I have ropes and they are my all time favorite fish. So much personality.
Most important thing to remember is they are escape artists. Make sure you have a secure lid. Be sure there are no holes larger than 1/4 inch. If all of that is taken care of and you suddenly can't find one, check your filter, they can navigate in through the out flow. You also need to leave your water level at least 1 inch below the lid, as ropes breath surface air and oddly will drown if they can't get air from the top of the tank.
Ropes are generally peaceful and do well in community tanks. However, they will eat a fish if it fits in their mouth. You cannot keep aggressive fish in the tank otherwise the ropes will most likely be bullied.
I keep mine with 2 angels, 2 GBR's, and 2 African butterfly fish. I've also kept ropes with dwarf gourami.
If you're doing a planted tank based mostly around ropes, add a couple caves or think about some tubes for them to play in.
I also have floating plants (that I bought for my African butterflies) and the ropes seem to really like lounging in them.
Also, they like higher temps. I keep my tank at 80 degrees, and you should keep two nets in hand, in case you ever need to get them out of the tank. Catching ropes in a tank is VERY difficult and they can easily jump out of the net onto the floor. So one you get it into the net, place the other net on top before you pull it out of the water.
Ropes can grow to be 12 to 16 inches, but it is a fairly slow process (maybe an inch a year). They do not breed in captivity and therefore are wild caught, this can cause them to be stressed and finicky eaters when you first bring them home. Combine this with the fact that even the most acclimated rope is easily out competed by tank mates for food, and you might need to hand feed them like I do. Mine eat frozen bloodworms, frozen beef heart, dried tubifex worms. Their absolute favorites (and best when first introduced to the tank) is live crickets, and live red wiggler worms.
