Rope fish not really moving

Fresh water is allot different than salt, Never in 39 years that I have had fresh water tanks did I have a tank that didn't have ammonia in it, I have had then with ammonia so high it would have nuked a salt tank instantly with no ill effects.

But getting to the rope fish, First off they are nocturnal, way more active at night. During the day they prefer low lighting. It there a cave or two for it to hid in during the day? If not you might want to get one. Ph is Low, they do better around 7.8 to 8.0.

As far as eating they like live foods but will eat frozen. They will not eat anything that is larger than their mouth unless really hungry so make sure your giving it small pieces of what ever you giving it. I used to feed mine baby guppies since I had so many. Plus I used to feed it Live earth worms. Bad part about feeding them live foods is depending on how small the rest of your fish are they might start disapearing.......

Best way to keep a tire track eel out of filter is to get rid of it... LOL not really, another fish that prefers to have somewhere to hid, like an acrylic tube or a cave. Some place dark thats why they are getting into your filter.

 

The filter also seems a little slow. 60 gph for a 46? you should be turning over your tank water at least three times an hour for freshwater, minimum. I would upgrade your filter especially considering your occupants. That would explain ammonia. Ammonia at any level is bad. It means they are living in their own waste.

 

really? I have a fresh water tank and it has no ammonia in it. It doesnt have a heavy bio load or anything and all i use is the built in trickle (wet/dry) filter in the hood.

 

Catfish possibly doing it also? I know that depending on the type, catfish could be quite aggressive. It could be stressing the rope out, specially if they are both hanging at the bottom of the tank

 

I didn't say it wasn't bad, what I said is that it doesn't' t affect fresh water fish as bad or as readily as it does salt water. take a gold fish for example, who hasn't seen one in a 4 inch bowel for days without a water change and they usually do just fine when its finally changed.

Also I also don't feel that is is an issue in this instance. That fish like darkness, and in a fish tank that is well lit it will hang in one place till the lights go off. Then it will cruise the tank looking for something to eat. They will as I said also turn their noses up at and food the is larger than tier mouth, choosing something that is smaller first.

As far as turnover goes, I used to breed angels, they like slow moving almost turbid water. I never had a problem with them living in tanks that had way less "turnover". Turn over is not an issue in fresh water as it is in salt. People have kept fresh water fish for many years with out the aid of HOB filters or turn over.

And PheonixHeights, I have and have had lots of tanks without ammonia also, in fact I have a tank just like yours I think. I have also had heavily loaded tanks that had ammonia in them without any bad effects.