Tropical Fish Aquarium Species Profile: The Eel-Like Rope Fish

It seems everybody these days has some sort of fish tank in their home or office. These aquariums can be small or large, well-equipped or bare-bones, full of expensive fish or just cheap ones like goldfish and betas. But most of them have a common thread when it comes to their overall visual appearance: they’re a little bit boring.

Many freshwater fish have either muted colors or boring characteristics, and they don’t look quite as interesting or have the wow factor that saltwater fish have.

That’s why it’s important for any serious freshwater fish owner to invest in some unique creatures that will catch their guests’ eyes at first glance in order to enhance the visual appeal of their overall tank atmosphere.

One such fish would be the rope fish, or Erpetoichthys calabaricus as it is called in the scientific community. These fish are typically quite large compared to your typical aquarium fish, and they also look a whole lot different than most of them as well, which is a good thing. They look almost like an underwater snake until upon closer inspection you can see that they have the gills that set them apart. Adults reach lengths up to 3 feet and they live in the waters of African countries like Nigeria and Cameroon.

While they aren’t extremely colorful as their main pigmentation is a shade of dark brown, they make up for that shortcoming in the area of overall visual appeal. The way they slither and streak around the tank is very entertaining to watch, especially for young kids who are used to seeing the same old boring fish in other tanks. Between their stealthily silent movements and their large size, rope fish will upgrade the visual appeal of your tank immediately.

Of course, you will need a similarly large aquarium to fit the rope fish in, at least 55 gallons to be exact. The price of the rope fish is usually in the 15-25 dollar range as well, which is pretty steep for a freshwater fish. But most of the good freshwater fish are fairly rare and/or hard to catch so it makes perfect sense. Rope fish will also eat smaller fish in your aquarium or underwater frogs and other creatures of that nature, so be careful what types of creatures you decide to put in with them.

They also aren’t very likely at all to breed in captivity so don’t bother wasting your money on a pair of a male and female. You can save that extra cash for their food, which tends to be more expensive than your average fish. Rope fish enjoy eating beef hearts, small frogs, worms, and feeder guppies as well as other small, cheap fish of similar breeds.

Rope fish are also nocturnal so you will see them become much more active at night. During the day they like to hide in things like driftwood and caves so you should give them a comfortable hiding place they can use during the day to keep them happy.

The rope fish shares some characteristics with snakes such as their poor eyesight and reliance on smell to take inventory of their surroundings as well as their ability to survive on land for a little while due to their lungs. Make sure your tank is sealed off so that the rope fish doesn’t try to escape and doesn’t end up living in your magazine rack for a while.

But despite these minor shortcomings, the rope fish is the kind of fish that can add a unique charm to your aquarium that most other freshwater fish owners can’t come close to matching.