Ropefish feeding questions

Loveroflegends

Feeder Fish
Dec 2, 2022
1
1
3
25
Hello! new to these forums and (relatively) new to keeping ropefish, ive had 2 for a few months now and they seem to be doing well, skittish but there active and have a good appetite for what they want to eat and have since day 1, which brings me to my questions, for the time ive had these two ive been feeding frozen bloodworms and freeze-dried mealworms, which after doing more research and reading the pinned post here seem to be WAY to fatty (25%) so im trying to get them off of them.

which is a shame as the mealworms seem to be there favorite thing if one of them goes missing for a week or so and im starting to worry hes found a hole to jump out of and is died up on my floor ive gotten into the habit of just placing 2-3 in the water and not 30 seconds later hes out and eating.

the issue is ive tried hikari carnivore pellets which i did not have high hopes for them taking too and they havent, ive gotten as far as the two will bite at them and immediately spit the pellet out. i don't know if this is a good sign that there biting at them or a bad one that there biting and still rejecting them.

as i mentioned above they do eat frozen bloodworms, but arn't nearly as crazy for them. i also know that with say, reptiles, a varied diet is important so i've just the other day tried introducing frozen brine shrimp but ive had no feeding response at all to those, even when i added them after the two ropes are in the middle of happily hunting down the beloved mealworms.

So i guess TL: DR- ive got two ropes eating the equivalent of a big-mac twice a week, and have had no success in convincing them to try something healthier, are their any tried and true tips that might help? do i just need to give it more time?
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey

Midwater

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2021
1,038
1,574
154
Thailand
I would have thought that mealworms would be great food for ropefish. See if you can get live mealworms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey

tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
23,258
24,119
1,660
Ohio
Hello! new to these forums and (relatively) new to keeping ropefish, ive had 2 for a few months now and they seem to be doing well, skittish but there active and have a good appetite for what they want to eat and have since day 1, which brings me to my questions, for the time ive had these two ive been feeding frozen bloodworms and freeze-dried mealworms, which after doing more research and reading the pinned post here seem to be WAY to fatty (25%) so im trying to get them off of them.

which is a shame as the mealworms seem to be there favorite thing if one of them goes missing for a week or so and im starting to worry hes found a hole to jump out of and is died up on my floor ive gotten into the habit of just placing 2-3 in the water and not 30 seconds later hes out and eating.

the issue is ive tried hikari carnivore pellets which i did not have high hopes for them taking too and they havent, ive gotten as far as the two will bite at them and immediately spit the pellet out. i don't know if this is a good sign that there biting at them or a bad one that there biting and still rejecting them.

as i mentioned above they do eat frozen bloodworms, but arn't nearly as crazy for them. i also know that with say, reptiles, a varied diet is important so i've just the other day tried introducing frozen brine shrimp but ive had no feeding response at all to those, even when i added them after the two ropes are in the middle of happily hunting down the beloved mealworms.

So i guess TL: DR- ive got two ropes eating the equivalent of a big-mac twice a week, and have had no success in convincing them to try something healthier, are their any tried and true tips that might help? do i just need to give it more time?
Welcome aboard
Yes a varied diet is good. Frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms aren't that nutritional but better than not eating nothing. I suggest offering small pieces of fish such as Tilapia. If the pellets are too hard they will spit them out. That's what my bichirs do when food is difficult for them to eat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: twentyleagues

twentyleagues

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2017
6,674
9,876
463
Flint town!
All of my rope fish have taken to eating pellets. I feed almost exclusively bug bites, the pleco formula and the small color enhancing ones. They really like the color enhancing ones the best but will eat both.

I also will occasionally feed chopped up tilapia, earthworms, frozen large krill and very rarely I'll put a net full of guppies in that I breed.

I have 14 rope fish currently some of them are over 8 years old or at least have spent that much time with me and another member. When I get new ones I'll qt them and feed either tilapia or worms just to make sure they get some food. They usually eat that right away. I feed the new ones that once a week and offer pellets maybe twice or three times a week. Eventually they start eating pellets fine either before introducing them to the main tank or a little while after. Some have been stubborn but I think they learn from the others eventually.

It could be the bug bites most of my fish like those. In fact I stopped buying other brands as most of my fish ignore anything but bug bites now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tlindsey
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store