My latest project

[FishAddict74]

Looks good. Nice set up and fish. Should look really nice when everyone gets settled in and starts showing their best colors. But hybrids? ? I know hybrids, from hybrid peacocks to flowerhorns to parrots, are so common these days that it's pretty hard to avoid them for the casual hobbyist. But the thought still makes me cringe a bit. Ten years ago the word hybrid in a post would have been impetus for a holy crusade in the name of the mightiest fish god of them all, Cichlidae, lol, so I have grown out of it some.

WYite

Thank you!
I’m somewhat on the fence with hybrids. For me it all depends on the purpose of the tank. I would never breed or sell hybrids except for things like OBs or Dragonbloods. I would also skip hybrids if I was doing a species or location specific tanks with male n female. For this tank it’s just an all male display tank with the goal being as much color as possible for purely aesthetics and for that purpose I’m good with hybrids

 

[FishAddict74]

I like bettas but they do nothing besides dying lol, livebearers but they are so infested with flukes, internal worms and parasites. I like cichlids too but im keeping my shrimps so no. Rainbowfish bosemani, those cute fat ones but none of my stores sell them. Idk what else.

That’s weird that your bettas keep dying or the live bearers are diseased. Do you have bad LSFs nearby?

 

[Sprinkle]

That’s weird that your bettas keep dying or the live bearers are diseased. Do you have bad LSFs nearby?

That is possible, pets at home and their 6 goldfish in a 30 litre tank so yeah very possible. Probably, *PROBABLY* Abyss Aquatics are reputable enough. Bought my sparklers off them and they came very healthy, but they are imported from 10-12 dGH area and they dont breed them themselves. The store is 2-3 hours from me so i cant go to them personally and camt afford 40-50 pound shopping on there online store.

 

[FishAddict74]

I picked up these guys today, deep
Water Hap and protomelas labridens. This tank is pretty much completed I think, I’ll probably get a small group of Synodontis multipunctatus at some point tho

 

[Wyomingite]

I picked up these guys today, deep
Water Hap and protomelas labridens. This tank is pretty much completed I think, I’ll probably get a small group of Synodontis multipunctatus at some point tho

I love deepwater haps. As far as haps go, I only like giraffe cichlids (Nimbochromis venustus) better.

You'll want to stay away from S. multipunctatus. Here's why.

If you look at books and other literature prior to the early to mid 2000s, you'll find that the maximum length for S. multipunctatus is listed as being either 5 to 5.5 inches or 9 to 11 inches. This is because two species were being imported as S. multipunctatus: true S. multipunctatus and S. grandiops. True multipunctatus reach 10 inches or so as a maximum length while grandiops reach 5 inches or so. S. grandiops wasn't even described as a different species until around 2005 (I can't remember, but I know several species were described in that paper). Until they are adults, they are very hard to identify by sight alone due to little external difference. The differences are primary with internal anatomy and adult size. To make matters truly confusing, some workers believe that there are probably another species or two that can be separated from both of these. Anyways, even today if you order "multipunctatus" you can't be sure of which you're going to get because wholesalers don't pay attention and don't care. They just want to sell their fish. A group of 5 inch grandiops would fit fine in your tank, but I'm guessing you don't want a group of 10 inch true multipunctatus in a 75 gallon tank.

As alternate choices, I'd recommend S. petricola, S. lucipinnis or S. polli, in that order. Petricola is usually just sold as petricola, lucippinis is usually sold as the dwarf petricola, and polli is usually just sold as polli. Respectively they max out at about 5 inches, 4 inches and 7 inches. Any of these would be a better choice for a 75 gallon tank, but if you get the polli I'd suggest you might only get three instead of four or five. In my experience, dwarf petricolas seem to be a little more sensitive to active fish (they become skittish), and polli can lose their silver with spots color and turn dark gray or black.

I have kept all five of the above. The only species beyond these five that I've seen offered for sale with any frequency is S. granulosus, another 10 inch species which can also turn black with age. I've never kept it. The other five species of synodontis in Lake Tanganyika all get at least 10 inches and I've never seen any of them for sale that I can remember. One of them even pushes two feet in length, if I remember right.

WYite

 

[FishAddict74]

I love deepwater haps. As far as haps go, I only like giraffe cichlids (Nimbochromis venustus) better.

You'll want to stay away from S. multipunctatus. Here's why.

If you look at books and other literature prior to the early to mid 2000s, you'll find that the maximum length for S. multipunctatus is listed as being either 5 to 5.5 inches or 9 to 11 inches. This is because two species were being imported as S. multipunctatus: true S. multipunctatus and S. grandiops. True multipunctatus reach 10 inches or so as a maximum length while grandiops reach 5 inches or so. S. grandiops wasn't even described as a different species until around 2005 (I can't remember, but I know several species were described in that paper). Until they are adults, they are very hard to identify by sight alone due to little external difference. The differences are primary with internal anatomy and adult size. To make matters truly confusing, some workers believe that there are probably another species or two that can be separated from both of these. Anyways, even today if you order "multipunctatus" you can't be sure of which you're going to get because wholesalers don't pay attention and don't care. They just want to sell their fish. A group of 5 inch grandiops would fit fine in your tank, but I'm guessing you don't want a group of 10 inch true multipunctatus in a 75 gallon tank.

As alternate choices, I'd recommend S. petricola, S. lucipinnis or S. polli, in that order. Petricola is usually just sold as petricola, lucippinis is usually sold as the dwarf petricola, and polli is usually just sold as polli. Respectively they max out at about 5 inches, 4 inches and 7 inches. Any of these would be a better choice for a 75 gallon tank, but if you get the polli I'd suggest you might only get three instead of four or five. In my experience, dwarf petricolas seem to be a little more sensitive to active fish (they become skittish), and polli can lose their silver with spots color and turn dark gray or black.

I have kept all five of the above. The only species beyond these five that I've seen offered for sale with any frequency is S. granulosus, another 10 inch species which can also turn black with age. I've never kept it. The other five species of synodontis in Lake Tanganyika all get at least 10 inches and I've never seen any of them for sale that I can remember. One of them even pushes two feet in length, if I remember right.

WYite

Wow, thanks. That makes sense since I’ve always read S. Multi get between 6-11”. I always figured 11” was in the wild and 6” captive. The one time I had them they got to about 5-6” but that was years ago. But ya, I don’t need 3 ten inch catfish lol. I like petricola although I’ve never kept them. But I’ll look into these Synodontis you mentioned, IMO a rift tank isn’t complete without a few ?