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I am a brand new aqurium hobbyist so pls be kind with your responses. I love catfish and I would like to have several.

Right now I have one Pleco and a small (1.5in) Synodontis Ocellifer. I am using a 40gallon breeder (36x18x16) and I would like to hear suggestions on what breed and qty of Catfish I could add to this tank. I like Cats that stay under 10in and I am more of a fan of larger Cats versus tiny corys etc. I have red/blue tetras (5) and Giant Danios (3) in the tank now as well. I would like to add a Black Ghost Knife along with the Cats. Any tips or suggestions on how I can avoid in-fighting would be appreciated. Thanks.

Brian

Brian,I am not familiar with S. ocellifer but I have found with other synos such as S. nigriventris and S. eupterus, that although they 'scrap'and chase one another they rarely do serious damage to one another. Especially as long as they all have their own hiding spots. I have also seen a 200gal. tank full of large synos such as S. nigrita an S obesus tolerate each other with out killing each other of. So I would venture a guess and say it may be possible to add another ocellifer to your 40gal. Good luck.

A BGK will outgrow a 3' tank, for that matter so will most species of Synodontis. I would recommend a small group (3-4) of S. nigriventris, the common upside-down cats. They are one of the smaller species, not as bottom-oriented as most, and are a schooling fish. Several will get along well, and be quite active in the middle to upper part of the tank, particularly if there are one or two pieces of driftwood or other ornaments that come close to the top of the tank.