Microsynodontis sp.

[ChloroPhil]

Hi folks,

For my debut post here at Planetcatfish I have a question about my wonderful little Microsynodontis cats.

I keep my school of 5 in a 90g Cameroon biotope and they only get fed once a day with my Pelvicachromis taeniatus. However, the little ones are much heftier than I'd expect them to be with two pairs of ravenous cichlids sharing the worms and pellets. My question for those of you who have these wonderful little fish is how fat are yours? Mine look like they've eaten a small marble and I'm beginning to wonder if I've got all females. Are Microsynodontis known to eat snails or bunches of snail eggs?

Thanks for your input,
Phil

[Silurus]

I've had Microsynos grow very fat, even with other greedy catfish in the tank. And being such small fish, it doesn't take very much for them to grow fat fast. I don't believe they will eat snail eggs (which tend to taste quite unpleasant to most fishes), much less snails.

[Birger]

Yes I agree they do tend to end up that way...but you still should be able to tell males from females.

Which species is it that you have?

Birger

ps...Welcome to PC

[ChloroPhil]

Thank you both. I've been hoping they were gravid. Here's to the future!

Birger,

I got the fish as Microsynodontis sp. 'Bumblebee' from Rehoboth Aquatics. I'm thinking they're probably cristyii but I'm not certain. To be honest, I'm a plant guy (hence the name) a lot more than I am a fish guy. I love my fish, especially these cats, but I've never been as interested in the specifics of my fish as my plants. How would I tell the difference between sexes?

The tank gets weekly 50-75% water changes with nice soft water. I'm hoping that the cats and Lampeyes get into the mood soon.

Regards,
Phil

[Silurus]

The Microsynodontis “bumblebee” that Toyin sells is an apparently undescribed species from Nigeria.
Should be in the Cat-eLog as

Microsynodontis sp(1)

.

[Birger]

In the link given above there is a picture labeled male and another picture labeled female...the male you will see just before the anal fin the extended genital papillae which is visible in this picture, the males will look longer and slimmer in mature individuals. With the female the most obvious thing is the size of the belly in conditioned fish, the female shown in the picture was only marginally shorter than the male.

These are the most easily distinguished differences but if you do manage to see these fish out and about, which can be difficult at times as they are often moving along at a fair pace, it can be difficult to get a good look at them with their small size.

Eventually as you get familiar you will be able to tell apart the different individuals by their own pattern and behaviour.

Birger

[ChloroPhil]

Again, thank you both. These little ones have me falling in love with Synodontis all over again and wondering how many more I can fit in the 90g.