Hello all,
I’m looking for feedback and maybe some recommendations for my 75 gallon tank, currently home to four young ropefish.
i have approximately 55 gallons of water space as I have lowered my water level to accommodate my ropes need to surface breathe, as well as their tendency to leap for the lid. The tank is moderately planted (could always use more) with vals, African onion, red tiger lotus, a small African water fern, and some Java ferns. I also have some planters along the back wall with some immersed Anubias. There is a blend of floating plants, including salvinia, red root floaters, and duckweed. And finally some pothos running behind a turtle dock (more on that in a second.)
For filtration I’m running a penn plax 1000 canister filter. I added some holes to the stock spray bar, and I have it running along the short side of the tank, facing directly into the tank wall, same side as the turtle dock. So in effect, I have my filter output raining down the tank wall over the pothos, and into a narrow slit between where the turtle dock floats and the tank wall. Some naturally flows over the dock (a standard ZooMed medium.)
And outside of that, I have sand substrate running in a shallow layer. I’ve buried some pantyhose full of red lava rock to create a slightly uneven surface and to help partially bury some PVC hides. I haven’t taken the time to camouflage the PVC yet. I wanted to make sure they would get used before taking the time to paint and glue substrate to them, and the ropes took to the hides so well I haven’t had the heart to take them out for the several days it would take to do that.
Anyway, everything seems to be going well, I just have two issues
One, I’m not sure what else to stock. I plan to add one more rope and cap out at 5 until I move up to a 125 later this year (awaiting the finishing of some remodeling in our house to have the space to set up the 125.) But aside from that I’m at a loss. I usually see Congo tetras suggested, but I had the ropes with roselines for a minute and the high activity level from the roselines seemed to scare the ropes into timidity. There was no aggression but the sheer mass of fish rushing about the tank kept the ropes in hiding a lot (especially at feeding time) and they have become much more open and outgoing since I removed the roselines. For that reason, I’m wary of high activity schooling fish, and I worry I’d be inviting the same problems with something like congos (or black skirt tetras, which I also see suggested a lot.)
African butterflyfish get thrown around a lot, too. I’m not the biggest fan of them but I might incorporate one. Other fish I’ve either seen suggested a lot with ropes or that have caught my interest include:
Leopard Bushfish/Clouded Archer. Very different fish but similar profiles and concerns, namely their capacity for predation. By getting one (and with the size of the archer it would definitely be just one) I’d set a very high size threshold for any other fish I might want to add in the future. And while I have concerns about, say, the Congo tetras, I’m hesitant to get a fish that would eliminate that option altogether.
Rainbow Shark: I just think these are cool fish, I don’t otherwise have a reason for thinking they’d go particularly well with the ropes. But it’s indicative of what I might want to do, which is get a couple of “solo” fish that don’t require pairing. Ideally in ways that would allow each fish to have their own areas. Say a rainbow shark with a gourami or aforementioned African butterfly fish.
A suitably sized cichlid or pair. I don’t love the Kribs, but I might be able to me persuaded on those. I like the idea of an OB Peacock, but I’m worried how that (or any cichlid)might throw their weight into the ropes, who, again, are incredibly passive. Ditto on something like a blue gularis, which would be awesome and I believe less hostile outside of his own mate seeking behavior, but I’d like to hear from people who know better. Angelfish are probably a distant third option with the same concerns.
As you can see, I am a bit all over the place. The difficulty of stocking around ropes is well documented, and I’m in that position now. I love my fish and want to thoughtfully build around them instead of trying to force a square peg into a round hole. So what would you do in this same position?
And second, I have tried several different configurations with my filter output and spray bar and lily pipe and I have noticed that my ropes uniformly attack the source of the water. When I had the straight filter output in the back corner of the tank, they launched themselves at that part of the lid to try and escape. When I switched to a spray bar, they switched to jumping towards the spray bar. Indeed, they make use of the turtle dock now that it’s under the bar, and that’s how they get up, by shimming between the dock and the tank wall and then jumping up and landing on the dock.(I have not seen them slither up the ramp or the other side of the dock.) My question is if this is indicative of distress or anything with the fish. It’s something about the water coming down in that area that gets them to jump. I don’t know if it’s some kind of instinct where they perceive a heavy rain as a flood and try to move or what. Just looking for an explanation for why they would only jump in that area.
A lot of information, I know, but I would appreciate any insight. Thanks in advance.
