Hemisynodontis membranaceus

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 08 Jul 2005, 15:14

LFS has two 25-30 cm specimens which somebody brought in. I've told them what they are, but would like to know roughly how much they're worth. Neither is fit for sale right now; both have fin damage and one is quite emaciated.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 08 Jul 2005, 17:08

fin damage and emaciated?
seems like someone tried to keep it in a Malawi-tank, most likely.

If they're carrying no diseases and you have a spare-tank (quarantaine!), I would get them if I were you, before there's only 1 left......this is a rare cat in the trade; I've never seen it "in the flesh" so to speak, and I've been keeping/collecting rare cats since '74.

and I still got a nice collection, mind.

Even very thin "syno's" can be fattened up again in a tank by themselves.
if you succeed at that, I'df treat them for internal or gill-worms before adding them to a tank with other fish; but first fatten them up a bit; anti-worm meds are quite toxic.

pturley · Post by **pturley** » 11 Jul 2005, 16:11

SidGuppy,
A couple friends of mine and fellow members of my local Aquarium Society (Ohio Cichlid Association) have a 2.1 Trio of these fish (8-10" SL) all housed together in a community 75 gallon with Rainbowfish.

Last month I starting talking to them about a possible breeding loan utilizing my 125 gallon tank(which they are currently considering).

From their descriptions, they have definately witnessed either pre-spawning or spawning behavior.

I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Post by **Dinyar** » 11 Jul 2005, 21:08

Paul,

Not to be a nay-sayer, but don't you think a 125 is a bit small for fish that easily get to 30 cm, and are very deep-bodied to boot? I'm not aware of any reliable spawning reports for Synodontis of anywhere near that size.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 11 Jul 2005, 21:23

125G tanks are often 2 meters or at least 6 foot.

should be big enough for a breeding tank for a small group of these, if you don't add other fish.

maybe it's more a question of the right kind of food and waterquality than pure space; other smaller Syno's are being spawned in tanks about 6-8x their bodylength. if the tank is wide and/or high enough and plenty hiding places it might work.

pturley · Post by **pturley** » 11 Jul 2005, 21:40

Dinyar,
Alone, in a 125? no not really. This would be a dedicated species tank. I hardly think this would be an example of the preverbial "Eagle in a canary cage" that is so prevalent in the hobby. Particularly with the giant Pims.

Of course a bigger tank would be that much better, but it's alot better than the tank they raised them to their current size in. (a 75 gallon with 15+ 5" long adult Rainbowfish)

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