What ??

noddy · Post by **noddy** » 31 Oct 2003, 14:55

What sort of cat would everyone suggest for and 8x2x2 with Uaru, severums, Congo tetras and L001's as a scavenger that doesnt eat algae as I have the L001's for that. i dont want anything bigger than 20cm. Also it has to be available in oz.
thanks for yor intput
Noddy

Post by **Silurus** » 31 Oct 2003, 15:28

Pictus cats would fit the bill. Get several, as they like to shoal.

xander · Post by **xander** » 01 Nov 2003, 16:16

Get a banjo cat. They rock. pictus are cool but seem so darn hyper all the time.

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 01 Nov 2003, 20:22

Also it has to be available in oz.

I don't know what is availible in oz but in that size tank I would go for a group of Synodontis decorus.

Post by **Rusty** » 01 Nov 2003, 20:52

magnum4 wrote:
Also it has to be available in oz.
I don't know what is availible in oz but in that size tank I would go for a group of Synodontis decorus.

They're pretty timid fish, so they may get beaten up by the others. Plus, they get pretty large, to more than 20 cm.

Rusty

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 01 Nov 2003, 21:23

They're pretty timid fish, so they may get beaten up by the others. Plus, they get pretty large, to more than 20 cm.

Rusty is this taken from your own or other peoples experience. However what I have found is if you keep more than 3 or 4 together they come out about as much as any other synodontis. True they are most active at night so dont get them if you want something you will see all the time go for the pimpicus.

I keep four together and they are around 12" TL and full size and are not likley to get beaten up more than any other catfish of this nature, as long as when they are small they have a system of hiding places that the larger fish can not get enterance to they should grow up fine.

Any others in the forum who keep Synodontis decorus in a small group, what are your experiences?

Post by **Rusty** » 01 Nov 2003, 23:24

You may be right, since I have never kept more than one at a time. One is currently housed with other large synos, and it is the shyest (and biggest) fish in the tank.

Rusty

Post by **Barbie** » 02 Nov 2003, 02:43

I had 3 decorus, 2 6 inches, 1 a bit over 4, that were very shy. They would come out at feeding time, but otherwise, I didn't see them any time, unless the lights were out. They were in with 2 Syno. angelicus that were actually quite a bit more social. I liked them, but rarely saw them. They definitely were easy going and not a threat to the tanganyikans they were kept with, that were quite a bit smaller (A. calvus, A. compressiceps, P. nigripinnis, C. leptosoma, C. brichardi). I doubt I'll replace them, now that I've settled in from the move. The petricolas and multipunctatus are just so much more interesting. They were in a 75 gallon with some spawning caves, and minimal rockwork, a few big shells for the altolamps, and some huge plastic plants, that I hate, but the fish seem to like them, sooo... This was the second time I've kept decorus, and maybe 3 isn't a large enough group for real social interaction, I don't know.

Barbie

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 02 Nov 2003, 11:42

In my experience it's one of the very few bigger Syno's that can be kept (and NEEDS to be kept) in small groups. most other bigger Syno's are best kept single or in a larger group because of their intraspecific agression. A single decorus will be next to invisible.

Barbie, you got very lucky with angelicus doing fine as a duo. usual two or three angelicus are baaaaad news. And ditto for the combination. I'm surprised that the angelicus didn't make the decorus miserable; perhaps it was their boisterous behaviour that kept the decorus at a low profile......

Decorus reach 1 foot in length, so as to "20 cm" they're out.

mediumsized Syno's will do fine, ocellifer, eupterus, robbianus, flavitaeniatus, afrofisheri, etc etc etc. My favourite would be schoutedeni in that tank. It's one of THE most beautiful Syno's, and it's a boisterous fish that can cope with the Cichlids. Unfortunately, this is one of them that should be kept single or as 5 or more, it's a fanatic.

Pim pictus, microglanis, Pimelodella's, Brachyrhamdia's, Amblydoras, Agamyxis, Platydoras; all suitable too.

noddy · Post by **noddy** » 03 Nov 2003, 08:02

Thanks for the replies. The Decorus are worth around $140 each around here. I have 2 Eupterus which I am looking at getting rid of. I was also trying to stay south american if possible something to play the same roll as a cories but they just need to be bigger.
Noddy

noddy · Post by **noddy** » 05 Nov 2003, 11:28

Any more Ideas
Thanks again
Noddy

Post by **Barbie** » 05 Nov 2003, 18:46

Actually Sid, I didn't start with just a duo of angelicus, I had 4, and lost 2 of them when I moved. They got excited enough in the new tank to hit the lid and jump out. I wasn't yet staying at the new house, so I found crispy fish chips when I arrived the next morning. I was heartbroken. The other synos and hiding places kept the squabbles at a minimum. I moved the decorus into a 90 gallon tank at work, just before I moved south. The boss there says they rarely see them, and they are the only catfish in the tank, other than the gibbiceps. Since I've moved, the angelicus are kept in separate tanks, one in with each type of tropheus, which isn't ideal for them, but they're fat and sassy, so I don't tend to worry

Barbie

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 05 Nov 2003, 20:01

Auchenipterichtys thoracatus Zamora
Hoplosternum Hoplo
Dianema longibarbis Porthole
Dianema uriostriata Flagtail
Orinochodora eigmani

Gaberiel · Post by **Gaberiel** » 16 Nov 2003, 11:31

Megalechis personata

I have just got one of these guys, They are available in Petshops in AU, I got mine In Melbourne.

They grow to about 120mm But you see them at the pet shop usually about 2 - 4 cm long

He is very active, and dosent mind the water in My unheated tropical tank, anthough it is Very warm where I live.

If you live in the north then there are pet shops with just about every type of tropical fish imaginable. Queensland Pet shops have some of the best variety in the world because of its tropical location.

You should go in and brows around, Thats how I pick my fish, I really like to go and pick them out.

-Gaberiel