Syno ID (from another forum)

[gonnaenodaethat]

i shall try most of them. The swimming side plate (tin foil barb) steals everything. 6 algae tablets at once for instance. Not sure about the worms or slaters (woodlice) as i.m a big beastie and bug fan. I know its madness. Would you advise part cooking sweet or normal potato? I also have a big bit of root in the tank which the cream one adores. Would he be better with driftwood? Any further ideas on my syno while you.re here?

[MatsP]

I think if you try JBL Novo Pleco XL tablets, your tin foil barbs will not be able to chew up the whole algae wafer. And at least your big pleco will be able to chew one of those down pretty quickly. It also helps to feed most catfish in the dark.

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Mats

[gonnaenodaethat]

he swallows them whole . Flips them about til they are in the right position, vertical, and they.re gone! I.ll google those tablets tomorrow but even if they.re hard tablets he'll still swoop on them.

[MatsP]

The JBL ones are about the size of a 20p piece (but not 7-sided, they are circular). Unless your tin foil barbs are VERY large [and yes, I know they grow large], they shouldn't be able to gulp those down.

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Mats

[gonnaenodaethat]

well i.ll look them up tomorrow. Still no thoughts on the syno? Got another photo tonight so i.m on a roll lol

[gonnaenodaethat]

have sourced them and bought some on line. The packet looks familiar so i think i may have tried them before. The TFB isn't overly massive. Just side plate size. Hubby describes him as bbq size

[gonnaenodaethat]

can we say for definite what he is then? Thanks for reading.

[Birger]

can we say for definite what he is then? Thanks for reading.

Are you talking about the syno or the pleco?

If the syno than I stick with my previous choice for the reasons stated.

Birger

[MatsP]

can we say for definite what he is then? Thanks for reading.

The Syno or the Pleco? The Pleco, I'm 100% sure that it's a

Pterygoplichthys

- it gets harder when it's lacking it's natural colour to say WHICH species it is. It is highly likely that it is

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

or

Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus

- [1] I can pretty much rule out several other species - it's not P. gibbiceps or P. scrophus, and it's most likely [99% certain] a captive bred fish which rules out most, if not all, of the other species we have listed.

As to the Syno, I'm not sure we can get a much better answer than what Birger gives, unless Sidguppy or Richard B disagrees with that...

[1] I don't feel at all bad at not being able to tell the difference on these, as even Jon Armbruster can not always say for certain [and that is on fish that are "normal colour"]. Jon is one of the world-leading experts on Loricariidae, and has a list on his personal web-page 32 papers describing new species or revising/redescribing existing species - he's not the main author on all of them, but on many. That beats 12000 forum posts by some margin... ;)

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Mats

[gonnaenodaethat]

ah sorry. Yeah i meant the cat fish. The plec is what i suspected he was. I.m very happy to at last have a name for the cat fish i.ll need to learn to say it. I.m a bit sad that he's maybe wild caught but he's got a good life in my tank where he is the boss. Thank you so much. Your knowledge is amazing. The feeding tips will also come in very handy. Once again. Thanks. Ann.

[gonnaenodaethat]

one more question sorry. Will he grow any more? He's been 5" since i got him so i presume not. Looks like he's been stunted before he came here.

[MatsP]

I.m a bit sad that he's maybe wild caught but he's got a good life in my tank where he is the boss.

I do agree in some respect, but I've come to the opinion that it's actually BETTER for the natural future of the fishes that they are wild-caught than captive bred in a vast majority of cases. There are exceptions where the fish are caught for the aquatic trade and that actually threatens the wild population, but for 99.8% of all fishes that we see in the trade, the wild-caught fish is a very small dent in the natural population, and the MUCH bigger threat is man interfering with the natural habitat. Now, if the native population can catch fish and ship them to us here in Europe (or North America, Australia, or wherever it may be), then the water and it's inhabitants have some value. Most fish for the aquatic trade aren't really great food fish (they are often too small), so the only real value is as ornamental fish. If they can't sell the fish to us, then they probably still want some money, and will take up other ways of making money - digging for gold, chopping down forest, or some such - and even if they do this ANYWAYS, at least if the rivers bring some income, they may think twice about killing that source of income.

