It wasn't a perfect mix in terms of temperature requirements, but a few years back, I put my group of 11 young Brochis splendens in with my 10 Corydorus sterbai. It made them far more confident and it looked amazing, they moved across the tank floor like a flock of birds.

They all look like females to me, simply going on the lack of a thick orange first pectoral fin ray.

Shame that S. congicus are rare as hen's teeth, I got mine by complete accident and I've been aware of perhaps two other specimens through re-slaes since (sadly some distance from me, I'd love a 6+ group). In ~5 years of owning, my singleton has maybe grown ~1cm to ~10cm SL maximum (might be a tad s...

Another syno to consider for a 4x1 tank would be a 10+ group of Microsynodontis sp. (1) , when I had such a group ~4 years ago, they were hyperactive all day long. I've got ~10 different syno species and the only two that are truly diurnally active are my Synodontis notatus and Troy (who I thought w...

I've not tried mixing my male L204 with my trio of Synodontis brichardi to date, but he has played nicely with... 1 Synodontis congicus 2 Microsynodontis sp.1 1 Atya gabonensis 11 Ambastaia sidthimunki 10 Barbus fasciolatus 12 Synodontis nigriventris 25 Pareutropius mandevillei 8 Alestopetersius sp....

Good job you joined Danny, looks like I was way out with suggesting either or , S. nigrita never even crossed my mind!

Look the real McCoys to me too. I'd be amazed if adults could catch and eat any fish bar tiny fry, their under-slung mouth is tiny, even on my pretty much full size female in my trio, who must be ~15cm SL after living with me for ~6 years. I'm much more wary about what my ~23cm SL Chrysichthys ornat...

I appreciate I'm talking about a different species, but I typically feed my ~23cm SL Chrysichthys ornatus every other day. I make a rough solid ball from New Era Catfish pellets, that is ~1cm radius, as his/her staple diet. My catfish is not very active, as far as I'm aware, I must get round to sett...

Jools wrote:Just found a picture of a Pterygoplichtys taken swimming in the Union Canal, central Scotland.

Jools

Blimey!

I'd love to know if this fish survived over the winter in there, or if it was released since spring, not that we have had much more than ~3C air temperature increase since March!

Richard is far better at IDs than me, but I would say S. Petricola at this point, because the head spots are not noticeably smaller than those on the body.

Sorry this venture has ended in 13 deaths, given how quick they died, I can only suspect they were in very bad shape already when you rescued them from the store(s).

Late seeing this thread, but looking at the photos on the first post, I would say the top photo is a male and the second photo is a female, based on the amount of overlap between pectoral and pelvic fins. I think males have lots of overlap, aiding the fanning they do on eggs.

Found my bottle of Exit in the garage, but it has no composition info on it, just dosage. Can only guess it might be on the folded sheet, which is not with my bottle, sorry!

I would be inclined to go down the salt route (1-3g per litre, gradually added over a day or so) with meds (I use Esha Exit), as at least Chaetostoma formosae and dorsale live in quite hard and alkaline water IIRC, with just a moderate heat increase to ~25C plus plenty of water surface movement.

You are having a rough run in with the Chaetostoma in quarantine, for sure.:( Once you get them eating, i would almost place them in the same "hard as nails" pigeon hole as many Synodontis, I've lost 3 from 8 over the last six years and everyone that died failed to recognise hobby food and...

Sorry to read the update. :( Here is a really crude photo of my C. dorsale... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BWP1XshGXHrZ-6zk3a9jRtr2BF6uPLORJa-qPQ1A1S1Q--bBa5zg1xJ6M98HwhwF6RxXX4WUkXkknNB-yxHffjoG1zsCki5cXcjxrn1SW1c0HPlAyBY9F0bToKoMRRIyY09L5iIq3K_xW7QZTyfFRd5u8MknXohUEhZaYxbfdXKfdZtb1s7GJNYh9JSa...

My 25 Paruetropius mandevillei school quite tightly during daylight hours, roughly smaller than the size of a rugby ball. But come the evening, they scatter, mostly as individuals zooming all over their tank!

They are the smallest of the Debauwi catfishes, ~5cm SL as adults.

Sorry to read the update, I've lost some Chaetostoma too, watching them starve to death despite best efforts is heart breaking. Some never seem to adapt to identifying hobby food, after being caught in the wild. What and how are you feeding them? I've had mixed resulting with "painting pebbles&...

My C. dorsale was quite "washed out" when I won it at auction, but once settled, the body became and still is much darker.

Actually saying that @Bekateen. They kept saying it was a bulldog but the label on the tank said jumbo. The manager wasn't there to confirm. If this could be a Chaetostoma spp., how about Chaetostoma leucomelas ? 143mm SL plus that long looking caudal fin could be quite close to ~18cm TL. I'm very ...

I discovered my 6-footer was down to 20C last night, everyone looked fine. The ambient room temp felt fine to me, but I was surprised it was 15C, so I put the room storage heater for the first night in a while. Will check temp of tank when I get home.

Chances are, at least for the Synodontis angelicus, you have absolutely nothing to worry about if this is a short term "chilly spell." Only two of my five active tanks have active heaters, my garage Rio400 set at 20C for Ilyodon xantusi and my 4-foot ~280l tank of little fish (mostly from ...

My Auchenoglanis spp. grew at a rate that no other fish I've owned has come close to, after a quarantine period in my Aqua One 620T, while it was a skinny ~4cm SL baby. Within ~18 months, it was longer than the total length of my Synodontis notatus, at ~25cm SL! Then after ~2 years, it was as if the...

There'd be no harm netting it but not taking out of the water, just to bring it to the front glass and take photos. Maybe its just me, but I always worry about bigger synos getting their pectoral fins in a right mess if netted (caught in the mesh badly)! I'm lucky that my S. notatus is good as gold...

I had a ~20+ cm SL duo of Synodontis notatus and decorus in a 5x2x2 for about two years, which by and large were absolutely fine. Having arranged to rehome the decorus with MatsP, as he already had others and they are quite social as synos go, I vaguely recall there were some minor scuffles during t...

The elongated adipose fin and the numerous black flecks on the caudal fin make me think this might well be a .

There are much better qualified members than me that will hopefully comment later.

Is this syno blind these days? I ask because of the "frosty" eyes.

Hypoptopoma spp. are often sold as "Vampire Otos" or "Giant Otos" if I recall correctly, but I am way out of my depth trying to give you a species ID here.

Nice mix of fish, Pareutropius buffei; Phenacogrammus interruptus; Synodontis euptera.

How are the Pareutropius coping with the Featherfin, as in are they stressed?

Any thoughts and opportunities of increasing the tetra and social catfish groups?

M.Polli 9 years Suspected as much, given other synos live in excess of 20 years. He/she was quite thin and only 45mm SL after ~4.5 years. There was an open wound on its side that could have been due to a pectoral fin puncture from one of the Pareutropius Mandeville group. Over time they have become...

Just served breakfast to my ~280l tank of little and peaceful fish, to find my M. polli dead, just below the water surface near the unsecured semi-roaming Anubias plant. He/she was with me for ~4.5 years, arriving in a small group of six from Wildwoods' delivery. :( Does anyone have any idea if that...