Rope fish feeding help!

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Mount_Prion

Mount_Prion

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 31, 2012
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Hey all,

While I'm not sure if rope fish are polypteri (based on the latin name, I think no?), as far as I can tell they're fairly similar and this seemed like the best place to put this. Also, while rope fish aren't really "monsters", I have them in what will eventually be my monster tank.

Anyway, I completely impulse-bought 2 ropes for my 220g planted, as I dig their activity level and think they're adorable. Also, for $20 for 2, who can complain? What I didn't think about was how I would feed them.

The issue is that it's a fairly large tank, and with my upper-mid strata fish, I don't see how I can deliver food to them before something faster/more aggressive gobbles it up. Their competition is stuff like a frontosa and oscar and juvie paratilapia.

Any delivery ideas? I was thinking I'd give em bloodworms, as my old rope who escaped from a smaller tank used to love them.

Thanks!
 
They are definaltey related to bichirs. They're just in their own genus, but the same family.
Your best bet for feeding is to use a feeding tube. Get a piece of pvc pipe long enough to drop food in while the other end is on the bottom of the tank. Put the food in and it will exit at the bottom. Try and place it near a cave or form of cover. I'd skip bloodworms except as a treat. I feed mine New Life Spectrum pellets, tilapia, and shrimp cut into bite sized pieces.
 
Thanks! I'd rather feed them pellets, but I figured that might be more difficult to train them into. I also have the new life spectrum ones, with garlic.

I have a feeding tube that I use to get earthworms to my two "python eels" but in that case the fish get so excited that they swim up to the tube and feeding them is easy. I'd have to sort of get the ropefish to learn this too, I think, because even on the bottom food will get stolen. If the frontosa won't grab it, I have a morbidly obese synodontis cat who didn't get that way by being shy.
 
OOOH! I had an idea!

Eventually, the ropes will be the most narrow fish in my tank, and they're obviously great at getting into/out of things. Maybe I could build something that only they can get into to put food into for em? Again, any suggestions are more than welcome.
 
Oh. I never even tried feeding my old rope pellets because the guy at my LFS said that it'd have to be starved into eating them.

Thanks for the advice, James!
 
I feed my Rope Fish at night, when the lights are off.
When I used to feed during the day, the other fish used to get to the food first (Bloodworms, minced fish, chopped shrimp).
 
get a small, clean, water bottle and tie a bit of monofiliment (fishing line) around the neck, leave it open and put some meaty foods inside. Poke some small holes in the bottom to help it sink. Will any luck the ropes will be able to eat but the others will not.
 
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