Synodontis Decorus

Steve GT said:

Yes they do get big there's 3 in at my LFS at the min I'm not sure if there fully grown or not but there about 12-15 inches roughly. I'd say you'll need atleast a 3ft tank when he gets bigger for sure

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moochy13 said:

max out at 10" according to planet catfish. steve possible you're looking at something else ? saying that, looking at the pics on PC, they look a bit different to the OP's fish. you sure its what you say it is ?

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N0body Of The Goat said:

Can you upload a decent side-on photo of the catfish? It is very common to find Synodontis hybrids of decora x multipunctata http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/_species.php?species_id=2112 , rather than the real deal http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/_species.php?species_id=84.

I have both a late juvenile ~18cm who has barely grown in the last year in my riverine 5x2x2, plus six youngsters that were bought at 4cm TL last September that are now ~6-10cm in my 4x1x1.25, who might be finally getting the big introduction tomorrow! Unlike many Synos, the real decora is very social gentle giant, my group os six youngsters bicker less than my group of 13 S. nigriventris or 4 flavitaeniata. In theory, they should all reach close to 30cm, but I've no idea how long that might take (my biggest one may never get that big, he/she was kept in a 2.5-foot LFS tank for well over 18 months before I brought it home).

How big is your specimen? If it is any bigger than ~8cm, it needs a longer tank ASAP, long term it is going to need at least a 5-foot and ideally some conspecifics.

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N0body Of The Goat said:

That new photo suggests you have a Synodontis hybrid sp.(5) because the tail fin does not have horizontal black/white bands and there is no sign of the black dorsal fin extension (although this only showed on my youngsters very recently). If I do move my youngsters tomorrow, I shall try and get a photo or two to upload and compare their appearance.

The night activity does not sound too unusual, my ones are very active once they are happy they will not be spooked by anyone wandering by, using the full volume of the tank (not just the tank floor). Having said that, your recent ammonia/nitrite spike (thread in the emergency section) may have stressed the fish and prompted it to panick and try to jump out of the water.

I cannot say I've read about nitrate intolerance, my tap water comes with ~40ppm and I usually do 50% water changes to keep the levels in check (this afternoon I did a massive "spring clean" on the 5x2x2 and ended up only keeping ~75l of the old water). However, like most Synodontis, they are quite sensitive to ammonia/nitrite spikes.

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Steve GT said:

@moochy yeah there pure decoruses they may well be 10" they just seem to be massive in the tank at the LFS. its only a small tank so im probably thinking there bigger than they actually are looking at them crammed in a tank. They want £300 for a set of 3 shocking price

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TraceyB said:

N0body Of The Goat said:

That new photo suggests you have a Synodontis hybrid sp.(5) because the tail fin does not have horizontal black/white bands and there is no sign of the black dorsal fin extension (although this only showed on my youngsters very recently). If I do move my youngsters tomorrow, I shall try and get a photo or two to upload and compare their appearance.

The night activity does not sound too unusual, my ones are very active once they are happy they will not be spooked by anyone wandering by, using the full volume of the tank (not just the tank floor). Having said that, your recent ammonia/nitrite spike (thread in the emergency section) may have stressed the fish and prompted it to panick and try to jump out of the water.

I cannot say I've read about nitrate intolerance, my tap water comes with ~40ppm and I usually do 50% water changes to keep the levels in check (this afternoon I did a massive "spring clean" on the 5x2x2 and ended up only keeping ~75l of the old water). However, like most Synodontis, they are quite sensitive to ammonia/nitrite spikes.

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I was unsure about the excess activity due to reading about them on the web.. Thanks for all your help and good luck tmrw

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Steve GT said:

@moochy yeah there pure decoruses they may well be 10" they just seem to be massive in the tank at the LFS. its only a small tank so im probably thinking there bigger than they actually are looking at them crammed in a tank. They want £300 for a set of 3 shocking price

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N0body Of The Goat said:

Nerves got the better of me and I kept the six young decora in the 4x1x1.25, because my 5x2x2 has two ~12cm SL Synodontis brichardi in there besides the ~18cm SL decora. While brichardi are far from the most aggressive synos, they are more middle of the road and given they are at least twice the length and girth of the average decora youngster in the group, I'd be worried about the youngsters getting beaten up or worse.

Not to mention I ended up putting my general fish juggle on hold, which meant that there were four 10cm Leopard Bushfish in there and some ~13cm Barilius canarenis, both of which could have been a real predatory threat to the smallest couple of young decora at least.

Hmm, your specimen... Your photo looks like the "Valentino" hybrid, yet the video clip in another thread looks more like the true decora, based on the tail markings.

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