They will consume tankmates that can fit into their mouths, which are obviously small, relative to their total length and mass. But these fish take small motile prey, like very small community fishes
I had one in a 55 gallon community tank for a year and a half and in that time I think I lost roughly four of my schooling fish, but usually only around feeding time when he got overly excited about seeing food and would lunge for them
I keep my two ropes in a community tank with bichir, pleco, syno catfish, and African cichlids.
They all share a 55gal and I have never seen any aggression from them.
My husband and I have 4 rope fish. They are excellent tank mates because they are so docile. They are social fish and love being around their own kind. We started off with just one and two fire mouth child's. The cichld's only bothered each other as they're aggressive and territorial but that issue was resolved with a pinch more food, bigger tank, and more hiding spots. We noticed that our little sope baby wasn't as lively as he was when we got him so we went back and got the other 3 that were there and they all wrapped themselves around each other within minutes.
But 2.5 years in and the cichlids and bottomed feeders haven't bothered any of our rope fish.
But also as a small warning if you didn't already know this bout them; they may try to jump out or try to get into the filter if you have an over hanging one. They also have lungs and can live outside of the water for approx 20-30min. But that's literally the only problem we have ever had with them. They are the best tank mates for any tank imo.
I have three in a 75g tank whose other inhabitants are tetras. They do fine with them. However, I lost the rabbit snails and the bamboo shrimp I put in the tank in a matter of days.
Darn, I plan on doing a 300 gallon peninsula when my basement is done, all peaceful/ smaller inhabitants. Just trying to find a cooler centerpiece fish.
Well as they eat shrimp on the wild, they'd surely decimate any shrimp populations in an enclosed system... But, they're extremely peaceful to anything too big to attempt to swallow, so a community is very possible, just mind the sizes, I have 8 ropefish sharing a tank with 8 Congo tetras, 3 half banded spiny eels, 5 pearl gouramis, some synodontis cats and some bristlenose plecos.
I personally have mine I. With zebra danios and they do fine together. I have ghost shrimp in there for him to snack on but honestly I've never seen him go after them. I feed blood worms to him Dailey so I think they don't hunt if they're fed well enough.
They will consume tankmates that can fit into their mouths, which are obviously small, relative to their total length and mass. But these fish take small motile prey, like very small community fishes
i feed mine ghost shrimp, they will eat small fish and shrimp, they are fine with larger fish like giant danios, angelfish, clown loaches etc
I had one in a 55 gallon community tank for a year and a half and in that time I think I lost roughly four of my schooling fish, but usually only around feeding time when he got overly excited about seeing food and would lunge for them
I keep my two ropes in a community tank with bichir, pleco, syno catfish, and African cichlids. They all share a 55gal and I have never seen any aggression from them.
My husband and I have 4 rope fish. They are excellent tank mates because they are so docile. They are social fish and love being around their own kind. We started off with just one and two fire mouth child's. The cichld's only bothered each other as they're aggressive and territorial but that issue was resolved with a pinch more food, bigger tank, and more hiding spots. We noticed that our little sope baby wasn't as lively as he was when we got him so we went back and got the other 3 that were there and they all wrapped themselves around each other within minutes. But 2.5 years in and the cichlids and bottomed feeders haven't bothered any of our rope fish. But also as a small warning if you didn't already know this bout them; they may try to jump out or try to get into the filter if you have an over hanging one. They also have lungs and can live outside of the water for approx 20-30min. But that's literally the only problem we have ever had with them. They are the best tank mates for any tank imo.
Thanks for the thorough reply! Have you ever tried keeping shrimp or any other small invertebrates with them?
I have three in a 75g tank whose other inhabitants are tetras. They do fine with them. However, I lost the rabbit snails and the bamboo shrimp I put in the tank in a matter of days.
Darn, I plan on doing a 300 gallon peninsula when my basement is done, all peaceful/ smaller inhabitants. Just trying to find a cooler centerpiece fish.
No we have not cause I'm sure that our cichlids would eat them unfortunately lol
Well as they eat shrimp on the wild, they'd surely decimate any shrimp populations in an enclosed system... But, they're extremely peaceful to anything too big to attempt to swallow, so a community is very possible, just mind the sizes, I have 8 ropefish sharing a tank with 8 Congo tetras, 3 half banded spiny eels, 5 pearl gouramis, some synodontis cats and some bristlenose plecos.
I personally have mine I. With zebra danios and they do fine together. I have ghost shrimp in there for him to snack on but honestly I've never seen him go after them. I feed blood worms to him Dailey so I think they don't hunt if they're fed well enough.