Ropefish/Reedfish available to me, should I buy it?

[Frank Castle]

uhm....Erpetoichthys calabarius(?) I think it is.....I just realized it's in the Poly family, so I can anyone tell me about keeping these, experiences, good or bad, how carnivorous they are, esp. w/ tankmates, and anything else I should know before owning one?

 

[tlindsey]

uhm....Erpetoichthys calabarius(?) I think it is.....I just realized it's in the Poly family, so I can anyone tell me about keeping these, experiences, good or bad, how carnivorous they are, esp. w/ tankmates, and anything else I should know before owning one?

Dr.B

 

[Frank Castle]

Dr.B

HI MR. L!!! lol

 

[Dr.B]

I would definitley get it. Ropefish (since they are related to Polys) still have the same tendencies to eat other fish. However since their heads and mouths are much smaller, that limits what they can actually eat. So for the most part ropes are pretty good at not eating tankmates mainly because they can't. Another thing that's really big is that they're escape artists. Most sites will say that about Polys in general, but ropes will literally slip out of almost any opening possible. I've lost about 3-4 ropes through a hole about as small as the eraser on a pencil. So if you get one I would secure every possible opening. What I did was duct tape anything that posed a threat. So far it's done me well. Other than that ropes are really neat fish, especially when you watch them move around the tank.