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Hi!
I´m planning to establish a new tank for different syno´s (and my present fishes too). My present tank contains 576 litres and it´s 160 cm long. Alltouhgt this tank is big, I think it´s too short for big syno´s which I have dreamed. My next tank will be 240 cm long, 55 cm high and 55/60 cm wide. So it will contain 726 or 792 litres.

I will move the fishes from my previous tank into bigger one. I have these kind of fishes in my tank now: 5 Geophagus balzanii´s, two (pair) Geophagus braliensis, five "bristlenoses", three Crossocheilus siamensis, five peppered Corydoras, five Colisa lalia, six "upside-down catfish", one Synodontis acanthomias and one synodontis eupterus. My s.acanthomias is a very gentle one: it doesn´t harass other fishes, including other syno´s. (Btv: We had a conversation about acanthomias here in this forum, and now I´m sure, that this is real acanthomias!)

Which kind of syno´s would you recommed into this new, very long tank? I have allready a big amount of bogwood in my present tank, and off course I will establish many new hiding places into the new tank. I would like to take bigger species, syno´s which reach approximately the lenght of 25-30 cm, as my Väinö- acanthomias . So, which ones do you recommend and how many? I saw few s.acanthomias´s in one store, and the shopkeeper said, that they get along well and even breed! These ones are from russian markets, in which they breed s. acanthomias with the help of hormons. My own is surely from this same source. Could I take another acanthomias into this new tank and try to breed them? My fish is a female.

Thanks in advance, Satu

But full-grown S. acanthomias reach about 60 cm, which will be too large for your tank.

My s. acanthomias is three or four years old and 26 cm long and according to different sources, it doesn´t reach 60 cm in aquarium. It should be real acanthomias, because I have seen other cat´s identified as acanthomias: these and my cat are identical and the identifier is finnish expert, who has published many books related this topic. He says in his books, that s. acanthomias will not grow over 25-30 cm in aquarium. He has had allso these fishes.
-Satu

That's probably because no one has housed it in a suitably large aquarium. The thing about large big-river fish is that they need an inordinately large space to reach their full growth potential (it is most probably for this reason that one doesn't encounter two-meter pangasiids, even in the space afforded by public aquaria).

Personally, if I were to do a "Synodontis only" large display tank, it would probably be a large colony of a smaller species.

Say 30 S. nigroventris in a tank filled with driftwood snags and Anubias?
Or, fewer numbers of S. shoutdeni/angelicus, etc., etc.
Or, lots of current smooth river rocks and 8-10 S. birchard or S. peurops ?

I have 38 gallon display tank to set up yet, I think you've given me a couple ideas!

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley
PS: I agree with HH, any fish that regularly grows in excess of 30cm, shouldn't be considered a "regular" aquarium fish!

Or if you still prefer larger synos, at least use smaller "larger" (hmm, sounds oxymoronic) species like S. notatus or (if available to you) S. filamentosus.

pturley wrote:Or, fewer numbers of S. shoutdeni/angelicus, etc., etc.

You may run into problems with the angelicus. Quite nasty IME...

robertsi and flavitaeniatus would also fit. Or go for Microsynodontis if you can get them. Very cool, and they stay small.

Rusty

I thought allso, that angelicus could be a bad idea... I had that notatus allso in my mind with greshoffi/ decorus (which is quite big)/congicus and alberti. Of course another acanthomias would allso be nice. These ones, that I have in mind are living in a 300 l.tank with other big syno´s (in a aquariumstore). Shopkeeper got them from a person, who had about ten acanthomias in a 200 l. aquarium! So you can imagine, that I pity them. I am not planning to overpopulate the new tank, and I thought, that maybe two or three more synos (15-30 cm) could be a good solution.
-Satu

two big Syno's that do well, esp when given room and a few mates are Synodontis decorus and Synodontis pleurops.

Both are very peaceful (although adult decorus might bully between themselves a bit), both reach about 12", wich is big, but manageble.
And unlike many other bigger Syno's, both do fine in smaller groups, like 3-5 fish.

