Rope fish compatibility   8/1/08
Hi,
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my question.
<Most welcome.>
I currently have one 9" Rope fish.
<These are gregarious fish, and she'll be very unhappy kept on her own. Needs to be kept in groups of at least three specimens.>
She is currently in a 20 gallon long QT tank, she has not shown any sign of and illness after one month, so I am planning to re-home her.
<OK.>
I currently have a 200 gallon tank that has a 12" Oscar, a 7" female jaguar cichlid, a 4.5" female convict, and a school of 5 silver dollars.
<She's too delicate to be kept with these fish. While the Oscar should ignore her, and the Silver Dollars are ideal tankmates, the Jaguar and the Convict are both too territorial and too aggressive.>
Filtration on this tank is 50 gallon sump, and Emperor 400 and a Rena XP3 canister. Would this be an adequate environment for the rope?
<Well the tankmates aren't right, and you only have a single specimen which is cruel to the species. But your other problem is checking if the tank is escape-proof. Be under no illusions here: Ropefish *will* escape from any tank not expressly designed to keep them in. Personally, I always recommend keeping them in half-filled tanks so that it is much more difficult for them to squeeze into cracks at the top of the tank.>
On a side note the 200 gallon is a show tank so it is about 3' deep. I also have a 30 gallon breeder tank that only has a pair of Jewel cichlids and two Aqua Clear 150's for filtration, would this be a better home?
<Quite possibly, though I'd be very cautious about combining Jewels with any fish as docile as Ropefish.>
All my tanks get weekly water changes of 50% or more and Ammonia and nitrites are kept at 0, nitrates are kept below 15ppm and temps are kept between 78-81 degrees.
<All sounds great.>
Again thank you
<Happy to help, Neale.>

Re: Columbian Shark help!! (follow-up question). Ropefish fdg., comp.  3/16/2007
<<Hi, again, Andy.>>
Great idea, thank you for your assistance!  I did as you suggested last night and it already appears to be helping. They ate last night for the first time in 3 days!!  
<<Glad to hear it, Andy.>>
One more question for you.  In this tank (55gal in the process of being transferred to brackish), there are also 2 spotted puffers, 2 Dalmatian mollies, and one Ropefish (Yes, they all get along!).  
<<Still a good idea to keep a watchful eye here.>>
The sharks, mollies, and puffers gobble EVERYTHING I put in there for food rather quickly.  I'm afraid the Ropefish won't be able to get any food and will eventually starve as he doesn't seem to come out at all during feeding (I know he's nocturnal).  My question is this: Is there any foods that are specific to Ropefish or anything I can put on the bottom that he'll find when he comes out at night?
<<Unfortunately, Andy, the Columbians are going to be every bit as interested in whatever foods you select as your Ropefish would be so, it might be more a matter of “when” than “what”. Live foods are preferred by both but I would offer that you should stay away from small feeder fish of any description with your current stocking arrangement. (We almost universally advise against this anyway from a nutritional standpoint, however, it can/will “trigger” predatory responses in both of these fish that the other fish, particularly the Mollies, don’t need awakened.) You might try a food like sinking shrimp pellets later in the evening. These make it to the bottom rather quickly and might not get “picked off” on the way down by the others. The Sharks, as you know, are scavengers but changing up feeding times may give the Ropefish a chance to feed while the others are less active.>>
Thank you again for your assistance, I love this website and you guys are a HUGE help!
Andy
<<Thanks, Andy. We certainly appreciate that. If I may, while you’ve just recently “upgraded” your tank, you’ll need to keep in mind that your Columbians will need even more room down the road. These guys grow very large and the typical recommendation is about 50 gallons per fish. I suspect you are already aware of this but I like to point this out when the opportunity presents itself for our other readers. Keep up the good work and good luck with your new tank. Tom>>