Synodontis for Cichlids

[FrankSlapperinni]

I'm sure SMB knows this one, but what is a synodontis catfish that swims upside-down? I say one at my LFS the other day and I thought they were very interesting to say the least. but the pet store only labeled them "synodontis catfish" and I thought that a school of them would be perfect for my future 75 gallon (unless of course they get two ft. long).

I tried looking at planet catfish, but the only one they had (under upside down that is) was Synodontis nigriventris, with is only 4 inches and the ones I say at the pet store must have been at least a good 8"

any help would be appreciated

 

[freshmike]

Was it a Synodontis multipunctatus? aka. cuckoo catfish?

They grow to 6" about and like to be in groups...they are from Lake Malawi.....read up on them they are very interesting!!!
Fairly expensive too though....

 

[CFC]

Many species of synodontis will invert when young but once mature tend to to adopt a normal upright swimming stance, only two species are known to spend the majority of their time USD which are the nigriventris and the contractus, the latter i seriously doubt your lfs had in stock and would be expensive if they did.
Now for the worrying bit, there is a asian species of USD cat by the name of Mystus leucophasis, to the untrained eye these do look a little like synodontis species and they would reach the sizes you say this one was. Beware this fish is a out and out predator and is highly aggressive and territorial, a name search using MYSTUS on planet catfish in the cat-e-log will show you a pic of the Asian USD cat so you can see if this was your fish.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

No, none of those are them. Do cichlids bother catfish in the tank? because I was wondering if I could get a school of Synodontis nigriventris without them being beaten to death.
if you need to know, the cichlids in the tank will be

Pseudotropheus acei
labidos hongi
Cynotilapia axelrodi
Pseudotropheus zebra (blue cobalt zebra)
pseudotropheus demasoni

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

anyone?

 

[CFC]

S.nigriventris are very shy little cats that dont do well with large boisterous tank mates, while the cichlid names you give mean nothing to me i recognise them as mbuna type cichlids which always spells trouble. I would go with one of the larger species of syno which will be more able to look after its self.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Would Synodontis ocellifer be a good companion for cichlids? or would it eat them? the smallest one I have listed is the demesoni which is about 2 1/2 but is one of the most aggressive Mbuna.

 

[gadazobe]

I have a synodontis euruptis (spelling?) commonly known as a featherfin upside catfish in with my cichlids - he's not quite fully grown, but he holds his own with them and also my large 10" plec My cichlids are African, peacocks and mbunas.