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Angelica...more like El diablo.

So my first synos were two baby eupterus, which soon became 5. They are fine and big and beefy. In their own tank with a pl*co.

Then I got some lucipinnis, six, then a yr later , six more. 12 of those happy little scramblers running around their own tank with some corys and one L270.

And..I have been watching two angelicus at the LFS for quite a while now. In with some african cichlids, no where to hide, trying to disappear into the side of a rock. well far as I can tell it's the same two that's been there for a year i think. $59 a piece. I guess they could have continually sneaked in two more, but I think same ones. Almost a year. Well last month there has been only one and I couldn't
take how he had no place to hide anymore and his buddy was gone. Ok well, if you're talking two probably not his buddy but still.

On the way home he was trying to exit the plastic transport bags! I am glad I asked them to double bag him! I have never had a fish do that ever, all the way home jumping up and out of the water or maybe flapping about really hard. Regardless making a heck of a racket! Like a pending devil!! Major attitude. I love him or her.

He is about 3.5 inches. .maybe. Beautiful deep brown colour with pale yellow spots. I'll try to get a picture. He is going in with the lucipinnis since most people on here say he is fine with smaller synos.

Good luck with the angelica. The brown with yellow spots are my favorite. You said they were in with African Cichlids. Was the water at a high pH. Although I am sure the angelica can adjust to different water parameters they are found in the Congo.

Mark

I have one...only she's a great deal bigger. Huge some might say, especially widthwise. She lives with my EBJD pair but no other syno's She did to start with but upset them so much she was given the 55g and they left to go into a larger tank.
Best of luck with it, they can be right little characters and will forever destroy plants, tank furniture and anything else takes their fancy.
P.

Some people find these challenging, but you will figure it out.

Then I got some lucipinnis, six, then a yr later , six more. 12 of those happy little scramblers running around their own tank with some corys and one L270.

Almost same question as Corybreed what are these conditions?

I have always kept a pair of Ancistrus with my 5 and recently noticed a number of wicked stab marks on the Ancistrus most likely over competition for the sliced zuchini...always have to keep an eye on them.

Birger

Good score. Although, I think that's a bit pricey. Anyway, best of luck with it. Let me know how it gets along with the S. lucipinnis. With my plans for S. angelica, one or two may eventually go into a mbuna tank with a large group of S. lucipinnis. However, I wonder if they will thrive in high pH, high hardness conditions. I have never seen a S. angelica in said conditions for any extended period of time.

With my plans for S. angelica, one or two may eventually go into a mbuna tank with a large group of S. lucipinnis. However, I wonder if they will thrive in high pH, high hardness conditions.

They may survive but not thrive in the sense of the word.

scleropages this is not aimed at you...but too many times we see riverine synos that have been put into rift lake conditions which often end up with beat up, scarred, bad tempered synos. Right now I do have a group of Sciaenochromis ahli in with my S.angelica but they have had to adapt to the cats conditions and are not territorial which makes a huge difference.

Birger

at the fish store I asked re his PH in that tank and he said 7.4

So I am thinking they do not really try to replicate anything too much there, just holding tanks until they sell. I ve seen when fish come in they float the bags in tank for ever , like way longer then you think they can survive and i ve never seen anyone drip acclimate anyone. And I ve been in there for a long sometimes.

I think they might do more on the SW side but FW, not so much.

Anyways my water in that tank is right there usually, 7.5 to 7.8 so I dripped him slowly with his store water and the tank water in a fish bucket with a screen lid and an airstone.

he/she is a real beauty so far, very very spunky. all spit and fire. I'll keep you posted.

the chocolate zebra seems fine in there. I may move here/him to the king tiger tank maybe. but she /he seems perfectly happy.

Birger, thanks. I understand that the riverine synos will typically not thrive in a mbuna tank. Over the years, every once in a while, I will see a S. angelica in a mbuna tank in a LFS. Sometimes, the syno has almost no fins left and shows signs of stress. IMO, synos are very hardy, for the most part. If they are showing signs of stress, the conditions must be very unfavorable.

In my case, if I do wind up housing one or two specimens in my mbuna tank, it will be as a last resort. As per my other thread, that doesn't look like it's going to happen seeing that I'm getting 3 large specimens.

I have bigger caves and homes in the tank and he or she, el diablo, is choosing a smaller cave which makes me nervous. I will be sure and remove the smaller ones before he grows big enough to get stuck.

just strange when their are appropriate sized ones for him. unless of course he feels more comfy being snug.

Mine always chooses smaller hidey holes then I would expect so it must be a preference. She outgrew two of them but still tried to get in one. She still does, but as it's not anchored she merely lifts the cave clean up and tips it over. She spends most of her time in a large hollow 'log', originally designed to float, but I anchored it to be on the bottom. It's nice that she uses the larger place; now she's been using it for about a year and likes to watch us at breakfast by looking out a hole near the front glass. Her old hidey holes have been taken over by the loaches.
They do prefer softer water than the malawi bunch but providing plants is tricky as they pull them all up. Keep the water moving in the tank and you should be fine. Bogwood is excellent for lowering ph and dyes the water slightly, making it dimmer, which angelicus also like.
P.

but providing plants is tricky as they pull them all up.

I have kept mine with some African plants...various anubias, bolbitis, the S.angelica and the Phenacogrammus interruptus housed with them always nip at those. I found that they will leave alone some Asian plants such as Java Fern and Cryptocoryne wilisii.

Of course they are not from Africa but it is what I needed to do if I wanted plants that had more than the pruned look to them. They must have a bad taste or are tougher, I am not sure what it is but they do not bother with them.

Birger

he is doing well. or she. He is seeming to shoal with the lucipinnis. nothing scary has happenned yet that i can tell.

He/she does sometimes chase the corys and the lucis, but it doesn't seen excessive. He is still moving from cave to cave, but mainly picks the smallest one. of course.

75 gal tank, the temp is 78, cause it's summer here. The substrate is sand, there are live plants, water wisteria, anubias, java ferns. malaysian trumpet snails, sterbai, panda corys. and the L270. Also slate and driftwood and tofo rock, tofa? and caves aplenty.

The angelica is brave and not afraid to come up and around the front. much braver then the euptera were when they were small like he is now. he is eating well you can tell.

he looks nicely coloured, brown with his prior yellow spots maybe lighter or more white now. cant tell for sure. I will snap his picture soon as i can. been hectic here lately.

i will get a picture of him soon, also I am going to re decorate a bit and remove all the smaller caves and hides with holes he may get stuck in soon and replace with larger ones and more pvc etc.
so far so good.
p.s. ty miss dib dabs

are my corys ok with him or should i move them out of the tank? I mean is he going to try and eat them and choke on them?

just wondering cause i can move them out.

My syno decora were completely safe with C. sterbai - the decora being about 1/2" (12mm) SL, and the decora being a good 6" SL.

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Mats

oh good, thank you.