strange rope fish behaviour

[smartlove_518]

hi

i got a rope fish about a week and half ago..its around 2 feet in length. yesterday night it started to hang like its dead and swimming and lieing up side down. but then it suddenly starts to swim normally. and i don't think looking at it that its sick. is this normal behaviour? or is the fish sick? and what can i do to treat it if its sick? also i saw it eat the first day and after that i havent seen it eat...maybe it eats after the lights go out.

thank you

 

[machine]

got pics???? my ropes will go up 4 air and comin down they upside down 4 a couple secs then corrects itself they will also lay limp n fake plants i got but never lay upside down they r pretty weird acting fish lol

 

[smartlove_518]

got pics???? my ropes will go up 4 air and comin down they upside down 4 a couple secs then corrects itself they will also lay limp n fake plants i got but never lay upside down they r pretty weird acting fish lol

i dont have any pics at the moment..its 2 am here..will take some in the morning...it acts strange for sure.. every time it gives me a little shock

mine lays limp too in the rocks...

 

[machine]

i got 6 of them rite now and they all act weird i use 2 think sumthin was wrong when they went upside down 4 a sec but they all been doin it and r jus fine idk about laying upside down tho never seen them do that u lucky as hell 2 get 1 at 2' already wish i could

 

[smartlove_518]

i got 6 of them rite now and they all act weird i use 2 think sumthin was wrong when they went upside down 4 a sec but they all been doin it and r jus fine idk about laying upside down tho never seen them do that u lucky as hell 2 get 1 at 2' already wish i could

my lfs had loads of them at 2 feet...but i think my fish is sick..because it is not swimming so well at the moment.. just wanted to update..you got 6 of em..

 

[ShadowBass]

There are a couple of things that can cause that.

There's some kind of illness ropefish seem to get that will cause that behavior and eventually they die from it. In that case they'll usually either start swimming upside down and erratically and then die, or they'll do it infrequently and it will become more frequent until they start the eratic swimming and die. I'm not sure what will cause this, but I have not seen it be passed onto the other ropefish in the tank so I don't think it's contagious and it may actually be due to poor handling in catch and shipping (they are generally wildcaught).

There are also times when I think they must be getting air stuck in them, or temporary swim bladder issues, because I've had a couple of them do it and then recover just fine.

Make sure that they are able to get up to breathe air. If they're upside down they often can't do that. Perhaps lower the water level so he'll have an easier time getting up there.

BTW, 2 feet in length? Wow, that's really long for a captive rope if you're correct. Mine was 16" and that was considered large fairly large for captive ropes.

 

[LittleNeko]

I got Cleo a few weeks ago (8-10") and I saw her the other night laying upside down on top of some of the plants, not in them. Of everything I'd read beforehand, nothing told me about it. I grabbed the aquarium net and lightly touched her and she freaked out and hid. I didn't think anything of it after.
Fast forward to this morning and she was dead. She had been eating, water is perfect, no outward signs of illness. I don't know what happened and can't seem to find anything that helps? The only weird thing was the upside down last night.
This was my first Ropefish, I was so excited to finally have one... It's a bit of a downer that Cleo passed after just a handful of weeks. I want to get another one but I'm scared the same thing will happen....