Synodontis eupterus and Moustache Catfish - Hemisynodontis m

[dayglowfroggy]

Hi I have been keeping a moustache cat for a while now he is only around 8" and has been very shy did not settle in a large tank but has been happy in a small quarantine tank for a while now .
I am picking up 5-6 inch Synodontis eupterus next week and my plan is to try these two together to see if it would make a comparable pair for reintroduction to one of my large tanks .
Just wandered if anybody has experience of these two together ?
Also has anybody ever kept these with a birchir ?
I realize that there could be competition for caves etc though the moustache who is called pete is not too bothered with caves at the moment.

[Richard B]

How big is the tank they're sharing?

I've kept these previously with a couple of polypterus (delhezi) with no problems - that said the bichirs were abaout 9" The mochokids about 6-7" in a 72x24x18" tank with plenty of rockwork & clay pipes. Hard to say how it will go for definate but more likely to be less problematic than a lot of other mixes.

[dayglowfroggy]

At the moment the small tank that pete is in in is only 2ft but they would be going into a large 4ft (I have a choice of two with different companions)and the future is a 5X2X2 for when pete gets bigger though he probably will not reach his full potential as he is slightly deformed (so I have been told ,but he looks fine to me).

[Richard B]

Deformed in what way?

[dayglowfroggy]

His lower jaw is not fully developed he only cost £10 at this size 8" and he was the least deformed of three ,the others looked like the elephant man in fish form all twisted .
It is only when compared to completely healthy looking pictures that it is noticeable and I have found him to be a little bit fussy in his food which is not what I expected from the write up's .
He does like chopped up earth worms and spectrum fine food though.
I do wander if his shyness could be because he was bought up to this age as part of a group of three and is not happy on his own hence one of the reasons for getting the syndo.
I dare say the other two twisted ones might still be for sale .

[dayglowfroggy]

Picked up the Synodontis eupterus and put it into a 4ft tank with the moustache and they have been acting a bit weird ever since .
I have rearranged the whole tank to make it a bit more moustache friendly as he managed to scrape himself in the first hour but the problem is that the Synodontis eupterus does not leave him alone for very long without nudging and chasing him .
Will give it till tomorrow to see if it settles down if not looks like the moustache is coming out again .
I have just found on scotcat that there can be problems with these two species .

[Richard B]

I've not encountered problems with these but maybe that is dependant upon tank size & temperment of the individuals - just out of interest, where did the hemi come from?

[dayglowfroggy]

Hemi came from Wharf .

[Richard B]

Hemi came from Wharf .

Interesting - thanks for the info - Chrysichthys & i have seen a whole tank of hemis at MA Stratford. 60% of these had mouth deformities, some of which were severe. All fed ok but some looked atrocious. We suspect commercial breeding using poor quality stock is responsible but it would mean that hemis have been bred!