bichir and Synodontis
- Thread starter GarNiac
- Start date
Some do some don't. Synos can do more damage than plecos. However as long as they are always full they won't bother the bichirs but it's always a risk.
well then I guess I better remove them from my tank. I wouldnt take the risk, thanks for the answer, I've heard Synodontis can grow really big too; I though having them in the tank would be such a help just to finish the remaining food.
Well if you wanna add a catfish to get the remaining food, add a stripe raphael catfish.GarNiac;3628301; said:
I was thinking to do that, in fact I've just bought one Raph around 5", but currently in a separate tank. I was going to put them together, not until I saw the guy in the lfs hurt him self for trying to pick up the Raph by his hand, not to sure what happened but he said hes finger was stuck between the side fins of the raph. Besides, raph scales seem very sharp. I'm afraid these could harm my bichirs.King-eL;3628310; said:
I've kept Synodontis eupterus and Synodontis ocellifer with Polypterus senegalus before with no issues.
Garniac, a striped Raphael catfish should absolutely be fine with bichirs. They rarely bother anyone but you need to reconsider your choice because some of us are easily disappointed by the rather nocturnal lifestyle of raphael catfish. And yes, they can injure you if you are not careful. Do not lodge your fingers between their pectoral fins. I had mine croak for a moment and it suddenly locked my fingers into its pectoral fins. I suffered several cuts in the process trying to shake him off.
Garniac, a striped Raphael catfish should absolutely be fine with bichirs. They rarely bother anyone but you need to reconsider your choice because some of us are easily disappointed by the rather nocturnal lifestyle of raphael catfish. And yes, they can injure you if you are not careful. Do not lodge your fingers between their pectoral fins. I had mine croak for a moment and it suddenly locked my fingers into its pectoral fins. I suffered several cuts in the process trying to shake him off.
thanks Lupin, previously I had a few smaller raphs, but it was really boring to hv them at that size, so I traded them. Just a few days ago I saw another raph being sold at the size I've never seen before here in the lfs, which was around 5", and I was interested so I bought it.
Another thing, I keep my big tank bare bottom with absolutely no hiding place at all, so its easier for me to clean the tank, and if I put them together I hv to provide some hiding spot, perhaps a piece of rocks. Raph is a cool fish to have when they are at a big size, not small though, couse it takes ages for them to grow.
Maybe I will just buy few rainbow sharks to finish some of the remaining food in the tank, which are big enough so my endli cant swallowed them.
Another thing, I keep my big tank bare bottom with absolutely no hiding place at all, so its easier for me to clean the tank, and if I put them together I hv to provide some hiding spot, perhaps a piece of rocks. Raph is a cool fish to have when they are at a big size, not small though, couse it takes ages for them to grow.
Maybe I will just buy few rainbow sharks to finish some of the remaining food in the tank, which are big enough so my endli cant swallowed them.
I have two ralphs with my senegal and a few other fish (including common plecs).. I've had no problems. I think they are great fish.. even though you don't see them often they give such a buzz when you do see them and because of their eating habits they clean up any left over food well. I know people have had bad luck with sucking catfish and bichirs but it all comes down to personal experience. If you have somewhere to move the bichir in case something unfavourable happens I think It should be fine to keep the syno's with them. I am currently contemplating an african river biotope with bichirs and syno's and am confident that there shouldn't be much trouble.....
I had trouble with rainbow shark or any other shark minnow befores. I used to 5x 6.5" rainbow shark and they all got eaten by my 13" palmas polli. Later added a 12" black shark and it started sucking on my gars and bichirs slimes. However I also used to have another 14" black shark that won't bother my ganoid scaled fish but it died from jumping out of the tank while I was doing water changed. So make sure that when you keep shark minnows, they don't have a taste for slimes as some do and some don't.GarNiac;3628396; said:
