rescue with a synodontis ill-treated

[jodilynn]

Whew glad to hear!

Good to see that his appearance and now his behavior is returning to normal!

[stine]

well i'm a little nervous because it's nearly the time for Alfred to discover his new real tank with real plants, sand, wood but most with real other ... fish ?

I'm nervous I fear his future reaction. And if he's not able to be quick enough to eat ?

but at the same time, I know that this time is coming : a new real tank ! because I know that living in a hospital tank is not funny and he can't swim as all fishes do !!

Will see on Sunday if my tank (for Pelvicachromis and epiplaty dageti) is ready to receive them (I mean the azote cycle) or if I had to wait another week !

I already cross my fingers in hopes for Alfred ! all I wish is : Alfred happy in his new tank, with his new friends, swimming everywhere !! Hope I'll have this happy story soon for him

I did'nt put any other pictures because now he's no more changing as much as before !

[stine]

Finaly I decided to wait one more week !

I have an idea and it would be great if you can tell if you think it's a good idea or not !

I'm worried a lot about the future place of Alfred with the caudalis, I really fear he won't be able to eat because they are so fast when it's question of food lol

I'm wondering if another solution will be finaly better ! I was thinking of putting Alfred alone in my new 120 litres for a few months, to see what happens. How he'll react in it and how will be his behaviour with food ! and if about some few months, everythings seems ok, then putting him in the big tank with the other fishes !

I know, I have to choose before two bad things :

one is : fishes that would possibly steal all the food
the other : changing two times the environnement in some months

what is the worste ? How would you proceed ? directly in the 260 liters with other fishes (speedy fishes)
or temporarly (something like 3 months for example) in the 120 liters alone !

[Birger]

My recommendation is the 120 liter...with 2 or 3 nigriventris...he will learn to compete but is competing with fairly gentle synodontis.

Or some other gentle fish.

Birger

[stine]

Hey birger ! thanks to you, to share your idea !

I'd rather like putting him with two gentle catfish than with the A. caudalis !! I feel more secure with this solution !!

So :

1) putting alfred in the 120liters, light off, to let the time (some weeks) to get used to his new tank
2) giving him some little friends which will be friendly with him (no domination fight) and giving him a little company
3) in several months, putting all theses 3 together in the 260 liters with the A. caudalis

sounds good to me

[stine]

Hi here !
I'm very happy to say that : Here we are : alfred is in his new home

At the moment, since one hour, he's hiding behind a big wood root but it's quite funny to see him : hiding but curious to see how his the tank ! so he's going out of his hide place then slowly he's coming through the tank then coming back very quickly to hide behind the wood lol

I'm happy to see that his dorsal fin is up !! he's moving around behind his wood ! at the moment, I would say, everything is perfect !!

it's a very emotionnal moment

[bekateen]

Congratulations on another milestone with Alfred!

[N0body Of The Goat]

Nice to read today's update, I'm sure Alfred will settle into his new tank within a few days.

[jodilynn]

SO glad to hear! You have done a wonderful thing with Alfred, the two of you should live a long and happy life together. Please post some pics of Alfred in his new home!

[stine]

Thanks for your messages

Actually, i'm watching videos on the internet to see how it looks when a synodontis eupterus has a normal behaviour, because I have no idea at all, as long as I never had any catfish before !

So I can see that he's still hiding behind roots of wood. But with his excreta, it shows that's he's exploring the tank when i'm not in front of ! lol

I would be safe when I would see him swimming around without any fear ! But he's eating as usual it's already a good thing !

When I'll light on the tank, it would be possible to take some pictures, for the moment, the tank is without any light

[stine]

After one week without any light, I'm beginning to use him to light again !

he's still hiding but still eating ! back fin always up ! and I could still see he's swimming in the entire tank because of the small pieces he's leaving behind him lol

http://aquadico.com/up/fred_dans_son_12 ... 00x800.jpg

[NCE12940]

Hooray for Alfred! Good news indeed!

[jodilynn]

Awww Alfred looks very happy and relaxed in his beautiful new home!

So happy to hear our little buddy is doing well! He will lead a very long and happy life with you!

[stine]

Hi here ! hope you are fine !!

well tomorrow will be a big day for Alfred !! I will bring Two or Three Synondontis nigriventris (babies) so then, he won't be alone anymore ! I'm very nervous, I hope it will be fine !!

my exit solution if things turn badly : I'll put the nigriventris in my bigger african tank (with the congo's tetra, pelvicachromis kribensis and Epiplaty dageti)

but i'm crossing my fingers and hoping everything will be fine !

Alfred is going really fine, much more beautiful now because every fin is very long now (even the caudal fin !!!! ) still eating as usual and still moving most of the time by night but not that much by day ! Maybe the babies will stimulate him to move a little more during the day !

