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After the struggling to maintain 22C in my 5-foot tank in the inunsulated garage last winter during the bitter period, plus in an attempt to give my temperate Asian fish a cooler winter period this year, I need to bring my Malebo Pool fish indoors for the winter in the near future.

Given that my adult S. decora is ~18cm SL, it goes without saying that it gets top priority for going in my Rio240.

My dilemma is whether to add my two S. brichardi (~11/13cm) to the same tank, or would it be wiser to keep my four young S. flavitaeniata (~6-9cm SL) in there instead?

Given the more placid temprement of the S. flavitaeniata, I suspect they would play nicely with the S. decora, while at the same time I could then house the S. brichardi in a tank with more current.
On the other hand, the S. flavitaeniata are so small that they might cope better in the smaller tank, which has a footprint of 60x40cm.

Any advice from experienced mixed Synodontis species keepers is very appreciated, while plans are being prepared.

the decora will outgrow that 5 footer in time; it reaches 12" and yes, specimen that size do turn up in the hobby; usually they are rejects that have outgrown their former tanks.

the brichardi sure likes current, but they can be combined with decora without any issues; decora can handle a fair current too.

decora and small syno's like flavitaeniatus can be mixed, no problem.

you can put decora, flavitaeniata and brichardi in 1 tank, if you do some aimed landscaping.

a few woody rest area's for the flavi's; some larger swim-through shady area's for the decora and near the pump outlet a cave pile made of rocks and/or wood for the brichardi's.

Would just like to add...

while at the same time I could then house the S. brichardi in a tank with more current.

While a species tank is not a bad idea the fact you only have two at the moment may result in agression issues in the size of tank stated (footprint of 60x40cm) this tank would also not do for a larger group.

Birger

Thanks for the input so far.

The tank they are currently in is a 5x2x2, must say the "the decora will outgrow that 5 footer in time" comment has completely thrown me, as I do not recall anyone raising a similar issue in an older thread... In fact, I was positively encouraged to find and add some more decora and brichardi because the tank was big enough to house groups.

Must confess the option of mixing the decora, two brichardis and four young flavitaeniata in the Rio240 over the winter period had not crossed my mind. I always presumed that I would have to choose two of the three species, to prevent a bloodbath.

Given I have just the two brichardi and from what I gather they are less social than decora and flavitaeniata, I think your comment is a good call, Birger. I do still hope to add to this group in the new year, ideally ending up with five, by which time the the decora and brichardis will be back in the 5x2x2.

It might be worth me mentioning at this point that the Rio240 tank floor may have my two unpaired Steatocranus cichlids living alongside the synos on the tank floor, a female S. casuarius and an unknown sex S. "square head," over the winter period. I do have two 60x40cm footprint tanks indoors, so I could add the unpaired two to one of these and my bonded pair to another.

Ultimately i think there might be a little confusion...?

A 5x2x2 should be big enough for fish that get to a foot long but a few of them will vastly reduce the stocking capacity and a number of big adults will have limited territory on the bottom of the tank. People might be aware that it was a 5 foot tank but unsure of the width which is key (there are a number of 5 foot tanks only 12" wide which would not be suitable.

Your options to mix the 3 species is wide open and i've seen all 3 mixed without problems. My personal opinion is that the Brichardi would be most likely to create any problem if one was to occur and the flavi's would be least likely. That said all 3 sp are 'low' problem synos

It might be worth me mentioning at this point that the Rio240 tank floor may have my two unpaired Steatocranus cichlids living alongside the synos on the tank floor, a female S. casuarius and an unknown sex S. "square head," over the winter period. I do have two 60x40cm footprint tanks indoors, so I could add the unpaired two to one of these and my bonded pair to another.

I had a pair of Steatocranus casuarius push five S. angelica to one side of a tank which resulted in battles over tighter quarters...if they will do this with angelica they will do this with your more peaceful synodontis, it was interesting to see the young swarming around the dorsal of an eight inch angelica without being touched but not recommended, and I now refrain from keeping substrate spawning cichlids with synodontis just to keep the peace.

Birger

Birger, comment well taken about keeping the peace. I was considering putting my steatocranus irvinei in with 3 decorus and 2 pardalis in a 125G (72*18 footprint) and your comments solidified my potential concern. I am going to try a group of congo tetras instead.

Birger wrote: I had a pair of Steatocranus casuarius push five S. angelica to one side of a tank which resulted in battles over tighter quarters...if they will do this with angelica they will do this with your more peaceful synodontis, it was interesting to see the young swarming around the dorsal of an eight inch angelica without being touched but not recommended, and I now refrain from keeping substrate spawning cichlids with synodontis just to keep the peace.

Birger

As much as I enjoyed seeing my pair of S. casuarius raise 13 youngsters this time last year, in some ways it is a relief that there are no sign of wrigglers at the mo (but the female is worryingly spending a lot of time hidden in the eye socket void of the large resin crocodile skull, reminiscent of her hiding away under the internal Juwel filter chamber in the Rio240 last August). The parents turned "psycho" on the tankmates and then "dad" turned on "mum," but thankfully I spotted what was going on before he did anything worse than rip her fins up and they are again joined at the hip after six months or so apart.

Might have to seriously consider rehoming the unpaired female and the "square head" when the time comes to move the Africans out of the 5x2x2, shame there are very few forum posts of owners of the latter, would be nice to rehome him/her with some conspecifics.

Take a bunch of Synodontis petricola or Polly White Zambias, combine them with a small group of Phyllonemus typus ( 2m/2f ).
These are great catfish that fit in this tank.

Phyllonemus wrote:Take a bunch of Synodontis petricola or Polly White Zambias, combine them with a small group of Phyllonemus typus ( 2m/2f ).
These are great catfish that fit in this tank.

Problem is I already have these Synodontis, as much as I love those little Tanganyikan catfish. What I am trying to achive is moving some of them indoors for the winter, allowing me to have a winter cooling period of 18C for my temperate Asian fish that share the 5x2x2 in the uninsulated garage.

My current thoughts are to move the...
One S. decora and one of the S. brichardi into the 240l, along with my bonded pair of Steatocranus
Four young S. flavitaeniata into the 620T
One S. brichardi into the 100l tub

Given how small the Pyjamas are, I'm concerned how they might fare with the bigger and more aggressive S. brichardi and by splitting up these two I hope to keep everyone healthy.