For example, S angelicus can kept as a group, but to spread the agression, you should get 8 or more....imagine the tanksize required to keep 8 very territorial Syno's properly....

Both pleurops and decorus combine good with other peaceful cats, even Hoplo's, Corydoras etc.
We've had both 3 decorus and 5 contractus (another underrrated fascinating Syno) in a 400 liter tank (2 meters), they did very well. Other fish in there were 4 Hoplosternum (2 littorale, 2 punctatum), a few smaller Pleco's (bristlenoses) and a pair of Chromidotilapia guentheri.

Another time in the past, that tank contained 2 pleurops, several Auchenipterids (Trachelyichthys, Pseudauchenipterus nodosus, Tracheliopterichthys, Parauchenipterus), Trichomycterids, Hoplo's and Aphyocharax. another nice mix.

Wow! My S.Acanthomias is growing very fast.I have it in a 55 with 9 S.Nigriventis,7 Eutropiellus Buffei,Anomalochromis Thomasi,and Pantodon.It doesn't cause any injuries,but will chase the Nigriventis off of the bottom of the tank into the Anubias covered branches at the top.Taking a look at it's teeth and thinking of it's growth rate on earthworms and twice weekly 30 gallon water changes,I don't think it'll be very long before I need to start a new tank and replace the Acanthomias with a group of Microsynodontis.My friend's wife wanted to give me his deceased brother's new 110.Perhaps the S.Acanthomias would be okay in a tank of that proportions.

Of course I couldn't have just a lonely Acanthomias.I've always liked those banded jewefish....or there's those strange crater lake cichlids....and that store in Jersey City still has those black Tilapia....I wonder how expensive a group of Polypterids would be?AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

A 110-gallon tank is still a little too much of a squeeze for a fish that reaches 2' (or even half that size).

i would chose synodontis multipunctatus and petricola, because i love these fish; i just picked up 5 more petricola and 2 multipunctatus over the weekend; the plan is to spawn them, when ready. i also have several eupterus, including a 1" one that i picked up a week or so ago. also throw in a few gold nugget plecos and your tank will be "Golden"

Chocky316 wrote: i also have several eupterus, including a 1" one that i picked up a week or so ago. also throw in a few gold nugget pl*cos and your tank will be "Golden"

I would not advise mixing S.Eupterus with a Gold Nugget, there far to nice to see there fins ripped all the time.

Which one is doing the rippin'??? have had no problems with either of them so far?

The biggest. I have six S.Eupterus they tolerate each other but donâ??t like pl*cos(any).
Territorial I suppose.

I am hearing that eupterus can't be put in the same tank with each other because they will fight. i had 3 large in 1 tank and they did not seem to fight with each other or mess with any of the other fish; occasionally 1 would chase the other, but my plecos would have some battles-head butting each other, until 1 would move off of the glass

This really depends on the individual temperament of the fish. If you're lucky, they'll play nice with each other, but there are quite a number of others who will tell you this is not so.

I have a 4" eupterus, 4" Ocellifer, 5 " Ocellifer and a 1.5" juvenile Eupterus. They don't bother the pleco or each other. Plus, I have many other fish that swim around.

These synos are very friendly to each other and often hang out in the same rock cave. If they get annoyed with each other they can all go to their own caves. I would have at least one cave for each syno. If you do that, they will all get along fine. Except for the "MENTAL" & rare synos.....

Ocellifer photo...

http://www.geocities.com/davekuhn77/syno.html

Thanks for answers and photo! The new tank is coming in two months, and it´s going to be 225 cm long, 60 cm wide and 55 cm high. Can´t wait . My Eupterus has gone well with other fishes so far. I have allso heard couple of stories about synos, which couldn´t tolerate big plecos.
-Satu

I have many synos in my tank with A. Cichlids. Anyways, my two S. Eupterus's and Gold nugget get along great. They don't bother each other.

I have now two big plecos in my tank: gibby and common, and they get along with syno´s very well. Common pleco had lived it´s life (now 9 years old) with a turtle in a small tank .It had been bitten by turtle, and had serious wounds, but it is now in good condition. I think, that there isn´t any room left for more synos because of these big guys .
-Satu