an albino ropefish? Erpetoichthys calabaricus

[kirbyr]

I just bought an albino senegalus and am wondering if anyone has ever heard of an albino ropefish? I have a ropefish, senegalus, and ornate bichir also in the tank and really don't have room for another fish but would be willing to find a new home for my ropefish if i knew that an albino one may be possible

has anyone ever heard or seen one? have one? they have to be out there somewhere

[Fishguy2727]

they dont have to be out there somewhere, not everything has an albino morph. but yes im pretty sure there are at least a few albino ropefish, i think i saw a pic of one on another forum. you would probably have to order it online and the cost of the fish itself would probably be expensive, plus the cost and risk of shipping. what size tank? filtration? water change schedule? diet?

[kirbyr]

a 55 gallon with regular filtration and regular water changes. I'm not doing more filtration or changes than I need, but adequate. Just a external filter for the size, undergravel, two powerheads and air tubes with charcoal heads. Diet, i noticed that both the senegalus and ropefish enjoy bacon bits, so i put that in twice a week along with everyday freeze dried bloodworms and shrimp, and shrimp pellets. I highly doubt that the bacon bits are exactly "healthy" for these fish, but they enjoy them and when I do i know that they have eaten. I rarely see them eat the other food I put in, but that was the only food I used for months before I realized they like the bacon.

I've been searching the net and haven't found one yet but am still searching with hope. As far as price goes I'll consider that if I can find one

[Fishguy2727]

i woudl definitely cut off the bacon bits. shrimp pellets are good, but you can also add hikari's sinking carnivore pellets as well as a variety of frozen foods appropriate for their size. mien like frozen squid and frozen beefheart. what canister filter? what is your water change schedule? is it just those fish or do you have any mid or top dwellers?

[kirbyr]

i'm not sure exactly what model the filter is, the aquarium is sitting on an entertainment center that is extremly heavy without the aquarium on it, and it is sitting behind. Getting back there to check isn't going to happen unless somethng tragic happens. But it was the external with filtration adequate for a 55 gallon. My roommate has three goldfish that we both hate but can't get rid of because his girlfriend absolutely LOVES the, and two gouramis (sp?) and a zebra which will probably someday be food when one of the bichirs gets lucky

We change the water about every month, we don't exactly schedule it but at least once a month. Depending on when both of us are available (work, school, going home) it can be three weeks, two weeks, five weeks once in a while, but it gets done.

sucky, I still haven't found a reference to an albino ropefish yet.

[Fishguy2727]

you need to clean canister filters out every month at least. why do you need 2 people for the water change?

[kirbyr]

The tank sits really high on top of our entertainment center and the siphon isn't quite long enough to reach the top of the trash can we catch dirty water. not to mention it gets him away from his attention starving gf for about 15 mintues

[William]

I don't really know if I agree with the comment about the canister filter. Canister filters can run effectivly for longr than that (which is what should decide wether you clean it) and cleaning the filter to ofen will make it less effective since the amount of bacteria in it will be lower.

[Fishguy2727]

no, you dont mess with the bio-media in the canister unless it is visibly catching debris which will choke out the nitrifying bacteria, in which case you rinse it in tank water. carbon needs to be changed at least once a month, and thats for high quality carbon. the mechanical media can be cleaned as often as desired. and it is better to clean more often than it NEEDS it than to wait until it REALLY needs it. no your fish wont die if you wait longer than a month, but it will be much better for them if you dont let it go any longer than that. it wont hurt to clean the mechanical and change out the carbon.

[kirbyr]

everyone handles their aquariums differently, as long as we're successful i don't think that it is a problem.

sadly i'm giving up on an albino ropefish

[Full3R]

Never give up, just say your putting it aside

[Fishguy2727]

all filters do is collect the waste until you can remove it. if you never collect it and remove it from the system, you might as well not have a filter. an uncleaned filter just allows for a false sense of security. the other problem is that since it didnt cause an issue so far, people end up assuming they are doing fine, so then when something goes wrong later, many people assume it couldnt have anything to do with what they been doing so far. but sometimes it takes a long time for issues to be apparent. so you need to deal with things as best you can, and never cleaning the filter isnt that.

[Fishguy2727]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1156570987

[kirbyr]

damn, that fish is sweet. the reserve wasn't met i might email that guy and see if he still has it

[William]

Nice fish indeed! Let us no if you get it.

[stubbytheplecostomus]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1028

-link to albino senegal bichir-

[kirbyr]

i already have an albino bichir, i'm want an albino ropefish

[kirbyr]

maybe i won't get one being that I underestimated the price that these fish have. the guy in that auction said he would sell it for $350.

i asked the local pet store's fish manager and he said he hasn't seen one listed in his ordering book for a while but has before and that if he gets an opportunity he'll bring one in. hopefully with a lower price range

[ropefishman]

almost every spiecies of animal out there can be an albino but most albino animals are albino because of a genetic mutation or defect. So yes you probrobaly could get an albino rope fish but how easy it will be to find one is a diffrent story.

[cocoa_pleco]

this thread is from sept. 4/06! lol