Synodontis nigriventris, are they safe with fish tiny fish?

[Rebecca Wilde]

Hi,

I'm thinking of adding Synodontis nigriventris to my 30 gallon tank but I have tiny shoaling fish of 5 cm / 1.75 in there, and so would like to know if they are safe with them. I have read horror stories about other catfish that come under the banner "upside down catfish" eating tiny fish, so really don't want to make a terrible mistake.

I also read somewhere that they can be bullies, is this true? I have a number of cories in my tank and wouldn't want to add anything that would upset them.

[unblinded]

I used to have 3 in with my neon & black neon tetras without issue. I've also had them with rasboras & danios without issue. They kind of stick to themselves under an overhung leaf, filter, rock, etc & wait for you to feed, then they get a little more active. I don't think you'll have any issues with them messing with your other fish.

[MatsP]

In my experience (well, technically, my 7-year old sons tank), S. nigriventris is reasonably safe with live-bearer fry, and certainly OK with larger community fish. Perfect community citizens.

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Mats

[Birger]

I have read horror stories about other catfish that come under the banner "upside down catfish" eating tiny fish, so really don't want to make a terrible mistake.

If you get

Synodontis nigriventris

you should have no trouble at all...but make sure of what you are getting, there are many fish that can be sold with this common name. Synodontis eupterus being one and then there is

Mystus leucophasis

AKA "Asian upside down catfish" often just sold with the "Asian" part missing.(more than once I have seen it considered a Synodontis) which can have a nasty disposition as they get bigger.

I also read somewhere that they can be bullies, is this true?

Again could be mistaken with another species...

Synodontis nigriventris

are really quite peaceful, a full grown female often can be territorial when she finds a ledge or some kind of favorite hiding spot but not to the point of being a bully.

Birger
(Mod Edit-- moved to African Forum)

[MatsP]

Birger touches on something important: The "usual" upside down catfish is

Synodontis nigriventris

, but several other fish are sold under the lable of "upside down catfish" - since it's a descriptive name, it can be considered correct for several other species of Synnodontis as well as the Asian Mystus leucophasis. My advice relates to the "usual" species.

One species of Synodontis quite often also sold as upside down catfish is

Synodontis nigrita

, which grows a bit larger and doesn't have the same mellow temperament as the S. nigriventris.

--
Mats

[Rebecca Wilde]

Thanks everyone for your input, it sounds as though they would be fine, which leads me on to my second question....

Do you think I have room for three of them in my tank? 100 x 40 x 55 cm

My current stocking is 11 cories, three spotted hoplo and 10 rasboras.

[sidguppy]

yes, but if they're the real ones, best get 5 or 6 or you won't see them at all; this is a true shoaling fish

compare it with a Corydoras, only upside down. the behaviour is quite similar

[Viktor Jarikov]

I've had a loner for 2 years. Always been a sweety in my very diverse tanks of 10-30 different kinds of fish but none were smaller than him. Many were of the same size though, ~4".

[Rebecca Wilde]

Thanks for the info!

So, if I don't have six or more I will hardly see them at all? When in an ideal situration of a good group will I see they quite regularly or will they hide away still?

I'm so tempted to buy some but just want to double check they are right for me.

[MatsP]

Mine are pretty invisible. They do come out for food sometimes... But unless you have a LARGE group they probably will hide most of the time. Which is fairly normal behaviour for A LOT of catfish.

--
Mats

[Maccus]

I'm considering these synos. There's three cute ones at the LFS...Tank is all setup and waiting. Just waiting for the mystery problems with my existing syno tank to be resolved.

[Viktor Jarikov]

IME, if you desire visible catfish, do not use any furniture/plants or just a few thin sticks of driftwood - the cats sit in bare tanks at LFSs for long times, sometimes years. But relatively speaking, the more you will get, say going from 1-2 to 5-6 to 10-15, the more visible they will be. There are too many other factors that are hard to predict but they affect visibility a lot. Your aim is a small shy syno cat that usually hangs upside down in the bushes under leaves. They will venture out only occasionally and the frequency of these ventures depends on their numbers and presence of other dither fish, cover density, furniture, tank size, lighting (dim is good), pecking order, bullying (if any), hunger levels, diet, temp, etc. etc.