synodontis ocellifer

[cjp]

Last saturday I was in a local petshop,they had in two tanks some catfish that had no names on one tank and on the other tank was a sign that said ocellifer catfish $9.99ea.I called the young man over and asked what kind of catfish was in the unmarked tank.He told me they were misc.corys.I was told they were $2.99ea.I just looked at him and said I'll take three of them,they are ocellifer cats that are around 1 to 1.5" in size.I have them in a 10 gal. tank till they grow some more size.Can I keep them all in the same tank or will there be trouble later as they get bigger?I have three featherfins(6" in size on all there) in a 75gal. with two clownloaches and a group of ten diamond tetras.I don't know if I'll be able to add these three or mybe put them in there own tank.Would a 55gal.be alright for just the ocellifers and a small group tetras?Any thoughts and ideas would be most welcomed.Also do they eat snails,I have a sand bottom in the ten gal.,and have mts in there to keep the sand turned over.

[Marc van Arc]

Would a 55gal.be alright for just the ocellifers and a small group tetras?

Yes, that should work out well.
I don't know how these two Syno species get along, so that's just a matter of finding out. Let the new ones get a little larger and try if they get along together in your 75. If it works out the whole 55 tank matter then would become academic.

You bought them as misc. Corys? You must have had a laugh or two

[cjp]

I felt like a little guilty at first,but took them anyway.I just might get the 55gal.it gives one more reason to start up another tank.Now I just need to explain this to my wife.They just don't seem to get it sometime.Thanks for the reply.

[Marc van Arc]

Now I just need to explain this to my wife.They just don't seem to get it sometime.

You should have told me before. I would have made a "better" reply (They DO need a seperate tank etc. )

[cjp]

See,That's it in black and white.....,better go and hide anything that can be used to throw or swing with.Thanks again,now were did I put my bike helmet?

[Birger]

I have one male and two females at about 5 inch SL in a 50 gal. with no apparent problems,all are healthy,not even any damage from any scuffles.I did lose a second male as he got chased over the top shortly after putting them in due to not enough cover(dumb mistake).

The fifty would be minimum and I do not usually keep other fish in with them but they are fairly easygoing and I have had various fish in with them temporarily without problems.

They love structure of course but most of all they seem to dig more than my other syno's,you can give them a nice cave but they will find a way to dig under that cave,so you may want to go with a finer substrate and watch for rocks that may topple.

I have noticed quite a few posts about cloudy eyes and extra growths on Ocellifers,I picked up a couple myself this way.I do not know if it is pollution from where they are collected or poor handling as they come through suppliers or maybe they are just more sensitive but given good water conditions they seem to recuperate okay.

Birger

[cjp]

Right now they are in a 10gal. with poolfilter sand bottom,the size of the three is around 1 to 1.5" so they may be in there a while.I really don't know if I'll put them with my featherfins or start a new tank.I have some time to think that over.Thanks for the reply,cjp.

[synoguy]

I have a couple of ocellifer in one of my larger tanks, they are in with other Synos including a male and female S.eupterus which are both bigger than the ocellifer, there has been no aggression to the ocellifer at all that i have noticed and they have no signs of wear and tear on their bodys so i would say that keeping them with your featherfins should be fine.

I would say however that S. eupterus temperament varies between individuals.... i have had a couple in the past that were absolutly evil, so much so that i could house them with anything (these were bought as adults), i ended up trading them in. however the curent couple i have are as peacfull as they can get i would say.

[cjp]

My three featherfins range from 6 to 8" in size,it's hard to measure them as they will not stay still when I come near their tank.The large one always starts a game of tag,chasing the other two around the tank.The ocellifer cats are 1.5 inches or so,and I still have them in a 10gal. tank.I might try to find someone here in N.E.Ohio,who might trade me for three petircola cats,as they stay much smaller.Can you tell me how large yours have grown?I think it might get to crowded with 3 featherfins,2 4"clownloaches,2 zebraloaches,and 10 diamonds tetras,to add 3 ocellifer cats that might get up to 8" in size.My tank is a 75gal.cjp.

[synoguy]

My ocellifer are both around 6 inches at the moment, so not quite fully grown. I would say that once fully grown your tank would most likely be a bit crowded if you had the ocellifer in there too, although if your filtration and waterchange regimin is good and there is plenty of cover/hiding spots then they might be alright. Mine are in a 700 litre (185USgal) tank with my other synos so space has been less of an issue with mine.

The game of tag between featherfins is a common sight in my tank too most of the time they are 99% peacefull but every so often the female will go nuts chasing the male around the tank.

[cjp]

I do 30% water changes every week.I have a ehiem ecco 2236 cannister filter.I had plants,but with 80watts of light I was having problems.My plants were anubias plants.I took them out and put them in one of my 30gal.tanks.So I'll add more driftwood and some clay pots for the loaches and leave things as they are.Like I said in my first post,I only paid $2.99 ea. for these.The reg. price was $9.99.So I bought these as only synodotis cat that I knew for sure,but did not know how large they would get.I found sites that said anywhere from 7" to 20" in size.But I took a chance because of the price.If I don't trade them,I'll set up another tank.But I have time to think things out.cjp.