PlanetCatfish.com

I have mbuna c ichlids and would like to put something into my tank to clean up extra food, and add some interest to the bottom of the tank. I love the antics of my cory's in my livebearer tanks, but know that I can't put them into the aggressive environment of a mbuna tank. I am looking for suggestions on catfish that are somewhat common (so I can actually find one!) and won't outgrow my dwarf mbuna c ichlid tank, and will survive the aggressiveness of my c ichlids. It's a 38 gallon tank.

Syno Njassae would be best but genuine ones are seldom available. Syno Multipunctata (or Grandiops) are much more available.

You can also go with a basic common bristlenose.

make sure there are plenty of caves though...

Thanks for the pointers! Would any syndontis work in a mbuna tank, or only specific kinds? I am thinking the cuckoo would probably be the easiest for me to find, but I will be looking for the others too just in case!

How important is having wood in the tank for them?

Some others "fit -in" but the cuckoos are rift lake fish like mbuna & are a good match.

Wood isn't neccessary but rockwork is important

When you say rockwork, do you mean lots of caves etc?

rockwork is basically a pile of rocks.

actually the best Mbuna Syno is not a multipunc. their broodparasitism will disrupt the Mbuna spawns.

the best choice would be lucipinnis or the rare true petricola.
also: these can handle a fairly "veggy based" diet, the kind of diet mbuna thrive upon.

multipuncs need more proteins and if you feed Mbuna's a protein richj diet, they grow far too large and become quite ugly

most mnuja's are small, 3-4" in the wild with very flashy colors like marine reef fish.
often Mbuna's in the store get 5-6' or even larger, pale with humps and bland colors and very obese bodies.

if mbuna's were as suspectible to bloat as Tanganyikan Tropheus, nobody would make the mistake of giving them the wrong food.

sidguppy wrote:
actually the best Mbuna Syno is not a multipunc. their broodparasitism will disrupt the Mbuna spawns.

the best choice would be lucipinnis or the rare true petricola.

I agree Sid, but this depends on availability/cost of species & ultimate objectives - ie have mbuna spawn, have Multis' spawn etc

yes, but this can go wrong, and badly.

some Mbuna species are smll, or better said: have small females

if such a fish gets syno fry in the mouth, the fry will develop spines and the female cichlid will be unble to spit them. resulting in both the death of the baby syno and the cichlid.

with larger species, like the non Mbuna Plaidochromis or Otopharynx (both excellent hosts) as well as the Malawian Haps, this danger doesn't exist

but small species should be stripped.
not just to spawn syno's, but to avoid nasty surprises of female cichlids choking to death.

I was planning on only one catfish in my dwarf mbuna tank, so hopefully no fertile eggs. I purchased a Synodontis schoutedeni which had currently been residing in a cichlid tank and seemed well adjusted. I went to 7 local fish stores in my one day trip to Boise, and hopefully have a fish that will do ok in my tank. It is currently in a holding tank, making sure it is healthy and happy before introducing it to the tank. Just wanted to check here to see what you all think of this type of cat for my mbuna tank. My mom-in-law found some Synodontis euptera at a Petsmart up in Washington state and is considering one for her mbuna cichlid tank. I think my fascination for cory's and cats is rubbing off on her!

Just wanted to check here to see what you all think of this type of cat for my mbuna tank.

I personally do not like non rift syno's in rift lake tanks...they may adjust or do okay but more often end up looking quite ragged when compared to what they can really look like.

Birger

Is this in reference to the Schoutedeni or the euptera? My understanding of the Schoutedeni is that it is a Lake Tanganyika catfish and well suited for this environment. Have I been misinformed?

Is this in reference to the Schoutedeni or the euptera?

It was in reference to both

My understanding of the Schoutedeni is that it is a Lake Tanganyika catfish and well suited for this environment. Have I been misinformed?

Sorry, this information is incorrect
Even looking through your list of Cichlids in this tank, Jewel Cichlids are usually used in reference to Hemichromis sp. from West Africa and a pair of these in a tank this size can wreak havoc if they decide to raise a family.

is from the Congo Basin and not any of the Rift Lakes.

is from more northerly african waters(Nile) and one of these in a tank this size with these sort of tankmates would be rather cramped.

both, while they may exist...especially the adaptable euptera, prefer different conditions than rift lake fishes.

You must also keep in mind there are many hybrid syno's out there getting sold under names of real species, made up names etc. so it would not hurt to check or even post a picture that this is indeed what you have...shoutedeni are a great fish(maybe a little crazy at times) I have some myself...but not as suited for life with these cichlids as the other suggested rift syno's are.

Birger

I'd recommend a group of Syno Lucipinnis for the 38G tank. I have such a group in my 38G tank now with peacocks. But I've owned them for 3 years and for the first 2 years they were with mbuna in a 75G and in a 125G.

I have access to very few catfish, in fact I only saw a total of 4 catfish in the 7 or 8 stores I went to. The shop I got the schoutedeni from was a small freshwater fish store, but they cater to cichlid owners. I travel almost 4 hours to get to Boise, so it's a total of an 8 hour drive so it's not a trip I make often. I'm also pretty certain it is a schoutedeni, according to the pictures I have looked at. I will try to get a picture of it, but holding still in an open area of the tank is not to it's liking right now. The store had this fish in with cichlids already, and it seemed to be in really good shape. Didn't appear to be picked on or anything.

Oh I think you are going to have trouble with that cichlid mix in a 38G anyway. How old are they? Sounds like it would be cheaper (and you'd get the fish you want) for you to mail order anyway, you are paying more for gas than it would cost in shipping.