My rope fish is acting under the weather!!! help!

i got him about 4 days ago and he has seemed fine untill today...coolest fish ever.
right now he is sitting on the bottom acting as if he is paralized. only moving his head as if he wants to swim. he will not take any food.

i am currently treating my other rish for ick. i am thinking he has not eaten any of his food and it has messed with the water...

could that be the problem??? the water???

ive had my tank for about 5 or 6 months and it is all of a sudden gotten cloudy and my poor rope fish looks pitiful...

 

i only have pH as of now. but my LFS gave me "Ick Guard II" (for scaleless fish) by Jungle. i was going to get Quick Cure because that seems to be the one that most people like but they told me i couldnt use that because of the rope.

 

The LFS was right about the meds. Ropes don't like meds unless they are safe for scaless fish.

What you describe is actually normal for a rope if he is acclimated and comfy. They are usually only extremely active at night. They are natually opportunistic predators, and in the wild they are pretty lazy. You have to remember that they are basically prehistoric, and their normal day consists of hanging on the bottom and waiting for a meal. At night, most ropes will investigate the tank and even 'root around' for food.

I have one and she is great. Her name is Indiana (because he looks like a whip...). She actually spends most of her time laying around on my Hygros and swords and will just occasionally take a swim around the tank.

I would take a look at your rope after the lights (in the tank AND the room) have been out for a couple of hours at night. You will probably see him/her raoming around the bottom searching for food. Most of the time it's actually better to feed them at this time.

If feeding is an issue, there is a trick to make sure they get a good feeding. A lot of ropes do die because they are not getting the food they need. This is usually because the faster, more active fish in the tank get it first. o remedy this, just get an empty 20 oz. water bottle, and clean it up. I would use a diluted mix of water and bleach. Just a small amount of bleach. Just enough to kill germs and what not. Rinse it well and dry it completely. Then put the food (usually i use a mix of frozen shrimp and blood worms) in the bottle and submerge it. Eventually the rope will find the bottle and get inside and pig out. Be patient, as they have poor eyesight and they have to discover it by touch...and it takes a while for them to bump into it sometimes. Once they get the scent though, they usually get right inside.

Using the bottle keeps the food away from the other fish and allows the rope to eat in peace.

I hope that helps.