Synodontis melanosticta

[drgnfrc13]

Does anyone have any info about this fish? My lfs has had one for a couple weeks now and I think it looks really cool, so I googled it and couldn't find any info on it. I'd like to know its adult size, temperment, and water requirements, as well as any other helpful information. Also, is $100 too much to pay for one? (it is around 6-8 inches) Thanks.

[drgnfrc13]

Actually, after looking at the Cat-eLog pics, I am now thinking that the lfs might have had it mislabled and it could actually be a S. frontosa (which it looked completely identical to...), so assuming it is a frontosa rather than a melanosticta, does anyone have any info on it?

[Richard B]

is it possible to get a pic posted so we can give u opinions on ID?

Any fish is only worth what someone is willing to pay, so you have to decide of you think $100 is value.

Frontosa get to a foot long, are easy to keep, accept most foods & are easy to mix with a variety of other fish - if space is limited, be wary of mixing different syno species though

[Scleropages]

Regarding the price, I haven't seen S. frontosa around my LFS's. However, if you can speak with the owner or manager of the store that has the fish, you may be able to haggle on the price. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get 10% off.

[drgnfrc13]

is it possible to get a pic posted so we can give u opinions on ID?

Any fish is only worth what someone is willing to pay, so you have to decide of you think $100 is value.

Frontosa get to a foot long, are easy to keep, accept most foods & are easy to mix with a variety of other fish - if space is limited, be wary of mixing different syno species though

I'm not sure when I'll be over there again, but I'll be sure to bring my camera next time. Also about the price, I don't mind paying $100 for a fish, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be paying $100 for a fish that is normally like $30, because I know that this lfs often has their fish way overpriced. Thanks for the info, I'm very tempted to buy it now.

[drgnfrc13]

Regarding the price, I haven't seen S. frontosa around my LFS's. However, if you can speak with the owner or manager of the store that has the fish, you may be able to haggle on the price. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get 10% off.

Yeah, they normally give me a discount on just about everything I buy there because I got my 220 gallon tank from them.

[syno-kev]

i have a very peaceful 9" inch syno frontosa in my 5 ft tank he cost £15 from ferry bridge aquatics he has a slight cateract on one eye but he was like this when i rescued him.

he is in with a 7 inch Atterima who a bit of a bully and a 5 inch Gambensis,
the later of the group tends to be pushed in and out of his hidding places but no visable damage and there are many pipes and caves for it to hide in .

but frontosa is a great fish !

[Richard B]

a 7 inch Atterima

Surely this cannot be an atterima at this size Kev??? This is a dwarf species comparable to nigriventis...have you got a pic?

[syno-kev]

yes i will have to get a picture but thats not easy i have loads of rocks in there,

this is what it was bought as about 4 years ago now from wilmslow aquatics but looking at the syno list page i am sure your right !,
its way to big for atterima,it even seems to big for shoutadeni which would be next guess anyway if the chance arises ill get a picture.

[Richard B]

yes i will have to get a picture .

I look forward to it but hey, they are terribly uncooperative when the camera is out

[drgnfrc13]

I'm hoping this link will work. If it does, this is a thread I posted on MFK about it.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... ost5292989

I bought the fish yesterday, and he's doing very well in my 225. He's about 9" long.

[sidguppy]

looks like Synodontis schall, but I'm not sure; these drab brown syno's are very hard to determinate.

[drgnfrc13]

If he ever comes out of hiding, I will get some much better pictures of him. I was kind of in a hurry when I took those pics, and didn't really take the time to get the exposure right. I had just finished acclimating him, which took over an hour since the tank he came from was set up for an African rift lake biotope (my tank has a more neutral pH, and I was a bit paranoid after spending $100 on him), and I was in the process of acclimating another fish in another tank at the same time -- not to mention, my arowana kept trying to jump out of my tank for some reason (and later on, he found success) ... so yeah, excuse the bad photography; he isn't as dark as he appears in some of the pics.

[Viktor Jarikov]

This belongs in the What's my cat? forum.

I deeply share in your excitement but do hope you didn't overpay. $100 sounds expensive - that means the LFS gave $35-40 to the previous owner (from MFK?), which is a lot for this relatively unremarkable-looking, euptera-resembling syno.

Sorry to hear about all your trouble. Not that bad of the photos but I see Sid Guppy's point. You could just lighten the shots up in say Adobe Photoshop to get better contrast of the dark areas. Sorry, cannot assist mush with the ID. Wait for Birger, Richard B and Co. They have the knowledge and the books, baby!

[drgnfrc13]

But anyway, I don't think he's an S. schall. He has a consistent pattern of small spots (the same pattern that is on the syno in the first pic on the S. frontosa profile) that covers all of his body (except the ventral side, which is a slightly lighter shade of brown than the rest of the body), and it appears that S. schall has a longer face than my syno.

[drgnfrc13]

This belongs in the What's my cat? forum.

Sorry to hear about all your trouble. Not that bad of the photos but I see SidGuppy's point. You could just lighten the shots up in say Photoshop to get better contrast of the dark areas. Sorry, cannot assist mush with the ID. Wait for Birger, Richard B and Co. They have the knowledge and the books, baby!

Oh, sorry. I'm not very familiar with this forum.

Well, I did lighten them a bit using Windows Live Photo Gallery, but I found that if I increased the exposure any further than that, they just became grainy. I would like just take the decorations out and snap a few quality shots, but now I'm paranoid about scaring my aro... /:

I deeply share in your excitement but do hope you didn't overpay. $100 sounds expensive - that means the LFS gave $35-40 to the previous owner (from MFK?), which is a lot for this relatively unremarkable-looking, euptera-resembling syno.

Well at this point, I've had my eye on it for so long, even if that was a ridiculous price or something, it was worth it to me. I am satisfied with my purchase, regardless of what species he turns out to be.

Oh and with the "from MFK?" thing; if you are referring to Red Devil's comment in the MFK thread, then no, that's not what she meant; she meant that it's the same species as hers (she has a nice S. frontosa, which I've seen pics of a few times, so I had pm'd her asking her to look at my thread and tell me what she thought about it).

As far as I'm aware, there are only a handful of members on MFK who live within like 50 miles of me (and I only know of 3 others who are in the same city).

[Viktor Jarikov]

the section mention was for the mods, no fault of yours

vast majority of LFSs suck big time at ID-ying fish like synos - too difficult and time-consuming and effort-unworthy for them. They'd never give one so much money for such a trade-in unless they knew precisely how rare and precious such a fish was. The chances of that are tiny. They'd give the prior owner $10, I'd suppose, and ask for $30. Sure there are exceptions.

But your attitude changes it all. Glad you are happy with the fish regardless. True passion shines through here

[drgnfrc13]

the section mention was for the mods, no fault of yours

vast majority of LFSs suck big time at ID-ying fish like synos - too difficult and time-consuming and effort-unworthy for them. They'd never give one so much money for such a trade-in unless they knew precisely how rare and precious such a fish was. The chances of that are tiny. They'd give the prior owner $10, I'd suppose, and ask for $30. Sure there are exceptions.

But your attitude changes it all. Glad you are happy with the fish regardless. True passion shines through here

Agreed, this lfs is better than many I've been to, but I do occasionally notice some mis-ID'd fish (which is why I was immediately skeptical of the "Synodontis melanosticta," label. They also had some "Synodontis petricola," which I am quite sure are actually S. multipunctata.