Many thanks.

The above catfish are offered for sale as wild caught examples by a Dutch store. What's the meaning of "sp." exactly? Does it mean they are not sure, that they might be brevispinis or another lophiobagrus?

TIA

Beautiful shots Dan! Inspired by these I have just taken some pics of the 3 petricola in my newly set up ocellatus/petricola tank. With my camera and photography skills I won't get results like these but good enough for the record maybe.

much appreciated deepfried, I guess it should be a minimum of 1"?

thanks deepfried, can you please let me have a latin name for that bushynose?

it's the diatoms on all the rockwork and decor that's the problem, like you say, when it's on the glass it's a doddle.

how many bushynose in a 90g and how would they get on with syno petricola and various Tanganyikan ...

Due to high levels of diatoms in a fairly new tank (2 months) I am considering the short- to medium-term addition of otocinclus affinis....having researched the prefered water values of this fish it doesn't seem to be a great idea, especially when they seem to have a reputation for dying on you ...

There's an importer in the UK quoting £200 for a granulosus, there are also 2 juveniles (about 6") at Maidenhead Aquatics Weybridge branch for £60 each. I won't vouch for their origin but those are damned expensive fish!

Finally it has been resolved. The lfs took all 3 hybrids back (they agreed that there were hybrids and blamed their Czecho suppliers) and replaced them with 4 juvenile petricola. This was 7 months after I originally purchased them so I'm pleased with that outcome. The store had 2 x 6" "syno ...

Best wishes, Dinyar, in your adventures.

Yesterday evening I read a short article by Ad Konings on cichlidae.com describing a visit to the Tanzanian coastline of the Lake, probably insufficient detail for you but it made me think that you should try to contact him yourself.

Seems to me Dinyar that you're dismissing valid first and second hand evidence as preconceptions and misconceptions. To compare it with urban myth about foreign places might be a tad ill-judged.

I suspect you guys exaggerate the difficulty ofgetting around in the developing world.

Don't think I ...

Now I'm disappointed again, with the syno nigromaculatus label I at least had a proper Tang species but I've just seen perhaps the closest match in the Cat eLog, Synodontis sp.(1), picture one.

The fish in this series of pics seem to be quite deformed and ill proportioned, but picture one from the ...

Much as Barbie says, I purchased 4 small petricola at 1" - 1.5" and they are coloured exactly like an adult by that stage. I believe younger fry are lighter not darker.

Many thanks indeed Silurus for sorting out my picture problems - you must tell me how you fixed it!

So there's still room for doubt? What would clinch the issue as far as you're concerned? I've just got a copy of Konings' "Tanganyikan Cichlids in their Natural Environment" and there's a photo ...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce10b3127cce81418c0f53020000003610

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce10b3127cce8141885f53500000001610

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3ce10b3127cce81418853535c0000001610

This has been a long running thread and it's been a while since the ...

pic 4 and 5 seem to be the same species to me, 4 seemingly more representative than 3 of nigromaculatus examples in photos - sorry to be critical of the great man but you only have to look at that illustrator's drawings of other species (eg multipunctatus) to realise that they are not "spot on ...

(continued)

Frank Shafer received in 2001 from Zambia from the small Lake Mweru, which is also known as Lake Mweru Wantipa and is situated in the Mweru Wantipa National Park (between the large lake Mweru and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika), 3 young synodontis, two of which were identified as S ...

The 2 part article is by Shraml and the text on syno nigromaculatus is as follows:

This species has its main distribution area outside Lake Tanganyika (according to Skelton 1993) in the Okavango and upper Zambesi system, also in the Zambian Zaire system, in the Kasai river and in Lake Tanganyika ...

I'll provide the text from the article on Monday so that we're clear on the content. I should also try to get scans of the illustrations provided.

Having just looked again at my pics from 5 months ago, they really were babies then, 3". The fish are now much bigger, 5-6", and there are a greater ...

The main problem here is the quality of my pics but also perhaps that mine are still 3-4" juveniles and not fully grown 8" adults.
I have no problem with the above illustration from Boulenger with the sole exception of the caudal fin, mine clearly has a forked outline along with the lacey, spotted ...

Mystery finally solved I'm sure! My synos are nigromaculatus, Boulenger, 1905

The September issue of Today's Fishkeeper magazine in the UK has the second part of a series on Tanganyikan synos and the pictures there are a very good match indeed. Distinctive features are the spine in the dorsal fine ...

thank you very much Silurus for sorting out my picture crisis!

these guys were sold to me labelled as multipunctatus, I've grown very attached to them but am I making a rod for my own back with 3 of them in a 48" tank with various cichlids? I hate to think of them at 8" a piece in there!!

There are 3 pics of Ocellifer in the cat-elog and the middle one (which looks very unlike the other two by the way!) is spot on (!!) in terms of colouration and the eye size and colour. What frightens me is that it grows to 8"

The fins are remarkably similar to Nigrita in the lacey, spotted ...

thanks Sid, I've succeeded with the upload to shutterfly, fingers crossed for the links below.

http://eheim-uk.com/albums2/album84/multipunk_1_reduced_001.sized.jpg

http://eheim-uk.com/albums2/album84/multipunk_2_reduced_001.sized.jpg

http://eheim-uk.com/albums2/album84/multipunk_5_reduced ...

thanks Silurus, I'll try a bit later when I'm at home, just wasting time in the office right now!

thanks yes, I tried corydorasworld last night but his forums were in a complete mess - so the sticky had gone! I'll look again shortly in the hope the forums are back up

Finally I get some (crap) photos back and scan them, then crop and improve brightness using Photoshop and then wham - this board doesn't allow uploads. Bah!

Well, I found a picture of s.nigrita which apparently spends a lot of time in fish stores labelled as upside down catfish. This fish has a lot ...

The spots have gone, all fish seem v comfortable, no flashing at all. Temp at 28C. planning a 30% water change tomorrow. Is it too soon to relax?

I have a dwarf petricola that's led a tough life in a tank with with s.decorus and s.multipunctatus, Malawis and Tang. cichlids. His barbels are a mess but will they regrow now that he's in a less aggressive environment, with a sandy substrate too?

duh! sorry mate, I thought those were treatment durations! that was a bit frightening!
I turned the tank up from it's normal 26.5 to an indicated 30, it had reached 28.4 by this morning.

Can I quickly ask if the water change is to help remove medication or the cysts (by vacuuming the substrate) or ...

5C that's not right shewerly? that'll kill everything in the tank won't it?