Be careful about selection of other bottom dwellers that may outcompete them for food.

 

Very awesome fish! I am with aliray. If I could set up a 75 gallon from scratch, I would build it around ropefish.

I would personally do three or more in a 75 gallon since they do better in larger numbers and would be out and more active.
Be careful about selection of other bottom dwellers that may outcompete them for food.

It's a few weeks out still. The beardie is in the move process today and I'll be cleaning the tank. Hope to have it filled next weekend and transfer over the filter, substrate, etc. I also have to decide which lighting I'm going for (and go pick it up).

I don't currently plan on additional bottom dwellers. It'll be a heavily planted with hardscape, so I'd prefer only the ropes so they have plenty of space. Would 3 or more really be acceptable in a 75? The only other fish will be the veiled angels.

 

I think so, but not an expert with them. Research and seek other opinions.

Here is a great post on the lights I use that don't break the bank. My plants are doing well, but I am new to live plants.

Affordable quality LED lights for low light plants

 

Yes 3 or more ropes will do fine in a 75. Unlike other Polypterids they are quite flexible and aren't the fastest growing of fish.

 

I think so, but not an expert with them. Research and seek other opinions.

Here is a great post on the lights I use that don't break the bank. My plants are doing well, but I am new to live plants.

Affordable quality LED lights for low light plants

I think I might splurge for a pair of finnex ray 2s. I'm ultimately going high tech, and want a ton of lighting.

Ok. So I've pretty solidly decided on the ropes. I had to go to the LFS for a heater and of course check out the fish. They only have one rope left, and said they are on the difficult side to get, so they don't know when they will get more. Should I snatch him up and put him in the 36 for now while the 75 is in progress? He's about 8 inches and I'd say 1/2 inch in diameter. Smaller around than a dime for sure.

The 2 angels and 1 BN pleco are the only inhabitants in the 36.

 

I had a rope fish and he was so awesome!! Named him knucker. He was in a community tank and never bothered a soul. He swam all over in the mornings and evenings at the same time every day. Otherwise he stayed on the bottom. They are very good at escaping too! Mine ate frozen blood worms but nothing else. Have fun!!

 

This could be wrong, but I have looked them up on Seriously Fish and they say they need a 142g. TexasDomer?

 

This could be wrong, but I have looked them up on Seriously Fish and they say they need a 142g. TexasDomer?

Hmm... Most everything I've seen indicated 50 gallon minimum. 142 gallon is getting into BIG fish territory!!! I didn't get him yet, so I'll hold off til TexasDomer chimes in

 

Some people will tell you it's fine, but I personally would not add them to a 75 gal tank. They can get up to 3 feet long, and keeping them in a tank that's only 4 feet long and 1.5 feet wide does not seem like enough room.

 

No one alive has seen a rope that long and I don't know of any over 18" in captivity.

 

Doesn't mean that they can't reach that size and shouldn't be in a larger setup. I did say that was my opinion.

 

Well that's a deflater. May need to do some more research first. I hate when that happens. Let us know what you find out about the max size in captivity. I am hoping you find it to be 18" so you can proceed.
They may not be your everyday fish, but not too hard to find. I think your lfs is just trying to make a quick sale.

 

Max size in captivity does not mean their max size. In captivity, space can restrict an individual's growth (also known as stunting). A better measure would be to look at their max length in the wild, where stunting due to physical space does not occur. Otherwise it'd be okay to keep fish in too small of tanks because someone else did it and their fish didn't grow big.

 

Well that's a deflater. May need to do some more research first. I hate when that happens. Let us know what you find out about the max size in captivity. I am hoping you find it to be 18" so you can proceed.
They may not be your everyday fish, but not too hard to find. I think your lfs is just trying to make a quick sale.

Not your everyday LFS. Very trustworthy folks that I see almost daily. Its getting cold here now, so a lot of places will ramp down to hardier species for the winter shipments.

That said, I do trust TexasDomer. I've seen a boatload of good advice from her. I'll do some more research, but it may be back to the drawing board... Any suggestions of unique bottom dwellers for a 75. 2 angelfish are the only guaranteed species at the moment.

 

Granted I don't know compatibility, but maybe some sort of goby?

 

Not your everyday LFS. Very trustworthy folks that I see almost daily. Its getting cold here now, so a lot of places will ramp down to hardier species for the winter shipments.

That said, I do trust TexasDomer. I've seen a boatload of good advice from her. I'll do some more research, but it may be back to the drawing board... Any suggestions of unique bottom dwellers for a 75. 2 angelfish are the only guaranteed species at the moment.

Ah, so that explains why availability ebbs and flows.
I trust TexasDomer too as she consistently gives sound stocking advice. It never hurts to do your own research to confirm though .

That is hard. I started to recommend loaches as I love my yoyo's, but realized they can fin nip angelfish.
Maybe look at the different coryadora species. There are some that have really cool markings. Just check temperature compatibility and stick with warmer water varieties. You could get a couple different nice size shoals. They are a lot of fun to watch and are very active.

