Synodontis Cat Fish

Synodontis are a group of catfishes from Africa. Many are natives of the great African lakes, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. They are very active fishes, but most are nocturnal. Many Synodontis are insectivorous but usually accept flake foods, very small pieces of meat and, naturally, aquatic invertebrates. Synodontis are also partial to garden peas and will often race out of their cave to feed on them. Of the many Synodontis species, about five spend more than SO percent of their time swimming upside-down. Synodontis catfishes usually do welling the average aquarium and species from the Rift Lakes make good companions for the African Rift Lake cichlids.

Synodontis factionists from the Zaire River and pool sin Central Africa. It is one of the smaller Synodontis species, with exceptional specimens growing to maximum of 2Ocm(8in). The golden-yellow bars seen in healthy young specimens make it a popular choice .Feeding this long-lived species is simple, as the fish avidly consumes most small frozen and dried foods, as well as flakes and pellets. It benefits from the addition of small live foods.such as Daphnia and My sis shrimp.

The stunning angel catfish(Synodontis angelic us) has a blackbody completely overlaid with white dots. The striped fins are transparent in places. Co lour varies between fishes; some have many spots, other shave thistle bars and spots. The angel catfish thrives in most types of water at about 2.5.°C(77°F). In a good-sized tank, it grows to about 20cm(8in).

King of the catfishes

Red tailed catfish (Practice) can grow to over90cm(36in) long and have earned something of a cult following. The top of the body is slate gray to black, the underside is white, sometimes with ad ark vertical band. The light gray head has a profusion of black spout. The tail is red and there may be some orange around the edge of the dorsal fin.

Coupled with its long white barbells large mouth, it is an impressive fish and can command a high price .Clearly, it requires a large tank with efficient filtration to take away all themes's that the fish creates. Aquarium decorations will be demolished, so confine the furnishing to gravel. Large catfishes can deliver a nasty bite to the hand that feeds them.

Giant catfishes

With the advent of modern tank building techniques and very strong adhesives, it is no longer a problem to build large tanks. Aquariums measuring 180cm(72in) long with a capacity of 680 liters (150 gallons)are quite common throughout the hobby. This means that the scope for keeping larger species of tropical fish is greater than ever before. Many of these fishes are given a 'pet' status by their owners, and when kept on their own they tend to develop a personality that is theirs alone. Due to their large size, it is not usually possible to decorate the tank with plants or any quantity of rockwork, as the fish soon demolish these with disastrous results! Most pet tanks are furnished with just the basics, such as gravel and an undergrad filter, coupled with a power filter to cope with the large volume of waste that these fish produce.

The shovelnose catfish(Scrubbing lima) is often for sale as juvenile at 10-13cm(4-Sin). However,with care it can reach at least 38cm(15in). Obviously, you must keep this highly predatory fish away from any other fish that might slip into its huge mouth. Feed it about three times week. Raw fish is a good base food and can include whitebait, angelfish any runts or deformities that your,dealer can easily supply.