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Hi there,

I currently have Tanganyika species in my largest tank (162x124x080)
and after 20 years of keeping Tanganyikans, I'm planning something else: West Africa!

My idea is to make it a tank based around a large group of Phenacogrammus interruptus (20 - 30)

It's very likely that I will have 5 S decorus swimming in my tank within a few weeks
I also have 10 - 15 young Pelvicachromis pulcher

Which of the following Synodontis species combines good with S decorus and P pulchers?

Synodontis alberti
Synodontis angelicus
Synodontis brichardi
Synodontis camelopardalis
Synodontis clarias
Synodontis contractus
Synodontis decorus
Synodontis flavitaeniatus
Synodontis greshoffi
Synodontis nigriventris
Synodontis pleurops
Synodontis robertsi
Synodontis schoutedeni
Synodontis soloni

And which of the following species could combine with one or two Synodontis species?

Amphilius sp.
Anaspidoglanis macrostoma
Chiloglanis sp.
Chrysichthys sp. (I'm really fond of this genus. Which species would do fine in my tank?)
Euchilichthys sp.
Microsynodontis sp.
Parailia sp.
Pareutropius sp.

In advance, thank you for your answer(s)

A huge tankupdate from me:

The tank is currently stocked with West Africans and all goes well

Here's some pics and videos

This was the initial view of the tank, but naturally all the oakleaves are gone now (fallen apart)





Sideview:





Some shots of my pair of Chrysichthys cf nigrodigitatus, when they arrived


















A video from last december



Some shots from Januari























A video from last night

The inhabitants are:

5 Synodontis decorus
4 Synodontis alberti
7 Synodontis flaviteaniatus
2 Chrysichthys cf nigrodigitatus
1 Chrysichthys ornatus
2 Paraucheinoglanis sp.
9 Schilbe grenfelli
2 Steatocranus cassuaris
1 Polypterus senegalus
2 Coptodon deckerti
1 Distichodus sexfasciatus

Nice list. African Riverine species are pretty rare in SGP.

Thanks a lot

That is a shame..

Beautiful setup. Congrats on a great aquascaping job and a great selection of fish. I did a similar thing about 1 year ago (switch from tang to congo and WA) and it was nice to get a change up. I used to have a group of decorus and loved them - they are a little shy but yours seemed to be out and about no problem - I'm sure the low lighting and aquascaping contribute to that. I also have a large group of flavitaeniata in my new setup (with 3 s pardalis) and find them out and about quite a bit, day and night. Thanks for the videos, well done. I guess you decided against the tetras. I thought about the same but wound up finding a group of 6 brycon microstoma, which add some great action in the tank, especially at feeding time. That's quite a bit of floorspace in that tank, I guess you need it with the house guests.

Thank you very much Toby

I haven't quite skipped on the tetras just yet
I have 6 juvenile Hemigrammopetersius caudalis in another tank, but they're too small to add in the big tank
Especially due to the Schilbe

Some of the mentioned species are a guest in my tank (a buddy of mine is building a bigger tank for his fish)

Have you got any pictures or videos from your current and/or previous WA set up(s)?

I'll do my best to get some pics when I get back at the end of the week - business trip. The tank is 183 x 76 x 70 (72" x 30" x 27" high) - houses 3 heterochromis multidens, 3 coptodon guineensis, 4 pelmatochromis buetikofferi, 6 bryconaethiops microstoma and the 6 syno flavitaeniata and 3 syno pardalis. Your caudalis will look great in there - great little fish - I would like to add some of those or some alestopetersius brichardi to my setup as well. I thought I saw the distichodus in the pics/video while it wasn't on your list and was wondering.

You're completely right, I forgot about that little critter

I'm looking forward to your pics and/or vids

A small clip featuring my Schilbe grenfelli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... iPslwozdAU[/youtube]

pics of some of my fish

Synodontis flaviteaniatus










Chrysichthys ornatus






Parauchenoglanis sp.

Fresh shots of my S alberti female

Fresh shots of my Chrysichthys ornatus

Fresh shots of my Chrysichthys cf nigrodigitatus female

3 short clips

http://s880.photobucket.com/user/tijn79 ... sort=3&o=4

http://s880.photobucket.com/user/tijn79 ... sort=3&o=3

http://s880.photobucket.com/user/tijn79 ... sort=3&o=2

full tank shot

Nice tank! has always been a personal favorite of mine - Back in the 1970s, my brother and I kept them. Beautiful fish (i.e., ugly but they grow on you ). By the way, is that a spoon or fork in the lower left corner of the tank? If so, what do you use it for, placing food in it for the fish? Or is it some kind of homage to Ariel's "dinglehopper" in the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid?

