Cuckoo Catfish - Phantoms?

[2na]

Hi all, I have purchased a couple of Cuckoo catfish which were very impressive in my local aquirium's tank however they have become very elusive in my tank. Will these catfish become more confident in making appearances in the open? Are they only active at night or will they occasionally appear during the day? My catfish share a 260l tank with Discus. Thanks

 

[elisew]

The synodontis multipunctata is generally known to be quite elusive at times. They will swim very quickly when out in the open due to fear of being attacked by cichlids or not feeling secure in their surroundings. They should really be kept either singularly or in a group of at least 3, ideally more.
Give them a bit of time and they may just begin to spend a bit of time out in the open, just don`t bank on it.
Here`s some profile info on the multipunctatus:
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=95

 

[SensesFail]

Hi all, I have purchased a couple of Cuckoo catfish which were very impressive in my local aquirium's tank however they have become very elusive in my tank. Will these catfish become more confident in making appearances in the open? Are they only active at night or will they occasionally appear during the day? My catfish share a 260l tank with Discus. Thanks

Hello good choice of catffish!

I have 3 of those along with 3 petricolas and I love them beautiful looking I must say! I'm sure they will come out eventually! Mine have been out non stop from day one and since getting them I see more of the petricolas also! They constantly swimming around looking for food and even swimming up the glass flying across the waterline to the back of the tank! Bare with them and they will appear soon.

How big did you buy them? My petricolas were bought tiny and the cukoos were slightly bigger but it's either my imagination but they seem to be slightly bigger now and only had the cuckoos a week and the petricolas 2 weeks. Took a snap of both and they are in the my fish link in my sig if u want to take a look!

 

[2na]

Thanks EliseW and SensesFail. I am keeping the Cuckoos with six Discus in pH 5.5-6.5 in a 260l tank so perhaps the bigger Discus and pH may not suit the Cuckoos? The Cuckoos are approximately 4cm, I purchased them approximately one month ago.

 

[SensesFail]

Thanks EliseW and SensesFail. I am keeping the Cuckoos with six Discus in pH 5.5-6.5 in a 260l tank so perhaps the bigger Discus and pH may not suit the Cuckoos? The Cuckoos are approximately 4cm, I purchased them approximately one month ago.

I believe they like a Ph around 8 so could explain but I'm not sure. But I guess that depends how they have been bred and in what water conditions. Did you ask your LFS what their Ph was? If the Ph was 7.5-8 could be an explanation why they ain't thriving?

My Ph is around 7.5 but dices need the 6.5ish don't they? Fingers crossed they will acclimatise and do brilliantly they are lovel catfish I'm really pleased and impressed with them. Hopefully some could allaborate on the Ph and what effects it could have. (I'm new and it's a question I wouldn't mind knowing)

 

[elisew]

Hmm, the ph issue may be one for you to seriously consider as Discus prefer a low ph yet the syno`s are known to prefer the higher end of the ph i.e 7.8-8.2 which is the required ph for Tanganyikan species which your Cuckoos fall into.
I would imagine due to the higher ph requirements your lfs would have (or at least should have) kept them in harder water, even if they have an RO system running throughout the store for a softer water, this wouldn`t have helped the synos even if they had acclimatised them and you also acclimatised them (if that makes sense?)

It might be an option to have a browse on the internet to see if another syno of some sort would be better for your setup and lower ph, your lfs may be able to change them for something else?

 

[2na]

Hi there, Just a quick note to say that the Cuckoos are starting to make some appearances in the open. They now dart in and out of the open when I feed my fish. They are beautifully marked and vigerous when having a feed. Seems like they are begining to get used to the other fish in the tank.