[N0body Of The Goat]

Nice to read an update, you must post a video and/or new photos soon.

Synodontis nigriventris are very social, I have 11, they will do much better in larger numbers than 3. ;)

Hope all goes well with introducing them to Alfred, I'm sure it will by fine.

[stine]

well I'll love having more than 2 or 3 nigriventris but as long as they will be in my 120 liters with Alfred, I can't put several of them because of the size of the tank !

what do you think of 3 ? good ? better 2 ? better 4 ?

[stine]

Here we are and as promise... Alfred is no more alone I choose to take 4 Synodontis nigriventris because they are better in a small group ^^
Everything's looks fine at the moment. They have directly been close to him ! he's watching them a lot (I could see his eyes moving around lol)

I'm happy


he's watching the new baby friends !!


a last pictures with a synodontis nigriventris baby and Alfred behind him lol

[bekateen]

Alfred looks great, and so does your tank. Remember that these fish are generally shy to begin with, so they might appreciate less lighting (or fewer hours of it). Enjoy!

Cheers, Eric

EDIT: P.S., Compared to those baby nigriventris, your Alfred looks gigantic... Again, a testament to how well you have nurtured him back to health!

[stine]

Yeah I just lighted on for the pictures ! the first days, it's always light off !!

I'm putting a lot of top-plants (plantes de surface) to reduce the light as well !!

[jodilynn]

Oh Stine Alfred looks magnificent!

Thank you so much for helping him. You are truly an angel to have gotten him to recover so well (and in what I feel was a pretty short period of time!).

I'm so happy for you guys!

[stine]

It's amazing jodi, yesterday I was thinking that he was in such a bad case "just" 4 month and a half ago !!!!

Finally it's really quick for such a wonderful recovery

[N0body Of The Goat]

From what we can see of Alfred in those photos, he looks superb!

Hopefully they will all become a bit bolder, once the S. nigriventris have settled in.

[stine]

My only fears actually is : seeing him all the time under his favorites wood piece ! I've seen a lot of video on the net to see what could be a normal behaviour, and all of theme are moving around in the tank !

it's my last hope about him ! Hope with the babies, he'll be stimulate for swimming a little (but maybe he's doing that at night ?)

like this one for example :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l4ncsO2www

the Nigriventris are not that shy for a first day in this tank (light off)

[Birger]

Synodontis nigriventris will spend the first day or two moving sometimes constantly around the tank, then they will settle down. They will quickly learn when it is feeding time though

[Richard B]

My only fears actually is : seeing him all the time under his favorites wood piece ! I've seen a lot of video on the net to see what could be a normal behaviour, and all of theme are moving around in the tank !

With synos, although they often display generic behaviour, each set-up is different & they may be perfectly happy whilst behaving differently from what might e considered 'the norm'. Often a considerable change can occur from the most minor change - for example, group of 4 nigriventris may appear shy in a nice planted 30" tank with branches, plenty of shade etc but add another 6 & the confidence grows & they become more active - it is very hard to always say exactly what will happen etc

[Birger]

The other thing is Synodontis are not active fish during the day, it is usually just their nature. A trick for getting them to move for photos or video is to feed them...often this is how they are so active. I know I use this trick when photographing syno's.

[stine]

it's really sweet to see his new friends just close to him !

This evening i'm back from work, as usual, first thing I do : going to see Alfred lol He's at the same place but this time, one baby is about 3 centimeter from him, on the woodpiece ! so cute

the babies are more static today in the entire tank ! but at night, they are swimming like mad fish everywhere fastly lol very funny

thank you very much to give and bring your experience of catfish because i have no experience at all with them except this first (special) with alfred. its difficult to know how much he will be injured because his bad treatment before. thanks again your post help me a lot and makes me less worried

[jodilynn]

My one nigriventris, Fred, is quite bold, swimming around at the top of the tank when I feed them at night, while Barney is very shy, he will come out and dash around a but, but he never comes to the top to feed.

Funny little fish, I have not had them in years and I forgot how amusing they were!

Like I noted before, Leo, my Eupterus, just kind of hangs around, cruising a bit here and there, hanging in the driftwood tangle or floating upside down, in the outflow from my powerhead.

He's a very relaxed fish lol ;) .

[stine]

hiiiiii tonight is THE night !

I sticked a novofect pills on the glass of the tank so he has to go out of his hidewood piece ! but after he finished his meal, he feels like "mmm nothing's better that a small walk after a meal lol" ! and he was swimming around in the tank and a long time !!! I could'nt believe watching this !!!! (I only feed with the light off)



(my other worries goes now on the fact that I don't see the babies nigriventris coming to eat ! grrrrrr)

[Aquaticus]

I wish this forum had a like button.