Wild Synodontis Njassae

[harveyb27]

Hi people. Im new to this forum and need some advice. I would appreciate all the help i can get

I recently purchased 4 Wild Synodontis Njassae. I have kept syno's before but just wanted to know what is the best food to feed these guys, especially since they are wild. They have been in the country for a few years but just want to meet thier dietry needs! I have mbuna in the tank so cant have anything too high in protein otherwise they will have health problems as most of you will know.

Also i really want to try finding out the ratios. Any idea how to tell males from females. I dont mind handling them if needs be.

Thanks you.

Harvey.

[MatsP]

Have a look at the Cat-eLog entry:

Synodontis njassae

.

However, I fear I have to be a "doubting Thomas" here, but S. njassae aren't that common - there are other fish sold as S. njassae that are man-made mixes of two species of Synodontis. Aside from the pictures in the Cat-eLog and books, I think I've seen pictures of real S. njassae since I joined this forum about 6 years ago.

Do you have any photos of your fish? If they are true S. njassae, we probably should add some more pictures of them to the Cat-eLog.

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Mats

[harveyb27]

Im sure they are njassae. They were imported with some wild mbuna.

Didnt get them from a lfs

let me find some pics mate

[harveyb27]

I have three small spot variant and one large spot variant.

Im aware that some lfs' sell the hybrid version and i have seen them in the flesh. My wilds are nothing like them.

Im happy for you to use these photo's btw!

[MatsP]

That's great. If you can get some clear/sharp pictures showing the whole fish, I'd be happy to add up to 5 pictures of yours to the Cat-eLog. And yes, them being imported directly from Africa does improve the chances of them being genuine by a large amount [I'm pretty sure yours are], but some importers/wholesalers aren't always honest about the origin of the fish.

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Mats

[Birger]

Do a forum search you should find some good info in past posts...

Also i really want to try finding out the ratios. Any idea how to tell males from females. I dont mind handling them if needs be.

Most male synos in good shape will have a ridged genital papillae, like in the picture below, fairly easy to see with a little practice. You should not have to pull the fish out but it is not always easy to get a good look at them from the side.

boo.jpg.jpg (15.07 KiB) Viewed 2196 times

Birger

[harveyb27]

That's great. If you can get some clear/sharp pictures showing the whole fish, I'd be happy to add up to 5 pictures of yours to the Cat-eLog. And yes, them being imported directly from Africa does improve the chances of them being genuine by a large amount [I'm pretty sure yours are], but some importers/wholesalers aren't always honest about the origin of the fish.

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Mats

The only light used were the living room ones. I had the lights off in the tank as i have them on timers (not to scare the fish). The light will be much better during the day so i will try my best. They are very fast... they always dissapear before i can even press the capture button

I am able to make some HD vids which would show thier true nature. I only got these on friday so dont want to scare them too much. I did plan to put them in a small clear container simply to get very clear photo's, but will do this when i feel its right. When i do though, i will post some pics.

Do a forum search you should find some good info in past posts...

Also i really want to try finding out the ratios. Any idea how to tell males from females. I dont mind handling them if needs be.

Most male synos in good shape will have a ridged genital papillae, like in the picture below, fairly easy to see with a little practice. You should not have to pull the fish out but it is not always easy to get a good look at them from the side.

boo.jpg.jpg

Birger

That pic is exactly what i needed. I wasnt sure what to look for. Thank you.

I did read the details on the syno-njassae page too. I think i will try and sex them when i do the photo's as mentioned above.

The cats are healthy as of now, dont think i will have any problems. But it was mentioned healthy males would show the papillae. Is there a way to confirm females (without them breeding obviously). Unhealthy males would show flat papillae like females? Im assuming.

Sorry if thats not clear.

[MatsP]

We can add youtube videos too - they need to be copied into the Planet Catfish account so that they don't "disappear" or "get lost" at some later stage [some people apparently forget that their video is in the Cat-eLog when they "spring clean" their accounts], but you'll still get the credit for it.

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Mats

[Richard B]

But it was mentioned healthy males would show the papillae.

The wording used previously was good shape..

ie, what i'm saying is that the papillae in males is always there, as the little conical ridge but it is easiest to see in fish that are in the best condition - a subtle difference in words...

[harveyb27]

Oops i should have specified it said healthy in the link to the syno njassae page (cat-elog).

I have tried to get pics of the whole body but there are just too many hiding places.

I will ge some on WC day when i take the rocks out!

[Richard B]

Just to jump back to the original post - i have found these really unfussy at feeding times but then i don't have the problem of stopping cichlids from eating high protein foods. - if you wanted to feed items that shouldn't be consumed by the cichlids, then there is a possibility of constructing a specific syno feeding station (which i have mentioned in previous threads). Something along the lines of an uplift fom an old undergravel filter which leads directly to a cave made from a large inverted flowerpot with an entrance in that only allows the synos in. They can learn to feed here if they don't use it as one of their hidey holes anyway.