Mixing Synodontis catfish

[Malawi Mac]

Hello all. My first post on this forum, although I have used the web site in the past and found it to be quite informative. Now on to my question.

I have a 135 gallon African cichlid tank with four Synodontis schoutdenai in it.

I have a chance to purchase a single Synodontis angelicus at a reasonable price.

I've kept several different Synodontis species over the course of my life as a hobbyist, but I've never tried to keep more than one species from the genus in a tank at a given time.

Do different Synodontis species get along together well in the same tank, or is there likely to be conflict?

[Birger]

Welcome to PlanetCatfish!!

Do different Synodontis species get along together well in the same tank, or is there likely to be conflict?

Different combinations will work but here we will focus on angelica and schoutedeni.


It is possible for them to get along in your tank but it is always a gamble.
If it is a smaller

Synodontis angelica

(note the small name change) it could work its way into the pecking order...as it gets bigger it could start to show its willingness to assert dominance over the others.

S.angelica do have a nasty reputation but behavior can vary between individuals, not all are as nasty as said...but that can change overnight so one always has to be ready for this.

I have mixed two groups of these species in the past in a smaller tank than yours, the only trouble I had was when a male

Synodontis schoutedeni

tried to get tough and got killed by the dominant angelica.
The 3 female schoutedeni are more passive and were fine.
In shoutedeni there seems to be a big difference in behavior between males and females in my opinion, the males being more quarrelsome.

There is a big difference in final adult size between these two species, almost double but with angelica once they reach about the 8 inch mark growth (for me) seems to slow down.

Mixing these two species can be possible trouble but I have had no trouble mixing S.angelica with a large group of the much smaller

Synodontis nigriventris

, the angelica just ignore them.

It is a good rule to always ensure more caves than syno's.

I have a 135 gallon African c*****d tank

Can you be more specific, most people generally mean Rift lake cichlids when they say this but there are many cichlids in Africa that need varying conditions.


Birger

[MatsP]

Talking to the owner of a 10" S. angelica at a show about two years ago, I'd say that the main concern would be synos of similar size - say around half or so of the size of the S. angelica. Anything smaller, and the S. angelica will not care about it - it's not "a threat".

--
Mats

[Malawi Mac]

It's a 135 gallon Malawi tank. Male peacocks and utaka, and some peaceful mbuna. One end is heavily rocked; the other end is an open swimming area. I also have a lot of plastic plants in the tank; they help break up territories and also provide shelter for bullied fish.

[naturalart]

I have to agree with what Birger said. Most of the male shoutedeni I had/have are pretty hard headed. I have never kept angelica, but based on what i've read, heard and seen, the angelica will dominate and eventually (especially if they are both male) will very likely, end up killing the male shoutedeni.

[Richard B]

It's a good sized tank but it is not set up correctly for the synos you mention in a couple of ways

You have a rift tank & these are riverine species so the water is probably far too hard & alkaline although the synos will tolerate this.

To successfully keep a group of mixed riverine synos there should be many groups of caves created by bogwood & rocks, with areas in between them so teritories can be developed over the whole base of the tank.

In short it can be attempted & may prove problem free but you need to be prepared if things go awry

[Malawi Mac]

Well, I decided to pass on the angelica. It just sounded like there was too much risk in putting him in my 135 with the schoutdenai, and I really didn't want him in any of my other African cichlid tanks due to the propensity to eat cichlid fry.

Thanks to everyone who responded with advice.