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I'll make it simple

1) Can they do well in hard water? Like ones for Rift Lake types?

2) How do you feed them? Have you acually seen them eat? I once kept one for a year; he always hid under a piece of wood, and I NEVER saw him eat!! Funny thing is, I never gave him extra food in the night, but he lasted for several months before bailing and becoming a statue.
Also, even if they were to eat during the day, I think their shyness would be a great hinderness?

How can you enjoy them? Although I didn't before, I may now.....

bushynose_cory wrote:1) Can they do well in hard water? Like ones for Rift Lake types?

They can do in hard water, but I doubt it that they'll do well. I wouldn't recommend it.

My tapwater is as hard as it gets, and I have a P. costatus that is well over fifteen years old.

However the pH is about 7.5, not up in the 8s like many rift lake aquaria. I would suspect they would be fine, even at a pH over 8 though. They seem quite hardy and adaptable.

He hid at first, but after a few years of settling down to aquarium life he now cruises around feeding with the lights on. At over 6 inches, he's the boss of the tank now!

Feeding at night is the best solution initially, but ensure other night feeders don't beat him to it.

racoll wrote:I would suspect they would be fine, even at a pH over 8 though.

I wouldn't. Not as long as they're all wildcaught. I've seen too many Doradidae species die at a wholesaler's. They are initially quite sensitive to wrong water parameters.

Also; there are many pretty Rift Lake catfishes for sale; with a bit of effort you should be able to get at least 4 species of Synodontis (lucipinnis, multipunctatus, granulosus and "polli White"), 1 or 2 species of Lophiobagrus, 1 species of phyllonemus.

these are all available in the trade (sometimes even more species of Syno's turn up!), they do fine at a ph of 8 and much more important they are used to a high density of agressive cichlids wich the Dorads are not!

think about the fish.
and like Marc said; almost all (if not 100% all!) Dorads are wildcaughts....wild caught fish from South America should NOT be kept in a Rift Lake tank. period. it's unethical.

I can't get ANY of the cats you mentioned(The multies are too expensive, the rest non-obtainable)

I'll just go with Synodontis decorus. ㅋㅋ

Synodontis decorus can be used (many Syno's are quite adaptable when it comes to pH and hardiness), but please DO be aware that this particular species really grows to almost 1 foot in length (yes, in captivity too) and that it should be kept with a few speciesmembers cause it's a social species.

a tank containing 3-4 healthy adult decorus is a big tank.