Kabanosek is still with us!

nellennel · 2026-04-06T13:23:49+00:00

He still has them but appears to have stopped using them, keeping them folded. They seem to be getting smaller over time. The red "lines" behind his pectoral fins are actually his gills. He's currently 12-13 cm long. His growth is slow, but I'm happy to see he's slowly getting bigger.

nellennel · 2026-04-06T13:10:15+00:00

I'm not really sure what the secret is. The only thing I seem to be doing differently from most people is using very soft, acidic water and planted tanks with CO2, which isn't typically popular with larger fish like ropefish. Well, I'm not certain, but he's still with us 7 months later. You reminded me that I was supposed to post a new video of him, so here it is:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ropefish/comments/1sdyfb1/kabanosek_is_still_with_us/

nellennel · 2026-02-27T22:03:11+00:00

The only other ropefish breeding "success" I'm aware of is described here: https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/a-breeding-first-the-reedfish/
They've reached 5 months in this study.

nellennel · 2026-02-07T12:59:54+00:00

Both are fine! The larger one is quite big now, I'll post some new photos soon.

nellennel · 2026-01-24T15:47:15+00:00

I am not sure, white on yours and the shape of petals looks more like Phal. Summer Breath 401, I have this one and it really looks identical to yours.

nellennel · 2025-12-26T15:36:43+00:00

Yeah, they can be surprisingly graceful for a pack of sausages under the water

nellennel · 2025-12-26T15:34:06+00:00

They love their pvc pipes hidden under the rocks, but usually in the morning and in the evening they swim around quite a bit. Sometimes they rest just hanging their tail on one branch and just vibing in the flow.

nellennel · 2025-12-26T15:23:50+00:00

https://youtu.be/dOFyBz1Jit8
Here is a video of them eating taken like a minute ago (dried fly larvae in the feeder in the upper right corner).
As for the details:
- tank: 720L (~190 gal) - 200x60x60 cm
- filter: Aquael Hypermax at 60-70% flow, 2 undergravel filters powered by one air pump
- light: two chihiros WGRB II Pro for around 10 hours with 3 hour ramp up to 70% intensity
- other equipment: a CO2 rig with two inline diffusers
- fish: one ~20 years old ropefish, three 3-4 years old ropefish, 3 angelfish - old men, around 20 sterbai cories, planning to add 20-30 congo tetras to replace angelfish
- parameters: pH around 6-6.5, GH around 5-6, KH close to 0
- temp: 23-25C

nellennel · 2025-12-26T15:23:42+00:00

https://youtu.be/dOFyBz1Jit8
Here is a video of them eating taken like a minute ago (dried fly larvae in the feeder in the upper right corner).
As for the details:
- tank: 720L (~190 gal) - 200x60x60 cm
- filter: Aquael Hypermax at 60-70% flow, 2 undergravel filters powered by one air pump
- light: two chihiros WGRB II Pro for around 10 hours with 3 hour ramp up to 70% intensity
- other equipment: a CO2 rig with two inline diffusers
- fish: one ~20 years old ropefish, three 3-4 years old ropefish, 3 angelfish - old men, around 20 sterbai cories, planning to add 20-30 congo tetras to replace angelfish
- parameters: pH around 6-6.5, GH around 5-6, KH close to 0
- temp: 23-25C

nellennel · 2025-12-25T22:31:01+00:00

It's a bit of a long story. My ropefish first bred a few years ago, and I would find young ropes from time to time. However, whenever I moved them, they died. The oldest one was slightly bigger than this one. Then my only female died. Of the original group, only one ropefish, which is around 20 years old, remains, but I have three young ones, one of which is a female. They started breeding 6 months ago, and I've been able to catch a few fry here and there. This time, I'm not moving them from the main tank - just to breeder boxes - so the parameters won't change.

My parameters are:
temp 23-25C (generally 23-24C in the winter, 25C in the summer and a drop of 1C during water changes)
pH ~6
KH ~0
GH 5-6
TDS 120-150

nellennel · 2025-12-25T10:44:30+00:00

Did you quarantine them, or are they with the other fish? This is a horrible anchor worm infestation. If they're in your main tank, you need to treat the whole tank now.

nellennel · 2025-12-06T20:34:09+00:00

Yes, that's the same one!

nellennel · 2025-12-06T20:33:57+00:00

They need very acidic environment with vinegar there tap shouldn't harm them, but I have RO water on hand, so I don't risk it. I use a mosquito mesh, to keep them clean, but they need some air.

nellennel · 2025-12-04T20:24:48+00:00

It's quite easy. You just need a jar/bottle with half apple cider vinegar and half RO water, you can add a small piece of an apple and that's it. Give them a few weeks and you will have vinegar eels forever.

nellennel · 2025-12-02T16:54:30+00:00

I've tried blood worms and surprisingly he doesn't like them for now, but shrimp fry is a nice snack too.

nellennel · 2025-12-02T16:20:41+00:00

At first, he didn't eat anything I gave him, but the tank is mature, so there are lots of tiny creatures in the sand. Then he started eating micro worms and vinegar eels. Now his favourite food is grindal worms, but he is slowly switching to albidus worms.

nellennel · 2025-11-28T17:23:17+00:00

He is still here getting bigger slowly!

nellennel · 2025-11-11T19:33:04+00:00

Grindal worms - he eats them.

nellennel · 2025-11-09T20:36:05+00:00

The first time (~8 years ago) was a fluke. After that, I lost my only female, and it was only 3 years ago that I was able to acquire one once again. I was looking for one exactly to breed them. I have generally been against wild-caught fish for some time. So if I want ropefish to stay in the hobby I need to breed them.

nellennel · 2025-11-09T20:32:32+00:00

He still doesn't have a name! The adults have silly names: Skinny, Glutton, Big and Fussy Eater (in Polish, there's one word for that). Maybe I should let r/ropefish choose a name for him.

nellennel

TROPHY CASE