Not many Rope fish, Erpetoichthys calabaricus, fans out there. But even the die hard Lap or Endli fan has to admit, Rope fish are cool. I have five of them, in a 120 gal tank. The largest, an 18in female, Iv'e had for seven years. So this morning, before work, I sat and watched them as they swam about the tank, waiting to get fed. Had my phone so I snapped a few pics.
I agree; I have only 1 that's around 12-13 inches long that I've owned for 18 months. They have the unrivaled uniqueness of a serpentine fish that really can only be compared to an eel (in the freshwater hobby anyway) but with far better personalities. Mine's always active, very friendly to all of his tankmates, and intelligent enough to shoot to the surface and skim it for first dibs on food when I approach the hood of my tank. One of the best purchases I've ever made, yet they're extremely rare to see at LFS's in the Connecticut area for some reason.
Thanks! I agree. Very hard to find in LFS. 99%+ are wild caught, and what you see in your LFS are mostly very small (less than 10in). I buy the largest ones, when I see them. Only once I found two 12 inchers, and they were brought in by a customer who could no longer keep them. But thats really rare.
Very nice, and i I agree they are a highly underrated species. I have a nice male right now in my "mini monster " setup with senegal's, dehelzi, dat's and a fire eel I'll be adding 2 females for him when i can.
although i dont see them around all that often, they arn't all that hard to find. Most shops can order them in if requested, and will often do so gladly because they tend to sell out fast. As mentioned though they are WC so there ill be seasonally availability and a lot of shops just get into the routine of ordering the norm's and missing out on these sorts of fish unless someone asks.
