Easiest Syno's To Breed In A Malawi Tank?

[totally tropical]

Other than mulitipunctatus which are the easiest syno's to breed. Ideally I need some synos for my hap/peacock malawi 300 litre tank. I want to breed the Malawis hence the reason why I do not want multipunctatus - at the same time if I could purchase any syno species that will also breed then that will be a huge bonus.

Also depending on the species you suggest, how many of them and male to female ratio would you have in a 300 litre tank considering there are no bottom dwellers in the tank at present?

Thank you.

 

[toddnbecka]

Aside from multi's, Synodontis petricola and/or lucipinnis are the only other Synodontis usually bred in aquariums. Not likely to be successful in a large community tank though. The eggs and fry are tiny, and take some effort to raise. As far as general cleanup though a group of 5 or more would be suitable. The sex ratio isn't critical, just keep an eye on them to make sure none are getting too much abuse. They're fine when they're small, and it takes a couple years for 3-4cm young ones to reach maturity. I had a group of 9 in a 55 gallon tank, and had to move out 2 of them. Their fins and barbels had been chewed down, but grew back good as ever after they were moved to another tank.
I had the same issue with a group of multipunctatus in another tank. Group of 7, had to move out 2, the remaining 5 get along quite well. The multi's share a 75 gallon tank with a breeding group of eureka red peacocks among others. No peacock fry yet, bit I did find a tiny catfish fry a couple weeks ago:

The wee Syno was moved into another tank to grow out. It has actually grown visibly since then, now juat about the same length as BN pleco fry the same age, but with a much larger head.