Ongoing Synodontis Thread

[Jools]

Great to see an S. angelicus again, I love that species.

Jools

[ad88]

Great to see an S. angelicus again, I love that species.

Jools

I found it here in Oklahoma in a small local fish store. They usually have adults that people have traded in, but I luckily got this one at around 2 inches the photo is when I first got it it's around 4 inches now. I paid $100 for it which I assumed was a good price.

[Mrsomethingfishy]

Ive had them in the past and i was amazed at how majestic and beautiful they were in the tank. Reminded me of the whale sharks in the ocean

[ad88]

Ive had them in the past and i was amazed at how majestic and beautiful they were in the tank. Reminded me of the whale sharks in the ocean

Mine for the first time swam to the top of the tank to get pellets when I came to feed! It normally just swims over the gravel where I am feeding so it surprised me to see him doing that for the first time.He or she is also very pretty almost velvety looking.

[Jools]

Fish prices are a funny thing. In the late 1980s, I first saw this fish at £200 or, then, US$400 - in today's money that's going to be north of $400 not including the above-inflation rise in transport costs. I've seen them cheapest maybe 10-15 years ago, at about $40. They're cheaper here in the UK as they tend to be imported a shorter distance. In your LFS in Oklahoma, they've surely travelled further and possibly passed through a couple more layers of commercial transactions/margin.

All that said, in your shoes, I'd pay $100 bucks for it!

Jools

[Mrsomethingfishy]

Couple pics of a few synos in the tank. Theres 3 different purchases in these two pics.

This first one is of a juvenile i got labelled as multipunctatus. I am thinking it may be a grandiops tho. Still beautiful fish.

this second one is actually two pick ups. The one on the right, with lighter coloration is one that @birger has said is a grandiops. The one on the left, darker and larger one...he's from my recent pick up. I bought 8X "multipunctatus" from a local hobbyist that was downsizing. They all look alike and are definitely starting to get comfortable in the new set-up and in my house. So hard to get decent pics of these guys unless im able to sneak up on the tank lol

[TalenT]

I have three S.nigriventris in a 50 liter tank. The tank is doing very well, heavily planted. Plants are growing like crazy. Lots of hardscape/hiding places. Weekly 50% water changes, good filtration. Plenty of variation in food. I've been/worked in the hobby for close to 40 years.

The three S.nigriventris share the tank with 2 Corydoras habrosus, 3 Ancistrus claro and 3 amano shrimp.

The Synodontis cats have been very secretive, I rarely see them even at feeding. Once a week I might catch a glimpse of one of them, if I'm lucky.
Just a few minutes ago, I took a look at the tank and I see one of the Synodontis among the plants. Upon looking closer I see that ALL the soft fin tissue is missing.
Anal and pelvic fins - COMPLETELY gone!
Pectoral, dorsal and caudal fins - only, and i mean ONLY the hard (leading) rays remain!
What in the world?

I took a flashlight and started looking for the other two Synodontis nigriventris. I find one hiding under a piece of driftwood, perfectly fine.
The other one I can barely see, but it seems to also have a damaged caudal fin.
The only time I've ever seen anything like this has been Ancistrus that had been sharing tank with Mbuna Malawi cichlids and gotten stripped of all their fins.

This is my first time keeping this species and from what I've read they are not aggressive towards each other. What is this then? Any ideas?
The Corydoras, Ancistrus and shrimp are doing perfectly fine and as I said it is a very well-maintained tank.

[Viktor Jarikov]

The only thing I can think of is the syno-on-syno aggression, perhaps the two males are damaged and the female is fine, albeit it'd be the first time I hear of it among the nigriventris, or alternatively a fin rot.

[TalenT]

It is 3AM here, so I will look further into this and take action tomorrow.
I have the option to move fish to a much larger tank (240 liter). Any suggestions on which of the trio I should move? All of them, some of them, only the most badly damaged?
The 240 liter tank is a peaceful community tank with tetras, Loricariids and Doradids.

[TalenT]

Update:
First thing today I started preparing for moving the Synos. As I caught them I placed them one by one in a clear container to be able to document the fin damage. It was very hard to get any good photos at all because the catfish constant swimming.

Here is the largest individual let's call this one "01". Even this one has some damage, particularly on the pelvic fins. It also shows a distinct, pointy genital papilla (marked with green).

