Another good stock choice IMO. And btw my dad doesn't necessarily like fish he just likes the idea of an aquarium. Leopard Ctenopoma are cool fish but darken with age. They still look cool but not as cute as when their babies. Good choice. The only thing I'm on edge about I'd the peacock eel. They are cute fish but keep in mind that they have to have sand because they borrow and rocks(rough or smooth) will damage their nose possibly leading to infections. The other thing about peacock eels is that they borrow and are not often seen. You would just have to make sure it gets it's food rations. And just as a tip you might already know, ropefish are an amazing escape artist. I've had rope fish not tin foil out of the uncovered areas and jump through them. I also find them in my filter quite often.
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Ah okay I see. My boyfriends mom is similar, she has a 55 gallon and a 2.5 gallon, except unlike your dad probably, not only does she not stock properly, she also believes that a filter is not necessary, and you can cram as many fish in a tank as possible (she has a mix of 4-8" fancy and common goldfish in a 55 gallon with NO FILTER!
She's trying to sell the tank right now though, I told her I'd take the fish, but she won't give them to me)
Hmmm so they lose their prominent leopard spots then? :/ I had a feeling the darker, faded ones were the same species, just adults. Well maybe I'll get African butterfly fish or some other top dweller fish instead.
I plan on having a pool filter sand substrate, with lots of driftwood and rocks (rather than going fancy planted with eco complete since it's a lot more expensive, and more importantly, rough) and some live anubias, javas, and mosses (something like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rpld7EaFd4. )
So his or her nose would be safe from getting cut/damaged.
As for food, I'd make sure to use my turkey bastor to put some of the frozen worms and shrimps where he/she is hiding out. I figure Nim and the ropefish wont be as much competition as say a pictus catfish or something would be.
And yep, I am very aware that ropefish and peacock eels (and bichirs too) are all WONDERFUL escape artists, and my tank is almost all the way covered with the glass, excluding a 2" gap in the back that is covered with this plastic strip stuff that the back of the glass slides into. (I plan on duck taping or weighting it down or something since it's not as near as heavy as the glass.
There is a tiny 1/2" square hole in the corner of the plastic strip stuff, should I cover that too? Also, I am concerned about air getting in the tank, should I put tiny itty bitty holes in the plastic to allow for o2 to exchange? My tank has a built in corner overflow with a wet/dry sump that goes underneath and back up and through a black flexible hose which I'll attach a spray bar probably. That reminds me, I need to cover the corner over flow so they can't get in there. How should I go about covering that? Is there like a screen or something?
Do you think it would be better to do 2 bichirs and 2 ropefish rather than 1 bichir and 3 ropefish? Some people say they like company, others say they are too aggressive, just like I have heard the same for ropes, but I thought they were gregarious like kuhli loaches?
