Looking for information on S. Petricola

[BH Petricola]

Hi, I'm new here and signed up because I'm looking for some information on synodontis petricola.
I'm not interested in keeping them with cichlids, just on their own in a all petricola tank.

So just the general info I'm looking for, how many should be in a group, what aquascaping they like etc..

Thanks,
Ben

[MatsP]

How big is your tank? And are you going to keep TRUE

Synodontis petricola

or

Synodontis lucipinnis

- the latter is much easier to find, and is nearly always sold as S. petricola.

I'm sure Richard will be along soon-ish to explain more about the husbandry of these fish.

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Mats

[BH Petricola]

The tank I would like to use is a 34G so I guess I would only be able to keep a small group right?

Also, I'm unsure of the substrate they like. I've read sand or coral sand, is any of those okay for them?

[MatsP]

You want fairly hard water for these fish, so coral sand will work just fine. Regular silica sand will also be fine - it won't raise the pH/hardness, but if you live south of Manchester/Newcastle and east of Dorset, then you have pretty hard water already in the tap [with a few exceptions].

Could you post the 34G tank's actual dimensions... It's quite possible to find tanks of that volume with very different sizes.
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Mats

[BH Petricola]

I live in suffolk and the pH out of the tap is 7.8 and I know the water is quite hard in this area

I'm using a 30cm ruler to measure so this will be a rough guess,
Length: 30"
Depth: 15"
Height: 17"

So the footprint isn't too great :/

[MatsP]

Seems like an OK measurements for these fish - especially for the smaller S. lucipinnis.

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Mats

[BH Petricola]

Cool

How many could I have in the tank?

[MatsP]

I would say about 6-8, assuming no other fish in the tank. But please wait until Richard B comes round - he's probably kept more different syno species than I have syno individiuals (12).

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Mats

[BH Petricola]

The synos would be the only fish in the tank

Okay, thanks for your help

[Birger]

I am not Richard but here is a quick snap how I keep my tangy's, sand, lots of river stones, a few areas of open sand...they love to cruise in and out of the stones and all have their favorite hiding places among them, when startled this tank can look empty.

This tank has S.lucipinnis,petricola,grandiops and polli at the moment, the malawi Aulonocara are there for the S.grandiops.

I would say about 6-8, assuming no other fish in the tank

this would be good to start.

A big thing to watch with these is they are like a canary in a mine, they are the first to show signs of discomfort to any sudden changes in their water quality especially make sure the proper amount of conditioner is used at water changes, or better yet the water sits for a bit before being used.

Birger

[Richard B]

There is some really good info posted above

The first thing i would suggest is figuring out if it is gonna be petricola or lucipinnis that you are gonna keep. (Lucipinnis are far more available & still sold at most places as petricola or petricola dwarf).

I would go for 6 petricola or 10 lucipinnis. Petricola are far more expensive in the UK & average 40-45 quid for adults.

Young small lucipinnis can be picked up for around a tenner, less if you are able to shop around & contact private breeders. Adults on average are 20-25 pounds.

Are aesthetics important to you? Do you have breeding aspirations?

For Lucipinnis (if you want to breed) i would have a number of upturned flowerpots with side entry holes as these are cave spawners, mixed with rockwork strewn over the bottom from the back to the middle, leaving some clear substrate at the front of the tank.

For petricola i would build rockwork up to the surface at one end of the tank (front to back), a further substantial pile at the other end & another pile in the middle. This is because Pet's are a little more territorial than lucipinnis & distinct territories can be developed .

Feeding is not a problem as mine eat anything at all - just keep it as varied as possible.

[Buddy09]

Hello BH. I don't pretend to be an expert on petricola or lucipinis, but I've had one for a dozen years or longer I guess. He/she/it has been in several tanks during that time with an assortment of tankmates and always done just fine. Beautiful fish. Mine used to dissappear for weeks at a time until I was sure it had either died or I'd simply forget about it, and then it would show up one day while cleaning the tank. These days it's in a larger tank with a mix of other synos, plecos and barbs. It's more active and visable now and in fact I just picked up 3 new babies, 20-25mm this past weekend. Great little fish and at least for me they seem to be quite adaptable to their surroundings as long as there are hiding places. I keep all my tanks about 78F with a ph around 7.5 and everyone does just fine.

[BH Petricola]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

I don't mind keeping petricola or lucinnis (however its spelt The ones I have seen are labelled as Petricola, they are about 1" long and are £15. Due to their price, would I be able to add 2 at a time until I have 6-8 depending on species?

As for breeding, to begin with I won't have the intention of breeding however I will provide them with all caves and the like so if they want to, they can. If they do succesfully breed a few times I may be able to free up a 15G for raising a few fry.

Thanks again
Ben

[andywoolloo]

I had 6 by themselves in a 20 long for over a year and then recently moved them to a bigger tank with 6 more. beautiful. zig zagging fluid circuits all over the tank.

[MatsP]

It should be fine to buy a few at a time. Just beware that if you buy a few in one place, and some others from another place, you may end up with a mix of S. petricola and S. lucipinnis or even other species of similar looks.

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Mats

[BH Petricola]

Thanks, I will keep this in concern.
My favourite fish shop, the east harling branch of Swallow Aquatics usually have great stock and hopefully they will get some juvies in for me So buying all from the same place I will hopefully end up with all of the same species

[Richard B]

Thanks, I will keep this in concern.
My favourite fish shop, the east harling branch of Swallow Aquatics usually have great stock and hopefully they will get some juvies in for me So buying all from the same place I will hopefully end up with all of the same species

A lot will depend on where they get their stock from.

If they are Lucipinnis (actually also Petricola), they are the exception to the rule & 2 isn't a bad number to be kept together, so adding to the group slowly will be ok

[MatsP]

But they may order S. petricola from one supplier one week, and from another supplier the next week (because the first supplier ran out). Because both S. lucipinnis and S. petricola are sold as S. petricola (although S. lucipinnis is often called S. petricola "dwarf"), it will probably not say S. lucipinnis on the list of available fish. And even if they get all the fish from one supplier, that supplier may get their fish from different sources depending on what's available and when... So it's not certain. If they are all in the same tank at the same time, they are more likely to be of the same species...

Not that it makes a HUGE diference - it's just a pain when you find out later that "Oh, I have three males of this species, and three females of that species, and I really want to have a group of one species that I can breed".

When they are small, they can be quite hard to tell apart - at least I wouldn't want the challenge...

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Mats

[Richard B]

When they are small, they can be quite hard to tell apart - at least I wouldn't want the challenge...Mats

If very small, then me neither...

[andywoolloo]

It should be fine to buy a few at a time. Just beware that if you buy a few in one place, and some others from another place, you may end up with a mix of S. petricola and S. lucipinnis or even other species of similar looks.

yes def as Mats says. luckily i got mine from same person so am confident they are the same.

p.s. well, fairly confident