Synodontis quartet, ~8"-12", in 4500 gal

[thebiggerthebetter]

The new rescue Shadow has been doing alright in the 1800 gal so far.

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A video on the topic of parasitic rasp by Synodontis eupterus aka featherfin and by the most common syno hybrid (aka valentiana, zebra, jaguar synodontis, etc.), whose one parent is believed to be the eupterus:

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A story of a truly unbelievable come back by a eupterus: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...ast-pic-is-not-for-the-faint-of-heart.652706/

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The new rescue eupterus Shadow has taken quite well to the tank, now hangs often with all the older and larger eupterus and hybrids.

I was filming something unrelated, when I noted that two of our 12", 5-6 years old decorus are quarrelling, from my mole hill for no good reason at all:

 

[Fishman Dave]

Very interesting behaviour, especially as one looks slightly larger and chunkier than the other (hard to tell from the video).

 

[Krismo962]

I don't know s**t about catfish ,but I really dig the accent!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Very interesting behaviour, especially as one looks slightly larger and chunkier than the other (hard to tell from the video).

Yes, one is 1"-2" longer and chunkier but the instigator and agitator appears to be the smaller one. The third one is yet smaller and is staying out of it behind Pterodoras granulosus.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

We lost our first eupterus in the last 11 years since we moved to Florida.

We rescued the fish 11 years ago at roughly 1 year of age, so it was about 12 years old... It spent some years in a semi-outdoor pond where the water got too hot in the blazing FL summer sun and oxygen depleted and this is why I think it developed slight gill curl (after this I installed shade over the pond) - it is the only specimen of any kind of synodontis I have ever seen with a gill curl.

Since they live 20 to 30+ years for some peers, this wasn't a natural lifespan, I reckon. I don't think this is old age at all. I think it died from the same bacteria or protozoan parasite, as the main cause, that took out lots of our fish. The strong swelling is a symptom that many fish we lost shared.

I also think that insufficient water changes contributed too. I waited too long to replace 6 RO membranes. The WC was like 100% in 3-4 weeks for the last couple of years, versus 3-4 days when the RO membranes are fresh. Even though the TDS was still around 300 ppm, that is quite acceptable, I think this is at least one significant compounding factor in the passing of the syno.

12 years old, 10 inches. Check out them rasping teeth. Yikes! No wonder they can damage the skin so bad on tank mates.

 

[Midwater]

How do synos do in planted tanks? Will they rip up the plants and suck off the moss?

 

[Fishman Dave]

Some of the ones I have had love to eat plants. Wouldn’t trust them at all with anything stemmed or softer than vallis.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The syno eupterus and the hybrids were caught rasping a sun catfish:

 

[_Wolf]

The syno eupterus and the hybrids were caught rasping a sun catfish:

My Synodontis Eupterus was doing the same to my koi fish!
I had to separate the koi, and temporarily put him in my cichlid grow out tank since I don't have anywhere else to put him in.

Synodontis eupterus bullied koi fish

The aftermath of what my syno cat did to my large koi.I had to separate the koi, and temporarily put him in my cichlid grow out tank.

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