synodontis and electric cats

[Phreatobius]

I finally found an electric catfish . It is still at the LFS and it is currently living with 3-4 synos. I read on the forum that some people have kept them together without a problem. I really dont mind keeping the E-cat solo but is it possible to put it with some synos?

[Richard B]

Indeed it is possible & i have seen it done many times with success.

My personal preference would be to keep electric cats on their own or with their own kind. Please remember that a lot of electric cats can get quite big & need adequate space. Also they give one hell of a kick if they decide to give you a demo of their electrical capability - even when they are tiny - i know this only too well....

[Phreatobius]

I guess i could always try them together temporarily since i have multiple aquariums at the moment.All of which have little or no fish in them . As soon as i notice some trouble between them i will just split them up.

My personal preference would be to keep electric cats on their own or with their own kind.

I thought E-cats were aggressive towards their own kind and potentially aggressive enough that one of them would end up dead.

[Richard B]

My personal preference would be to keep electric cats on their own or with their own kind.

I thought E-cats were aggressive towards their own kind and potentially aggressive enough that one of them would end up dead.

This is pretty much true for adult specimens but young can be kept together without much problem - i cannot however say when they reach the point of change - either in size or in age

[Phreatobius]

Ok thanks a lot Richard. They only have a 2 inch E-cat and a 5 inch so i would definitely not be putting those two together. I will try some small synodontis though with the 2 incher

[apistomaster]

I once had an Electric Cat about 4 inches long which I kept with some medium to large fish up to 8 inches and it never seemed to bother them. This was a fish in a my old fish shop. I do recall my surprise when I removed it at how strong the catfish's jolt was during removing it. I just had to touch it to see for myself.

It made me glad I wore rubber gloves when handling a 30 inch Electric Eel I brought in.

[Richard B]

It made me glad I wore rubber gloves when handling a 30 inch Electric Eel I brought in.

Ye-ouch!

[Phreatobius]

Yeah I bet. There is a video of an electric eel powering a small christmas tree on youtube. Thats another fish i would love to have but i really dont have the space for something that would get that large.