Cheers, Eric

Tanganyikafreak wrote:Fresh shots of my Chrysichthys ornatus

When did you purchase?
How big was this catfish on purchase?
How big is it now (standard length)?
Are you worried yet about it trying to eat the smaller fish in your tank?

I've had my one since Septemeber 2012, bought as a ~3cm SL baby, it is now ~21cm SL. When he "yawns" or gets upset with my ~30cm SL Auchenoglanis cf. tchadiensis (yes, he only gets nasty with the biggest fish in the tank, bought a week before him at ~4cm SL in September 2012), he can form a rough circle with his mouth that is ~5cm diameter!!!

I'm very worried, I have been to some extent for a year, but moving fish between my five tanks was not practical for several months after my road accident Xmas 2013 and even now the idea ties me just thinking about it. As much as my C. ornatus shows no aggression to them, even when these bite size fish are right next to him, I would hate to find any of my...
3x ~10-14cm SL Synodontis brichardi
4x ~10-12cm SL Euchilichthys spp.
1x ~14cm SL Xenomystus nigri
1x ~8cm SL Synodontis schoutedeni
1x ~8cm SL Steatocranus casuarius

sticking out of his mouth!

I'm at a point where I feel I have to move either the C. ornatus out, or the vulnerable fish listed above. Part of me thinks he has lived with all the above for ~1.5 years, during most of that time they could have fitted in his mouth and they are all still here, so why move things?

He is a lovely fish, he is quite shy (I have to spot feed him a large clump of food at least twice a week in his clay pipe because he normally runs away from the daily food frenzy)... But that mouth I saw around October scares me.

I'm so ashamed Eric.
it's a spoon I use to keep cucumber on the ground

About my Chrysichthys ornatus

I have him/her for about a year now and I think it has grown maybe 4 cm max.
including its tail I think he/she's 10-12 cm now.
It ddoesn't seem to care much about its Tankmates.
But I do keep an eye on the little one

Tanganyikafreak wrote:I'm so ashamed Eric.
it's a spoon I use to keep cucumber on the ground

Don't be ashamed! Everybody needs to have a few practical items in their tanks. And besides, you could have explained this by saying that you were trying to recreate the "natural" habitat of your fish by adding a little bit of human trash to your tank. After all, natural streams are often contaminated with human trash items lying at the bottom, right? LOL

Hahaha
well put, but that's not my thing

bekateen wrote:

Tanganyikafreak wrote:I'm so ashamed Eric.
it's a spoon I use to keep cucumber on the ground

Don't be ashamed! Everybody needs to have a few practical items in their tanks. And besides, you could have explained this by saying that you were trying to recreate the "natural" habitat of your fish by adding a little bit of human trash to your tank. After all, natural streams are often contaminated with human trash items lying at the bottom, right? LOL

In West Africa, Mali anyway, you'd find the ubiquitous black plastic bag and not a spoon

So if I'd have a Mali-biotope tank, I'd be failing at it miserably

Tanganyikafreak wrote:So if I'd have a Mali-biotope tank, I'd be failing at it miserably

For sure! You could also have a few sardine tins

NCE12940 wrote:For sure! You could also have a few sardine tins

Or if you were setting up a Hawaiian biotope, you would need SPAM tins.

Update:

Since yesterday I am the proud owner of some new fish, thanks to Oliver Frank, from OF Aquaristik

20 Brycinus longipinnis
4 jonge Synodontis flaviteaniatus
1 Parauchenoglanis sp.
1 Synodontis ornatipinnis (genuine!)
2 Synodontis waterloti (adult pair)

The first two species are still in another tank, due to the 9 Schilbe cf intermedius in the large tank.

In the large tank are

9 Schilbe cf intermedius (will leave within a couple of months)
3 Arnoldichthys spilopterus (idem dito)
2 Steatocranus cassuarius (pair with lots of offspring)
2 Ctenochromis polli (pair with youngsters on a regular basis)
1 Parauchenoglanis cf guttatus
2 Chrysichthys cf walkeri (pair)
1 Polypterus senegalus (male)

Some pics from when the fish arrived yesterday


Synodontis waterloti (adult male)




Synodontis waterloti (adult female)




Parauchenoglanis sp.





Synodontis ornatipinnis

A clip of, mainly, the S ornatipinnis, a couple of hours after releasing him in the large tank

Nice additions to your tank !