Is this a Decorated Synodontis?

shaggbark

shaggbark

The rare and Elusive....Ninja Cod
Feb 12, 2007
651
0
0
52
Hopewell Jct. NY
I have a way of falling into free fish....

Several months ago I asked the lady at the LFS to bag two Juli Cories for me, to add to my collection. She thought that these were cories, when I told her of her error, she bagged the cories and told me to take these for free. She owns the place, I was a little alarmed that she did not know what a cory was!

I never purchase fish without knowing what I am purchasing and how to care for them. I did an little research on them and they have lived happily in my 90 gallon ever since. I figure that you guys can tell me what type of Synodontis this is. Whatever kind of tank it requires I can make it happen! Thank you!

CIMG6470.JPG CIMG6460.JPG
 
Beautiful fish! Love the barbels.
 
Synodontis decorus are very interesting fish. The dorsal fin will grow a very elongate trailer if there's no fish to nip at it. They tended to be social in my tank, interacting with each other (I had 4) without any real squabbling or boundaries issues. They'd snuggle up together to sleep, it was really cute. They LOVE live blackworms. They'll stand on their heads and spin around to grab them out of the substrate. Careful though, they make them grow more quickly and these guys do get good sized. They are also called the Clown syno for the big spots. It sounds like you'll enjoy them. Congratulations!

Barbie
 
very nice s. decorus. they will grow up to 10" but you'll have plenty of room for them. you got 24.99 (liveaquaria.com) fish for FREE. very nice anyways.
 
you'll need 50 min. you're fine there.
 
Thanks guys 8) I knew that you would know.....the information was very interesting and we are sure to enjoy them even more now!
 
Close, but not a decorus. The spots on the caudal and dorsal fins are the key, decorus have stripes. The yellow color is another indication. Juvie decorus are white w/black spots, becoming a copper/brown color as they mature. Those are most likley hybrids. Not necessarily a bad thing unless you plan to breed them (which is highly unlikely to be successful) since decorus do grow to 12". They are a social fish, unlike most larger species of Syno's, but require a very large tank to be properly housed.
Here's a link to some decorus pics: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=84
 
Out of interest I had a look through every Synodontis at PlanetCatfish and Scotcat. I can't see anything that matches these fish. The bold fin markings are quite special compared to other species.
So not only did you get great fish for free, but they're seemingly not a common species either :y220e:

Martin.
 
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