It obviously doesn't stop projects like the Hydroelectric Power dam in Belo Monte on River Xingu that has recently been approved by the Brazil government. The local population is against this dam for any number of reasons (probably not so much that it's going to kill the fish, but that it will "drown" their villages). But the fact that the fish are valuable as income from this river is certainly not making the local population any more for the dam! And don't even think that the local population will benefit from "having electricity" - yes they may, but you don't need nearly as big a power-plant for that. The purpose is to allow aluminium production, which is being exported to Europe, the US, etc).

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Mats

[gonnaenodaethat]

mats i.ve read about that project in brazil and wonder who will benefit most. Not the wildlife or local people i don't think. your point about wild caught fish is very interesting and certainly not how i.ve thought about it before. Don't feel so guilty now.

[Birger]

one more question sorry. Will he grow any more? He's been 5" since i got him so i presume not. Looks like he's been stunted before he came here.

Fish do not always grow to the max stated and many times it is a female that will grow bigger or as you say previous conditions may have affected it's growth...if your fish is this size for the last five years than I would think any more growth would be minimal, it could get thicker but he certainly is in great shape except for the damaged dorsal.

Birger

[gonnaenodaethat]

i know. Its such a shame about it. I.ve looked on the internet for pictures of fish like him to see what his fin should look like but have only found drawings. Maybe i should photoshop him! Only kidding. I.ve enjoyed reading all your posts and i'd like to think i know a little more about my little grumpy syno. Ann

[gonnaenodaethat]

another 2 photos.

[gonnaenodaethat]

Bringing this old thread up to let you know that 6 years later the now 23 year old synodontis is still thriving. He has moved house with me and while we were doing that we changed from gravel to sand and I wish I'd done it years ago. Anyway alls well and I'm delighted to still have this extrovert of a little syno.

[Birger]

Excellent to hear it is doing well.

Hehe I just heard of some Synodontis that someone in Finland has kept for 37 years...you might have a few years with your fish yet.

Birger

[Viktor Jarikov]

Wow. Impressive update. Post pics, if you will, please.

[gonnaenodaethat]

I'll try and get photos at the weekend. He's still camera shy.

37! Then I'll definitely have to leave him in my will to somebody haha

[gonnaenodaethat]

Had an email asking if I wanted to update my species.

Still got him. He's still cantankerous as ever and rules the tank.

[gonnaenodaethat]

Still got him. 25 years old at least and doesn't look any different from when i first got him. That is when i see him. Still elusive. Lol

[gonnaenodaethat]

I've still got the 26 year old catfish. Elusive as ever but doing absolutely fabulous.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Your updates are much appreciated. All thumbs up!

[gonnaenodaethat]

Old thread again

Yup he's still alive. Nearly 30. I bought led lights for his tank and he prefers the blue light to be on. Still as fussy and grumpy as ever. A very poor video of him but it's about the best view I get. Haha.

[gonnaenodaethat]

31 years old! Still with me and in excellent health!

[gonnaenodaethat]

Just another random check in. I wonder if he's the oldest fish in the forum's?

Still doing great and looks exactly the same. Comes to the top to grab his food and takes it down to his pipe to eat.

Lives with an ancient parrot fish and 3 Buenos Aires tetras who are about 4.

See you in a few months

[Viktor Jarikov]

Great to have your updates and what a tremendous accomplishment! Your syno is not the oldest fish on the forum but for sure up there with the senior elites. As for the oldest synodontis among the current active members, it's a maybe.

The oldest syno we had was 15-20yo, so I much admire your husbandry.

[gonnaenodaethat]

A year later and he's still ruling the tank. See you in a year lol.

[Jools]

Love it. BTW, I'm from Edinburgh, Stockbridge. Nice to see another one here.

Cheers,

Jools