I’m looking for feedback and maybe some recommendations for my 75 gallon tank, currently home to four young ropefish.
i have approximately 55 gallons of water space as I have lowered my water level to accommodate my ropes need to surface breathe, as well as their tendency to leap for the lid. The tank is moderately planted (could always use more) with vals, African onion, red tiger lotus, a small African water fern, and some Java ferns. I also have some planters along the back wall with some immersed Anubias. There is a blend of floating plants, including salvinia, red root floaters, and duckweed. And finally some pothos running behind a turtle dock (more on that in a second.)
For filtration I’m running a penn plax 1000 canister filter. I added some holes to the stock spray bar, and I have it running along the short side of the tank, facing directly into the tank wall, same side as the turtle dock. So in effect, I have my filter output raining down the tank wall over the pothos, and into a narrow slit between where the turtle dock floats and the tank wall. Some naturally flows over the dock (a standard ZooMed medium.)
And outside of that, I have sand substrate running in a shallow layer. I’ve buried some pantyhose full of red lava rock to create a slightly uneven surface and to help partially bury some PVC hides. I haven’t taken the time to camouflage the PVC yet. I wanted to make sure they would get used before taking the time to paint and glue substrate to them, and the ropes took to the hides so well I haven’t had the heart to take them out for the several days it would take to do that.
Anyway, everything seems to be going well, I just have two issues
One, I’m not sure what else to stock. I plan to add one more rope and cap out at 5 until I move up to a 125 later this year (awaiting the finishing of some remodeling in our house to have the space to set up the 125.) But aside from that I’m at a loss. I usually see Congo tetras suggested, but I had the ropes with roselines for a minute and the high activity level from the roselines seemed to scare the ropes into timidity. There was no aggression but the sheer mass of fish rushing about the tank kept the ropes in hiding a lot (especially at feeding time) and they have become much more open and outgoing since I removed the roselines. For that reason, I’m wary of high activity schooling fish, and I worry I’d be inviting the same problems with something like congos (or black skirt tetras, which I also see suggested a lot.)
African butterflyfish get thrown around a lot, too. I’m not the biggest fan of them but I might incorporate one. Other fish I’ve either seen suggested a lot with ropes or that have caught my interest include:
Leopard Bushfish/Clouded Archer. Very different fish but similar profiles and concerns, namely their capacity for predation. By getting one (and with the size of the archer it would definitely be just one) I’d set a very high size threshold for any other fish I might want to add in the future. And while I have concerns about, say, the Congo tetras, I’m hesitant to get a fish that would eliminate that option altogether.
Rainbow Shark: I just think these are cool fish, I don’t otherwise have a reason for thinking they’d go particularly well with the ropes. But it’s indicative of what I might want to do, which is get a couple of “solo” fish that don’t require pairing. Ideally in ways that would allow each fish to have their own areas. Say a rainbow shark with a gourami or aforementioned African butterfly fish.
A suitably sized cichlid or pair. I don’t love the Kribs, but I might be able to me persuaded on those. I like the idea of an OB Peacock, but I’m worried how that (or any cichlid)might throw their weight into the ropes, who, again, are incredibly passive. Ditto on something like a blue gularis, which would be awesome and I believe less hostile outside of his own mate seeking behavior, but I’d like to hear from people who know better. Angelfish are probably a distant third option with the same concerns.
As you can see, I am a bit all over the place. The difficulty of stocking around ropes is well documented, and I’m in that position now. I love my fish and want to thoughtfully build around them instead of trying to force a square peg into a round hole. So what would you do in this same position?
And second, I have tried several different configurations with my filter output and spray bar and lily pipe and I have noticed that my ropes uniformly attack the source of the water. When I had the straight filter output in the back corner of the tank, they launched themselves at that part of the lid to try and escape. When I switched to a spray bar, they switched to jumping towards the spray bar. Indeed, they make use of the turtle dock now that it’s under the bar, and that’s how they get up, by shimming between the dock and the tank wall and then jumping up and landing on the dock.(I have not seen them slither up the ramp or the other side of the dock.) My question is if this is indicative of distress or anything with the fish. It’s something about the water coming down in that area that gets them to jump. I don’t know if it’s some kind of instinct where they perceive a heavy rain as a flood and try to move or what. Just looking for an explanation for why they would only jump in that area.
A lot of information, I know, but I would appreciate any insight. Thanks in advance.
