Rope Fish or Peacock Eel? (Or neither)

[brandon_rss18]

Hmmmm, seems there is a type of spiny eel called and African Spiny Eel. Mastacembelus vanderwaali I have never seen or heard of one of these before though so it might be hard to find. Sounds cool though, info said they only reach about 6 to 8 inches in aquariums.

[mnemenoi]

The Ctenopoma grow slowly and are managable, but there are always the micros...

There are quite a few African Mastacembelids, but many are rare in the hobby and most that are seen are the Tanganyika and Malawi species. They prefer harder water, but you can always try them and see how they do. They are very expensive, but can be found fairly regularly in Houston. Daves Rare fish also usually stocks them and shipping is not too bad.

[brandon_rss18]

Cool, I think I might try some of those as I think they are very interesting. I am trying to find a site that lists nothing but african species of aquarium fish lol.

[mnemenoi]

Try searching Africa on Seriously Fish, it will give you a decent list to start with here is a link

[brandon_rss18]

Thanks for the link! What do you think about Synodontis Eupterus and Upside Down Cats? Also, what would be a good African native Pleco for cleaning up the bottom and glass?

[mistahoo]

BN plecos are really good for cleaning up glass and algae but they aren't african native

[brandon_rss18]

Thanks mistahoo, I have a BN in my 15 right now and he is still kinda small. I probably will throw him in the 65 when he gets bigger. Has anyone ever had a Royal Farlowella Cat, or have any experience with them? They arnt African but I cant really find any cleaner cats from Africa.

[eklikewhoa]

Petricolas
synodontis sp. are african
dwarf giraffe cats
etc.

mRoy has done a fantastic job helping you.

[cichlidomaha]

No one has mentioned this yet, but if you go with any one of the eels or ropefish, in addition to an African Butterfly, Make sure your tank is completely covered, any and all of these fish you are thinking of keeping, will jump or slither out in a tank unless it is completely covered no gaps at all make it very secure.

Tom

[brandon_rss18]

Yall are so awesome, and I am truly grateful. The things you can learn if you just ask!

[eklikewhoa]

There's also the search function too

[brandon_rss18]

There's also the search function too

Yep! Been playing on that for the last hour, I need to get to bed!

[mnemenoi]

Thanks for the link! What do you think about Synodontis Eupterus and Upside Down Cats? Also, what would be a good African native Pleco for cleaning up the bottom and glass?

Most of the synodontis are voracious eaters and I might be wary with ropefish in the tank. There is a good chance they could outcompete them for food (they can be greedy little piglets, lol). With a limited amount it could be doable. I recently saw some microsynodontis spp. up at Fish Gallery and thought they could be effective in a tank set up similar to this. They stay smaller and would be less prone to being vacuum cleaners.

Loricards (plecos and their relatives) are entirely found in South and Central America, so there are no native Africans in that family. With a densely planted tank I might consider some giant Otocinclus or even dismissing a loricard completely. With proper light management and supplementation algae is often times better controlled by the aquarist and relying upon a pleco is difficult. Have you considered using larger amano shrimp? They are not actually native to Africa, but their are a myriad of native shrimp and with their subdued coloration their behavior and appearance would not be too far out of the norm for something akin to their native shrimps. They can be fairly effective cleaners and at a decent size would be difficult for most of your inhabitants to eat whole.

[troy tucker]

I have had synodontis eupterus. They are really cool little cat fish. I have one that eats out of my wife's hand. If you are thinking about buying one let me know. Our is still for sale...

[wesleydnunder]

I kept a rope fish for a couple years while I lived in Japan. VERY cool fish. He was a little hard to feed, then I tried live earthworms and feeding was never an issue after that. +1 on the tight-fitting cover for your tank. They can and will get out. A tire track can get to 30" and will eat whatever they can swallow. If you're gonna go with any smaller fish I'd suggest a small spiny eel called a zig zag eel. After that, a peacock eel.

Mark