Rope fish in a guppy tank

[Zevim]

So I built a community tank filled with guppies, dwarf crayfish and small snails, which breed out of control. There are kuli loaches and Siamese algae eaters as well (3 each), but I just released 2 foot long ripe fish in the tank with them.

I haven't seen them eat anything yet, bloodworms or tankmates and it's been two days. I try feeding them bloodworms at night, but their too shy to come out when they can see me. I know I wouldn't be able to tell if they've eaten guppies, snails or dwarf crayfish as their populations are beyond counting. Should I feel confident that they will eat tank mates if their hungry?

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum.

How big is the tank? I have to admit a rope fish into that mix seems a bit of a curve ball, they are not overly predatory but guppies will more than likely be on the menu and not just the fry.

Wills

 

[Colin_T]

I would say the ropefish will eat everything in the tank except the snails.

All those rocks on the bottom are going to trap debris that will lead to poor water quality and disease outbreaks in the future.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

There's something really unsporting about keeping prey fish captive in a glass box with a predator. Why even keep the guppies/loaches/crayfish etc if you're really hoping they'll get picked off and eaten?

But it seems cruel and unsporting since they're trapped in that box with no chance of escape. Yes, fish predate on each other in the wild, and that's a normal part of the natural world. But there's a balance there, in that the prey fish always stand a chance of escaping. In the wild the scent/hormones etc of the predator fish are constantly washed away/diluted in the river/lake, and the prey fish can escape and go to another part of the river. But in the tank, the other fish are soon going to learn that there are predators in there with them that never leave, so even the ones that haven't yet been eaten are going to be stressed and trying to hide all the time.

Doesn't sound like a fun tank to me. Even if you enjoy watching live feedings... *coughredflagscough*, you're not likely to even see it happen with ropefish. The other tankmates will just begin to vanish. I don't get it.

 

[jaylach]

While seeming docile and shy rope fish are hard core predators. Since they are nocturnal by nature you won't often see them hitting the smaller fish but they will. They will eat just about any fish that can fit in their mouth.