Feisty Fishies
New Member
Hello! I have not been online in a while, we have so many things going on with work and home.... But I do have a question...
Some time ago I lost all of my Silver Dollars and my large Oscar while we were out of town for 2 weeks and the fish-sitter reported that somehow the filter hose disconnected and drained all of the water.... It was heartbreaking but I cleaned out the tank and then started from scratch with new substrate and decor and added to the tank 2 medium size Oscars (that I got when they were tiny) and 1 Woodcat (South American catfish).
The local fish store I go to recently had a large Synodontis Eupterus catfish (Featherfin) that was given to them as it outgrew it's owners tank and they had been trying to find a home for it. I've had these before and I like them, but had not put one in my current tank. Against my better judgement I became emotional about how much I loved the ones we had years ago and I took him .
He seems fine with everybody so far. The store personnel said he has spent his life with Oscars and the water parameters did not seem to bother him even though they are from different continents and he was peaceful. He seems fine so far and is fun to watch and a very personable fish, around 7 inches or so in length.
My questions are:
1. It bothers me that I seem to recall that they like being in groups and I have him alone as the only 1 of that species. Are they DEFINITELY needing to be in groups (like Clown Loaches) or do they seem to do OK by themselves if needed? If I need to I can add more but I did not want to overstock my tank. It is 8'X2'X20" and 200 gallon with 2 medium size Oscars and one 6 inch Woodcat. I can probably add more if needed but everybody in that tank can get large and I would prefer to keep it less stocked.
2. He was living with smaller catfish at the fish store. They said he had been there for some time and had not been aggressive with them. He seems peaceful in my tank but I know they are potentially semi-aggressive. Does anybody have reason to believe that at some point he might terrorize my Woodcat? I love that fish and he is peaceful and minds his business and if he starts getting picked on the Syno would need to be rehomed.
3. Several years ago my Featherfins had visible spots, and I most often see them with spots in pictures. This guy is black with no visible spots with a subtle silver marking down the sides, but has the characteristic long, feathery dorsal . Is this color a possibility with Featherfins? Or could he be a hybrid?
Thank you for reading! I will try to get a good picture of him. He really is a neat looking fish and has a lot of personality!
Some time ago I lost all of my Silver Dollars and my large Oscar while we were out of town for 2 weeks and the fish-sitter reported that somehow the filter hose disconnected and drained all of the water.... It was heartbreaking but I cleaned out the tank and then started from scratch with new substrate and decor and added to the tank 2 medium size Oscars (that I got when they were tiny) and 1 Woodcat (South American catfish).
The local fish store I go to recently had a large Synodontis Eupterus catfish (Featherfin) that was given to them as it outgrew it's owners tank and they had been trying to find a home for it. I've had these before and I like them, but had not put one in my current tank. Against my better judgement I became emotional about how much I loved the ones we had years ago and I took him .
He seems fine with everybody so far. The store personnel said he has spent his life with Oscars and the water parameters did not seem to bother him even though they are from different continents and he was peaceful. He seems fine so far and is fun to watch and a very personable fish, around 7 inches or so in length.
My questions are:
1. It bothers me that I seem to recall that they like being in groups and I have him alone as the only 1 of that species. Are they DEFINITELY needing to be in groups (like Clown Loaches) or do they seem to do OK by themselves if needed? If I need to I can add more but I did not want to overstock my tank. It is 8'X2'X20" and 200 gallon with 2 medium size Oscars and one 6 inch Woodcat. I can probably add more if needed but everybody in that tank can get large and I would prefer to keep it less stocked.
2. He was living with smaller catfish at the fish store. They said he had been there for some time and had not been aggressive with them. He seems peaceful in my tank but I know they are potentially semi-aggressive. Does anybody have reason to believe that at some point he might terrorize my Woodcat? I love that fish and he is peaceful and minds his business and if he starts getting picked on the Syno would need to be rehomed.
3. Several years ago my Featherfins had visible spots, and I most often see them with spots in pictures. This guy is black with no visible spots with a subtle silver marking down the sides, but has the characteristic long, feathery dorsal . Is this color a possibility with Featherfins? Or could he be a hybrid?
Thank you for reading! I will try to get a good picture of him. He really is a neat looking fish and has a lot of personality!