 

There are some cool cichlids out there, and some less common cories. I recently got a really cool pleco too, so that's an option.

 

Agreed. I will actually be turning my 36 into a guppy haven and I'll still have the 29 community tank. I am hoping to have a few stunners in the 75. Something that people see and go "WOW!" Its fun because there's a challenge of WOW to size factor, which I really enjoy working through. I could go get a mega tank and an arowana, but even those are becoming common (at least for the folks I know) .

That body style (bichir, dragon, rope) with a snake like appearance really appeals to me. My wife saw the rope earlier and had a wow moment, especially when it followed her everywhere she went ! Definitely not the only fish type I'll go for, but it's one of the ones that has stuck in my head ever since I saw it.

 

A peacock eel would be okay in a 75 gal. If you wouldn't mind rehoming the angelfish, you could keep dojo loaches. They're personable (some will let people hold and pet them!) and quite awesome looking.

 

A peacock eel would be okay in a 75 gal. If you wouldn't mind rehoming the angelfish, you could keep dojo loaches. They're personable (some will let people hold and pet them!) and quite awesome looking.

I was considering a zigzag eel. Peacock hadn't even come to mind at all!

As far as the angels, they're my absolute favorites and the reason for the 75 setup! If it came down to it, I'd keep just the two of them in there.

 

TexasDomer answer me this question. Since all rope fish are wild caught why don't we see any specimens over 12" imported? All other bichers come in at near full grown sizes but ropes don't. The listed max size comes from one fish that was collected 150 years ago. Many species of fish no longer reach the sizes they reached in past simply because the genetics aren't there many more. Simply too many of the largest fish have been taken to continue the genetics lines of said species. All the sites with practical keeping knowledge listed lengths of 40cm (16").

 

I am coming across a lot of the same info. The only place I see 36+ inches listed is seriously fish. Not to discredit them, because they provide pretty darn good info.

I do love the rope fish, but I'm at a bit of a crossroads... I agree that a 36 inch fish will be uncomfortable in a 75. I've watched countless videos and looked at info on my trustee sites and haven't seen any close to that size...

 

@TexasDomer answer me this question. Since all rope fish are wild caught why don't we see any specimens over 12" imported? All other bichers come in at near full grown sizes but ropes don't. The listed max size comes from one fish that was collected 150 years ago. Many species of fish no longer reach the sizes they reached in past simply because the genetics aren't there many more. Simply too many of the largest fish have been taken to continue the genetics lines of said species. All the sites with practical keeping knowledge listed lengths of 40cm (16").

There are many explanations for that, and you know as well as I do that I cannot tell you which one is the right one. It could be because they're not reaching their potential size in the wild because of the degrading conditions of their habitat (water pollution, other anthropogenically driven causes, etc) or because larger ones are predated upon more often or because their food resources no longer allow them to reach that size (also related to habitat disturbance), or that they're being collected before they've grown to their full size, are being over-collected, and they're being kept in too small of aquariums and can no longer reach their full size. But that doesn't mean that they still can't reach that size in a protected environment where food is not scarce and water quality is good (like in aquariums) and the water volume is large enough. It's not necessarily that the genetics "aren't there" - size is not controlled by one gene or one allele. I'm just saying that I would trust collection sizes over sizes reached in home aquaria, particularly as these fish are recommended for aquaria that could easily be too small for them. Call me an optimist or idealist, but I don't think a fish that could even potentially reach that size should be kept in a 48" tank.

I'm not going to change your mind and you're not going to change mine, so let's drop it. We're not helping out the OP by arguing. They have been presented with two sides of it, so let them decide.

 

So call it a sign, or call it what you will... But the 75 gallon sprung a leak overnight. Haven't figured out where yet, but it looks like I'm going to need to reseal.

 

Oh well that's wonderful... so sorry about that, that would be horrible.

 

At least that happened now before it was fully stocked - silver lining? But quite unfortunate

 

I'd be super bummed if there were fish in it! It was outside, which beats a leak on our oak floors! I learned early on to leak check second hand tanks outdoors . No biggie... Just a bit of delay in setting up.

 

That stinks! So glad you did the test to save your floors.

 

I personally would grab the rope fish and put it in the other tank for now, then put it in the 75 when it is up and running. I have to agree with slayer5590 on this one, and I don't particularly trust the info from 150 years ago, or the accuracy of the catch. Alison

 

I'm still tossing the idea around. I'm going in later today to look at some new lighting and we'll see if I can hold back!

 

I personally would grab the rope fish and put it in the other tank for now, then put it in the 75 when it is up and running. I have to agree with @ on this one, and I don't particularly trust the info from 150 years ago, or the accuracy of the catch. Alison

They should have the specimen still around in collections, and if that's the case, the measurement is very accurate.

 

He's awesome, but I think I'm going to keep searching.