Anyone got a featherfin syno??

dumber

dumber

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Nov 9, 2004
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Midlands U.K
Anyone got a featherfin syno?? (synodontus eupterus)

I've just got one for my 40 gal, he's about 2" now and settling in. I've done the googling and got most of the info off the web but I'd like to hear some personal experiences, feeding, sociability etc. His only potential foe is a 3" chaetostoma plec who hides all day. Thanks.
 
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I have 3 of them. I got them at around 2" but now are around 6" already. They are realy hardy cause I placed them in a pond with swordtails...they are not aggresive and I think are nocturnal...and oh yea they some times make a croaking soung when I catch them.
 
Hey, thanks for that, your pond must be a lot warmer than mine here in U.K! I'm a bit dissapointed they seem to hide out most of the day, like you say - nocturnal. My plec hides too, bit of a waste of time having fish you never see, oh well.
 
:OT: I have gotta laugh at your "registered losser" coment that is really funny. :bowing: :clap:
 
Featherfin's also have an amazing personality too.

I have one in a three foot and she is a real little tom-cat. "Inzamam" - named after the tubby Indian cricket player - shares the bottom with four clown loaches who never get any relax time if she's hungry or just plain bored.

She's pretty friendly too and will more than happily follow your finger around the glass if she is in the mood. Especially if she knows it's near feeding time (she has the fattest little belly I have seen on a cat fish - when she lies on her stomach, her head is lifted off the ground!).

As for being nocturnal, I would tend to agree with that when they are young, but after a few years, mine always tend to do what they please whenever they please - day or night. It all depends on how safe they feel I guess and how many hiding spots they have.

Good luck with yours but keep an eye out on their "feather fins". If they start to shread a bit, you've let your water quality slip.
 
Nice one little loach :clap: Thanks for that info. I hope you're right about them getting more active as they grow, He's found a spot at the back of the tank in the plants where he hangs out most of the day. Although as soon as he smells food he comes out like a hoover.
 
Ours grew very fast, way faster than anything else in the tank. We got our tank in December, and the synos were about 3/4" to 1" long. They were all between 3" and 4" by February.

Once they all got over 4", there started to be some wrangling over hiding places, so I took two and traded them in at my favorite fish store.

The two that remain have territories on opposite sides of the tank and are very peaceful, though I think they sometimes freak the other fish out a bit due to sheer size. They tend to stay in the shade except at feeding time, as I have bright lights for plants. One of them shares a territory with my Queen Arabesque. They get along okay, there is sometimes a little scuffling over food tabs, but no one gets hurt or especially stressed.

The other one (we call him "The Beast" because he is so much bigger than any of the other fish) had set up in a castle that I just replaced with a larger, more natural cave structure because he could barely fit through the opening anymore. I would have sworn he would get stuck the next time he tried to come out.

I was reading up on these recently and found some posts indicating that they can live for up to 30 years!
 
:D I've seen a pic of one that was so fat his head and tail were off the ground when he was resting! Looked like he'd swallowed a golf ball :eek:
 
I've got several eupteruses, in two or three different tanks. They are pretty fun... and they are out quite a bit during the day, swimming upside down, shadowing the cichlids, etc. They're pretty amusing for synodontis catfish.

Jim
 
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