Synodontis petricola

[AquaBarb]

Anyone kept the Cuckoo Catfish before?

Looking at substrate fish options for my Barb community tank and i really like these guys. (Got no small fish in the tank)

So far its either going to be a big group of corydoras, a Rainbow shark or maybe some of these.

Just wondered what they were like to keep

 

[Colin_T]

They need hard alkaline water (GH above 300ppm and pH above 7.6) and live in groups of 6 or more.

 

[AquaBarb]

Well i heard they were really good in Cichlid tanks but when i checked them on seriously fish it had their Gh range from 10 to 35?

 

[Colin_T]

They come from Lake Tanganyika, which has a GH over 400ppm and a pH of around 8.5.

If you get wild caught they need hard water. If you get captive bred fish, they need a GH of at least 300ppm and a pH above 7.6.

 

[AquaBarb]

Gutting

I take it this is the case for most other Synodontis.

 

[Colin_T]

Synodontis nigriventris and nigrita come from softer water. There are other interesting catfish that come from soft water. Things like the bumblebee catfish and black lancer catfish.

It depends on what fish you want to keep them with and what the GH and pH are.

 

[AquaBarb]

I was just looking into different options for some substrate fish for my Barb tank. I fell upon some Synodontis decorus while i was browsing and thought they looked cool and a bit different.

My Ph is 7.4 with Gh of 230ppm. Looking for a group of small catfish really or may a trio or pair of something to add more interest to the bottom of the tank.

 

[Colin_T]

If you were in Australia I would suggest eeltail catfish (Neosilurus sp) but you can't normally get them outside of here.

Black lancer or bumblebee catfish will work with the bigger barbs like rosy barbs, however these catfish can get to 6 inches in length.

If you get the GH to less than 200ppm you could go for captive bred Corydoras.