Sick Ropefish?

[cjc75]

Greetings all...

I've been the proud owner of a pair of wonderful Ropefish for a coulpe years now, living inside a 39gal tank with a few Blue Paradise Gouramis.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I did a water change in the tank and took out one of the larger rocks that was in there and replaced it with a couple more fake plants, to open the tank up a bit more and provide more swimming room... then the next day I added a small Angel Fish.

Everything seemed fine. All the fish were very active, and the Ropefish become more active, swimming around more...

Until tonight.

I walked over to put some food in and noticed one of my Ropefish just, sitting, at the top of the tank. Not moving, but sitting there... his head tilted slightly to the side. As I started at him, he suddenly opened his mouth wide as though yawning, and a bulge formed beneath and between his gills... thought he was about to burst for a moment but then he closed his mouth, and swam away.

Thought nothing of it, and left only to come back a couple hours later and now I find him in a horizontal position, tail at the bottom of the tank and his nose aimed towards the top. He seemed to be having trouble righting himself, kept trying to swim up but not going anywhere and occasionally swaying over backwards for a brief second then drifting back horizontal.

It was at this time that I have also noticed that some of his scales have turned from the usual perfect olive, to a darker shiny brown that seems to have hardened...

I'm having trouble finding Ropefish experts as the fish themselves, seem fairly rare but I at least knew enough to keep a pair of them alive and healthy for 2 years...

But now I need some help and advice... anyone out there able to assist?

 

[The-Wolf]

the closest member here to an expert is beblondie, perhaps a PM to her may help.
in the meantime
please tell us what your water parameters are, including temp.
also what is your water change regime, and anything else that may help us to help you.

remember we can't be their to see it in person so as much detail as you can will be good and a photo will
be even better.

 

[simonas]

I don't know what the answer is but I would take anything new out except the angel and do a water change see if that helps.

 

[cjc75]

Thank you for the responses guys.

Unfortunately, whatever the problem was...

It struck the Ropefish quickly, and he did not survive through the next couple hours after I had made the post. In fact I think he passed within the very hour that I posted.

Upsetting, these guys are expensive for me and it is very rare to find one in the pet stores around me. I got lucky finding the two I have (had, one now) as I was not even looking for them but had always wanted some, and just found a few for sale at a local shop when I wasn't even looking for them at the time. They ran me about $25 a piece and were just a little over 6 inches long at the time.

The one who died, had grown to at least 11 inches! He's the one in my Av pic.

Now I'm going to be concerned for the other one for a while...