Synodontis ID and breeding advise

[kelynrowan]

Hello,

I bought two synodontis about just over a year ago and I think I have a male and a female. They were being sold under petricola but after reading several forms I now think they might be lucipinnis? Or are they even the same species since I bought them from the same place but a month apart.

The one I believe is female has always been broader in shape but for the last 2 months she has been more swollen than usual, I was just wondering if she is gravid? I've placed a breeding set up in the tank but no eggs have been laid. The male seems interested and keeps chasing her around the tank. They both go in the breeding set up and the male has a couple of times shown breeding behaviour, wrapping himself around her and shaking. I have been trying to breed them for the last 2 months with no success.

Is breeding the same for petricola and lucipinnis?

I have attached pictures, sorry for the quality.

Thanks for any help.

 

[fishorama]

The fat 1 looks female to me too. But just because she's full of eggs doesn't really mean she's ready to spawn. Look at planetcatfish for conditions & anything that may trigger breeding like special foods or water changes of a cooler temp.

Someone recently said they thought 1 of those species are very rare in the hobby & most sold under either name are the same species. I don't know if that's correct but look at both.

I always wanted to keep the "smaller" species (I thought lucipinus). Both are very pretty but I'm a loach nut so spare bottom space is rare, lol. Let us know what you find out & how they progress, I'm interested!

 

[tanker]

Syn. Petricola are very rare, Lucipinus are much more common. I too agree that the "fatter" catfish is probably a female, but like Fishorama stated-just because she has eggs, does not mean she is ready to breed. They lay non-sticky eggs, so a marble bottom cover is needed.

 

[kelynrowan]

Thank you both for your help. Most people agree that they are probably lucipinnis. It doesn't really matter to me which they are, both species are interesting, I was just curious. Lucipinnis is probably better though for the smaller size.
I have two pots for them to go into with black marbles in. I've read several places that I should condition them with live food. However, my two nearest shops are some distance away and one is usually out of stock and the other every time I use their live food I get several nymphs in my tank. I give them frozen food but I don't know if that will have the same affect, it does on the dwarf rainbow fish.
The male is still trying to breed with her but she doesn't seem interested. I will post here if they do breed but it seems unlikely.
Thank you again.