[TalenT]

Here's the "middle" individual (by size). Let's call this one "02". It has severe fin damage in all fins but I'd say that it looks worse in the photos because the motion blur cause parts of the fins to "disappear" on photo. Especially the caudal fin. The pelvic fins are almost completely gone.

[TalenT]

So we come to the smallest individual, let's call this one "03". This is the one I saw hiding in the plants last night. Almost all soft fin tissue is gone. Again, the photos are very blurry because of the constant swimming. Most of the caudal fin is gone, and although this is very serious damage,it is not as bad irl as it looks in the blurry pics. And the poor little fella can still swim amazingly well.

I've had these three Synodontis nigriventris together in this tank for about one year. They have always been secretive and seldom seen, apart from feeding time. They have not shown any signs of discomfort/illness the times I've seen them and this fin damage thing must have happened within the last weeks I would say.

So what happened? My guess is that the aggression level between them was manageable as long as they and the Corydoras habrosus were the only fish in the tank.
I added 3 Ancistrus claro in September 2019 (two males and one female), and my guess is that it triggered a heightened level of aggression between the synos, perhaps because of competition for hiding places/territory.
Well, that is my guess anyway.
I moved 01 and 02 to the 240 liter tank mentioned earlier. 03 gets to stay and hopefully recuperate. Since I moved the fish earlier today I've kept an eye on them, and 01 & 02 are doing well in the larger tank, exploring their new environment. 03 has found a hiding spot under a piece of driftwood and seems to be doing well.

[Mrsomethingfishy]

I am also thinking its "syno on syno" crime lol. They might have sensed breeding of your ancistrus or who knows. I was watching my tanks last night and witnessed a few of mine chasing each other around the tank. Theyre usually not THAT rough with each other...but anything is possible with them lol hope you a speedy recovery for your fish

[Mrsomethingfishy]

So ive been watching my tanks and have definitely noticed some strange behaviours. I keep catching two of my newest group of "multis" doing a dance i could only describe as courting or mating. The one...the bigger of the two, will swim around being followed by the other...who will "bite" at the vent area of the larger one. A few times ive seen this reversed, ending in the "male" curving his body around the "female". He kinda shudders for a second and then they take off. Its been going on for days now...and jus the other night i found a cichlid holding eggs. I wasnt able to see the spawning...but i do know my male has been lit up lile a Christmas tree in breeding color. Hoping that this adult group is in fact at reproductive age and that theyre in fact pairing off. I have noticed some hostility between some of the "males" of that group as well.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Most definitely this sounds like a breeding behavior. In my tiny experience, the "shuddering" display is an unmistakable "I am ready to mate" signal.

[Mrsomethingfishy]

I keep trying to get some pictures of them...but still kinda skittish around my place. I figure they will take a while to actually get used to the new tank and household. I am a heavy footed walker...and i have two mastiffs that weigh about 100-120 lbs each. But to see them start this behavior less then a month after me buying them is very encouraging for me.

[Viktor Jarikov]

For cross-referencing a related / similar thread: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48881&p=322785#p322785

[Mrsomethingfishy]

Going to be deep cleaning the tanks tonight. I will have some pics of my newest, but most mature group of "multi's". I have to catch one of them to put him into a hospital tank, as he/she has been on the recieving end of some aggression the last week or two. Looking foward to getting some pics to figure out if theyre indeed multipunctatus or not. Definitely seeing a bunch of what i can only describe as breeding behaviours. Hoping to see some fry sometime in 2020 lol

[Mrsomethingfishy]

Hello everyone, hope you guys are safe and healthy during this crazy time we are going thru. I have been deemed "essential worker", and our shop has almost halfed our regular output. I am apprentice autobody and collision damage repairer in Canada...but i am in a truck shop. I fix fleet vehicles for commercial company's. With the increase in need of trucks to keep supply lines open, we are insanely busy. This is one of the reasons i havent been on to update. Anyways.....hope you all are doing well and keeping healthy. On with the fish updates..

Got a 75 gallon tank a week or two ago, and decided to upgrade my display tank. I grabbed a few pics of the "multi's" i have in there, but im in the middle of switching tanks...so the water is gross looking as ive stirred up all the "crap" that was in there. I plan on giving you guys another look at my petricola group as well...cuz theyre definitely getting bigger.

[Jools]

They look nice, quite young (?) Synodontis grandiops. Good luck with the breeding project. Interesting also to hear about your wider circumstances, crazy times indeed.


Jools