Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or in the online stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

Click here to learn more about Premium Pet Fish.

Origin: This fish was caught in West Africa by skillful collectors and shipped to us.

Now Rope Fish live in aquariums all over the world.

Maximum Size: This fish can grow to be about 36" long, including their tails.

Sometimes very old females are even longer.

Behaviors: They will usually move around pretty actively during the day, but some of them seem to hide during the day and become more active at night.

If there is food to be eaten, they become very active looking for it.

They'll also eat very small fish like Neons, Guppies, and other fish small enough fit into their mouths.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include any fish that are not too aggressive, but they may eat smaller fish so be careful when choosing tankmates.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: They live well from about 75 to 82 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 78 degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: it's best to feed them small Premium Pellet Food, when they're small, and later larger pellets, when they're larger.

This species also enjoy live food like earthworms, and frozen food like frozen shrimps.

Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.

Water Conditions: This Wild Fish seems to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions. Probably a pH of about 6.5 with moderate hardness is best.

Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 50-gallon aquarium, but bigger is better.

Decor: These fish do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel. Pieces of aquarium-safe driftwood are also nice.

Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality, they are also necessary if planning to spawn these fish. They use the plants for camouflage as well.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended. A Penguin 350B Filter in an aquarium with 50 to 60-gallons of water is OK.

Eventually this fish will need a much bigger aquarium with as many Penguin 350B Filters as will fit across the back of that aquarium or a large filtering system.

Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range. Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: These fish can live for several years, probably many years provided they are fed premium food and kept in a very large aquarium with very fresh water.

Gender: It is very difficult to determine the gender of these fish, the female may become plumper when ready to breed.

Breeding: There are no known reports of successful breeding attempts in captivity.

Popularity: This fish is rare and somewhat popular.

Names: The scientific name is Erpeoichthys calabaricus.

Common names for this species are Reed Fish and Rope Fish, because some think it looks a piece of a reed or a piece of rope.

Variations: This Wild Fish lives across a wide range in Western Africa, so there may be variations, but we do not know about any specific variations.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.

DrTom - 01/15/2015