My very old Synodontis

[mampam]

I have had three Synodontis "nigrita" for 27 years. In my late teens I began to neglect them quite a lot; the tank went filthy, water turned brown and the whole setup looked quite unpleasant. I thought about cleaning it for a decade, then went to the Black Volta River, partly to fulfil an old wish to see Synodontis in the wild. I was very happy to see that they thrived in conditions similar to those that mine are kept in.

These fish were adult when I got them, so they must be at least 30 years old. I presume they came from Nigeria and suspect they comprise two different species. They bred once, but at the time there were four of them (including a trio that were all the same species). I never saw any eggs but suddenly noticed 2cm babies which didn't last long. Another time I made the mistake of putting about 30 captive bred Synodontis from Russia in the same tank. My adults killed the lot within 24 hours. The last book I read on Synodontis was a loose-leaf one by David Sands. I loved that book but it was borrowed and so I never saw it again.

Is 30 years a very unusual life span for these fish?

[Marc van Arc]

Hello & welcome to PC.
Not only is it a very long life span imo, but what I do admire even more is that you took care of these fish for such a long time. You have my deepest respect for that.

[ali12345]

That's great that they are so long lived - my 16 year old synos may have a long time still to go then!
Alison