does anyone know any good bottom feeders for a mbuna tank? Thanks.
JSchmidt
12-22-2003, 2:29 PM
The best bottom dwellers I've found for mbuna are synodontis catfish. It's strange: they are ignored by even the most aggressive mbuna.
My preference for a mbuna tank is Synodontis njassae, but those can be very difficult to find. They are the only native syno to Lake Malawi.
Very similar are Syn. multipunctatus and Syn. petricola; these are also Rift Lake synos. They look very similar to each other and to the njassae, but the of the two, the petricola is a bit smaller. I prefer the petricola, because in groups of 3 or more, they are quite a bit more active and social than the others, so you're actually like to see the petricola out and gliding around the tank during daylight hours.
Many of the other species of synos will also do OK in a mbuna tank. I've kept the following, and I'm sure others would be OK, too:
Syn. ocellifer
Syn. angelicus (my favorite syno)
Syn. decorus
Syn. eupterus
Syn. flavitaeniatus
Planet Catfish ( http://www.planetcatfish.com/ ) has a listing of many types of syno in the Mochokidae section of the Cat-eLog.
HTH,
Jim
valerie
12-22-2003, 8:48 PM
I agree with JSchmidt, Syn. multipunctatus and Syn. petricola are the best choice. Synodontis njassae is also a great choice but hard to find. These also only get 4-6" so they should work in all but small tanks.These synos should be kept in groups of atleast 3.They are fairly shy so the more there are the more they come out.
Clown loaches are also another bottom dweller that does well with africans.THey shouldnt' be housed with the very aggresive species though.
What size tank are you looking these too.