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I have been thinking of adding some syno petricola to my 90g hap/mbuna tank. A friend is selling 3 of his, they are 3 1/2".

I was wondering how often they actually come out from hiding. DO they come out during the day? I dont' want to spend lots of money on a fish i will never see.

ALso do you think they will be ok in my tank.Will i be over stocked? The inhabitants are:
-2 red empress
-1 P.electra
-7 Lab.perlmutts
-5 rusties
-2 plecos(bristlenose, rubbernose)

There are plenty of rocks with hiding places and caves.Here is a pic of the tank.

They'll show up.

And petricola are very easygoing. The best way to keep them, is in a bigger group, but adding one by one to an already existing group (because adults can be pricey) is NO problem whatsoever!

That's how I did it, when still keeping petricola dwarfs.

I bought a juvenile, later another two. Then I added an adult wildcaught female and two F1 subadults; all on different dates. So I ended up with 6, wich all matured in due time.

I've had many babies of that group, most just "showed up" in the tank.

So if your threesome are shy, just be patient (catfishes need considerably more time to settle in than cichlids!), and perhaps add a few more all in good time.

Thanks good to know i could always add mroe without them picking on the new one.

So what do you think of my stocking level? Am i under? over? I dont' want my fish feeling cramped.

no, it's not particulary cramped, and there's plenty open water; most Malawian tanks look like gravelpits and you obviously didn't fall for that.


I'm not much for common names; what's a Red Empress? sort of Aulonocara? Those two a pair?

And I think your Placidochromis electra might like a few speciesmates. It's a shoaler by nature, he-or she- might be lonely.

You might stick some pieces of 3cm wide, 10 cm long PVC in there as hideouts for the petricola's. Those do not have to be visible, but it's good for them to have a few places where they won't be bothered by the other fish.
Of course at least 1 per Syno.

The red empress are Protomelas taeniolatus. I was thinking of trying to find a female for my P.electra but i havent' seen any around locally(all they carry are males).

Thanks for reminding me about the PVC pipes, I was planning on doing that.

ok I went out nad bought some PVC pipe last night. I got the 3" diameter kind.Is this agood size for making caves? How long should i cut it? I should make 3,one for each syno?

exactly, and one or two "spares" won't hurt either. make them just a bit longer than the fish, and they'll be fine.

Three inch diameter pipe will be way too big. The idea is to make some caves that are just big enough for the catfish and will exclude the cichlids. This will provide the cats a refuge from the cichlids when they get too aggressive.

ALright, then how big should i get the pipe? I have never seen a fully gown syno.petricola so i'm not sure exactly how big they get and how small a space they can fit in. Should i get 2" pipe?

In the tank right now i have 3 caves made out of 4"pipe(its supporting the rocks).I guess i'll go back and find smaller pipe.Could i also make them out of flower pots?

ehm!

I was talking about 3 CENTIMETERS-WIDE pipe....NOT 3"(inch!)

It's this metric/non-metric issue popping up again

Best way to explain this, is the second scene of Pulp Fiction with John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson;
"ä quarterpounder in Paris? it's a Grande Royale".......

No i knew you said 3cm(i am in canada so we know what these are ) but when i got there all i saw was really skinny pipe and the 3" ones. PLus i didn't think a 3 1/2"syno could fit in a 3cm pipe?

I"ll see what i cn find,my dad may have some in the garage.

If your are really 3", then you may really have S. petricola and not one of the many other fish sold under that name. A 5 cm (2") pipe may be more appropriate (they don't swim sideways). We have more S. petricola than I've been able to keep track of -- at least a dozen -- but we have no pipe in their tank, just lots of rocks and caves.

Dinyar

Thank you, I will be getting them tomorrow and they will be staying in my 20g Q tank for a while, jsut ot make sure they are ok.

I will see what i can find as far as stuff to make caves. I have some small pots and can probably find some 2" pvc pipe.

If i make the PVC caves how long to they have to be? Just as long as the fish or do they like them longer? Right now the fish are 3 1/2" so should i make the caves4-5" long?

Yes, 4" or so should be fine.

THanks to everyone for helping. I picked up my 3 synos yesterday.They are a bit smaller then i had imagined but still bigger then i can get from the stores. I have them in a 20gH tank right now with 2 L.ocellatus. I will keep them in the 20g untill i'm sure they are doing well.

I found some 2" pipe and cut that into 4-5" sections.its bigger thent he fish but they seem to like their new caves as they are swimming in them.

Can't wait untill i add them to the main tank.

I will try and maybe get some pics.