PlanetCatfish.com

Hi - I'm new to this forum.

I have a 200L West/Central African theme tank with fine sand substrate, lots of bogwood/branches and plants in large pots. Current occupants are one Polypterus ornatipinnis and four Ctenopoma oxyrynchus bushfish (about 4" - which is their max size). The polypterus is around 6-7" long.

Looking for an African cat to put in here. Anyone know about Chrysichtys ornatus? I want something of an appropriate size. i.e. 8 or 9" max. I actually want something not too active/agressive/greedy, as Polypterus are slow, clumsy feeders. If I stick Syno. eupterus or something like that in there, the Polypterus will not get enough to eat. Having said that, it would be nice if I saw the cat at feeding time.

If not C. ornatus, I was thinking or S. occellifer, which I remember as a fairly calm syno.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mark.

Chrysichthys ornatus would fit your bill, although it must be said that they can also be greedy eaters.

Besides S. ocellifer, S. alberti would be another good choice.

Thanks for this. Is there anything esle that you can tell me about C. ornatus? I realise that it is going to be nocturnal, but is it also a shy species? If it only comes out for five minutes at feeding time thats fine, but if I have to remove all the bogwood to check its still in the tank every few months, then less so! Also, will it tolerate its own kind?

Thanks again, Mark.

They will come out at feeding time (see this post). Not sure how they behave towards conspecifics (I think given a large enough tank, they would be able to coexist peacefully).

Thanks for the prompt replies - I'm going to get a C. ornatus at the weekend and see how it goes....

Mark.

You can teach them to take food from your hand. They like pieces of prawn or shrimp.

Make sure there ar NO small fish in the tank, because they will try to swallow just about anything.

mark_w wrote:I actually want something not too active/agressive/greedy, as Polypterus are slow, clumsy feeders. If I stick Syno. eupterus or something like that in there, the Polypterus will not get enough to eat

Be aware, I've had two 3"+ Synos killed and very well chewed by a pair of P. ornatipinnis. First I knew about it was when I saw the head and pectoral fins of one sticking out of the mouth of the female.
Pete

Ok- obviously I'll be watching the tank - everything I've read suggests that the polypterus should be fine with these sorts of species, but I guess they don't always read the same things that we do! So far, mine is a pussycat.

Also, out of interest, I've also seen some Brachysynodontis batensoda for sale. Anyone got experience with these?

Thanks again,
Mark.

I have 6 young Brachysynodontis batensoda now and have owned other specimens in the past. Although not a very striking fish they exhibit interesting behavior. The fish spend much of their time in the inverted position. The largest fish I had was about 8 inches in length. They are not very aggressive.

Mark