Rope fish???

[Lady G]

So, I don't know really where this should go, it is about my Cichlid tank but also about a ropefish which I believe is a poly at least it is a poly type fish LOL!

Anyway, I was setting up (well still am) a Lake Malawi tank it is a 55g and all I have at the moment. Had the stock list planned and have some in, just ordered more so it was all going good right. Till, I come home yesterday and my Mom had taken my 4yo to wal-mart...well they came home with a Rope fish. OK, I love these guys and all, but they were not part of my set up plan and I believe need a larger tank then a 55. Now, I could take it to a LFS I'm sure (wal-mart wont take it back) but doing this would cause a HUGE fight with my little one cause well you know "Mom..look, he's smiling at me, I LOVE him soooo much"!! BTW "his" name is Elizabeth (hahahaha!!!). So anyway my question (sorry kinda got to rambling here) will he be ok in this African set up for a couple months? I have a 150 that I will be setting up but it is going to be a couple months before I can do this. The tank mates at the moment are 5 yellow labs, 1 Ahli, and I just ordered 4 Albino Socofoi. He (Elizabeth) is about 8" I would guess.

 

[black_sun]

I'm not sure about the set-up, but I originally had my ropefish in with my cichlids (yellow labs, dragon's blood and some other hybrid/mixes). He ate about half of them, granted they were all juveniles (the cichlids, only 2in more or less), but that's just a thought to bare in mind I guess.

 

[cnoel08]

if he can fit them in his mouth, he will eat them. just get him a cave and he will stay in it most of the time (if he is anything like mine)

 

[Red Devil]

I do not know if he would eat your africans... but i think the africans could do a number on him.. the only species that is suitable with africans long term is the synodontis Euruptus... i cannot see a rope fish part of that mixture for very long..i could be wrong... mine i kept in a 30gal with a two bichirs for a long time... until he crawled out the hole on top of the tank..because it eventually came half off unnoticed by me... you need to tape up every opening.. they are excape artists.. and they eat blood worms which makes me think another good reason for not keeping them with africans is that they would easily starve to death...but thats just my take on it.. i miss mine.. they are great..mine got to be 14 inches...

 

[dbcb314]

a 55 is fine for them... they are crazy flexible. you could probably keep them in a 30 for most of their life.

Their activity is hit or miss. I have three... 1 hides all the time, 1 is out all the time, and 1 comes and goes

they will eat whatever fits in thier mouth and leave everything else alone. They won't defend theirselves though so if the cichlid is aggressive it might be beat up.

OH, and cover your top COMPLETELY. they can slip through tiny holes and love to jump

 

[cnoel08]

oh yea, that too. even cover your filter outflow, mine crawled in my filter and tried to push the top off!

 

[Lady G]

Well, thanks everyone...I will have to keep a close eye on everyone I spose. It has only been a day but he seems to be pretty active, out most the time. Maybe I can pick up a cheap 30g until I can get the 150 set up.

There are tons of hidey spots in the rock and I have 4 HUGE vals in there, he seems to like to "hide out" in the leaves of them. The cichlids pretty much ignore him so far.