Do Synos Bite? Can They Kill Other Fish?

[fishnovice]

Do synos heve teeth? Can they bite and seriousaly injure other fish?

I have 2 synos in my cichlid tank which have doubled in size in the past 4 months. THe largest is now almost 8in with tail. Last week I found poor Tiny my jewel cichlid with a large wound in his side (HE SADLY DIED YESTERDAY IN HOSPITAL TANK)On examining the body I realised the wound was much worse than I at first assumed and someone in that tank must have bitten a fair 7mm chunk out of poor Tiny. The list of suspects includes 2 convicts and his bully big brother, none of which has a big enough mouth to make a bite wound that size. That leaves the severum (a bit of a wimp who used to hide and rarely chases smaller fish) and the synos.I have noticed the larger syno chase the smaller one and the cichlids recently - was it him? If so I need to isolate him before he kills another fish.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Which Synodontis species do you have?

Synos, like most catfish, are quite opportunistic and piscivorous to small fish. Having said that, the range of typical aggression varies quite a lot within the genus, with negriventris (Upside Down) and brichardi species being at the relatively placid end of the spectrum.

 

[fishnovice]

Which Synodontis species do you have?

Synos, like most catfish, are quite opportunistic and piscivorous to small fish. Having said that, the range of typical aggression varies quite a lot within the genus, with negriventris (Upside Down) and brichardi species being at the relatively placid end of the spectrum.

No idea what sort of synos they are, might even be 2 different species (or sexes?)or even hybrids as one has grown much larger than the other though they were almost the same size when I got them. Previous owner hadn't a clue and just called them "catfish" when he sold them to me.They are dark greyish brown with dark spots and black whiskers. The first spine at the front of the dorsal fin sticks out almost an inch longer than the rest of dorsal fin. They swim normally all over tank so not upside down synos.
Jewels aren't exactly small though poor Tiny was a real wimp who was chased and bullied by every other fish in the tank and lived on scraps as he was too scared to come to the surface at feeding time. My other jewel, the medium sized one is now looking a little subdued, guess it's cos s/he is now bottom in tank pecking order.

 

[fishnovice]

Which Synodontis species do you have?

Synos, like most catfish, are quite opportunistic and piscivorous to small fish. Having said that, the range of typical aggression varies quite a lot within the genus, with negriventris (Upside Down) and brichardi species being at the relatively placid end of the spectrum.

No idea what sort of synos they are, might even be 2 different species (or sexes?)or even hybrids as one has grown much larger than the other though they were almost the same size when I got them. Previous owner hadn't a clue and just called them "catfish" when he sold them to me.They are dark greyish brown with dark spots and black whiskers. The first spine at the front of the dorsal fin sticks out almost an inch longer than the rest of dorsal fin. They swim normally all over tank so not upside down synos.
Jewels aren't exactly small though poor Tiny was a real wimp who was chased and bullied by every other fish in the tank and lived on scraps as he was too scared to come to the surface at feeding time. My other jewel, the medium sized one is now looking a little subdued, guess it's cos s/he is now bottom in tank pecking order.

Bump
Can synos bitr big chunks out of other fish? Need to rescue jewel cichlid if they do and put him in own tank

 

[Steve Randell]

i have a 12" syno decorus who eats whatever he can get into its mouth including my 3" ebjd
i wouldn't say it was necessary to separate them, just keep an eye on them for a while,



Steve