Help! Who Am I?

[Suey]

Hi There
The lady at the pet shop said this fish was a "Snuffullophogos" or something...durr. It is approx 5 inches long. Has small branch-like feelers/whiskers around its mouth (not a bristlenose), is brown with black spots like a leopard, a big wavy dorsal fin with a long, one-stranded, traily bit on top. It is quite interactive and can make sounds. Would love to post photo I took of it, but not sure how to upload. She said it was peaceful and would not hurt my other fish - tetras, rasboras, bristle-noses and corys. However, in the 10 months I have owned it, the fish population has dwindled with strangley no evidence of dead fish. Tank is approx 150litres and everyone lives healthily. I have a sneaky suspicion that "big guy" here is eating those smaller than his mouth! Would like to know what he is, and confirm whether or not he is cannibal. Any information much appreciated - I went back to the pet shop but there were none of his species there that time.

PS When I clicked Add Image it said I have to enter URL for the file (no browse option). What does one do here, when photo is stored in My Pictures? Sorry to be so dumb, but first time here.
Cheers
Suey

 

[BigIan]

does he look something like This If so he`s a common syno and should be fine with your fish.
What sort of maintenance do you carry out on the tank?

 

[Suey]

does he look something like This If so he`s a common syno and should be fine with your fish.
What sort of maintenance do you carry out on the tank?

YAY Thank you SO much - that is exactly him Nice to know he is not the culprit as he's so cute. I do a 25% water change every three weeks or so, suction clean all the gravel, add my tap water with neutraliser in, clean the filter once every 6 weeks or so and the temp runs at around 26 degrees. What am I doing wrong? Forgive me for not being total fish fanatic, actually have/ride three horses and they occupy me most of the time.

 

[Suey]

does he look something like This If so he`s a common syno and should be fine with your fish.
What sort of maintenance do you carry out on the tank?

YAY Thank you SO much - that is exactly him Nice to know he is not the culprit as he's so cute. I do a 25% water change every three weeks or so, suction clean all the gravel, add my tap water with neutraliser in, clean the filter once every 6 weeks or so and the temp runs at around 26 degrees. What am I doing wrong? Forgive me for not being total fish fanatic, actually have/ride three horses and they occupy me most of the time.

Hahaha just read the rest of the article and find I'm not convinced he's not eating anyone. My neons have suffered the most....

 

[pica_nuttalli]

hrm.... what size tank do you have? most people new to fish were sold tanks that are really too small for the number of fish they want to keep. if you don't know the number of gallons or liters, take measurements of length, width and height. that'll be enough information for us

other than that, you'll want to try increasing the number of water changes to a 20-30% change once a week. three weeks is a bit long between changes for most tanks.

 

[Suey]

Thanks - my tank is 1.2m long, 33cm wide and 40cm high. I inherited the conglomeration from my brother when it had THREE neons in it; that was all (I can hear laughing)

I have had it for 18 months and everyone did quite well until Mr Syno came along. He is there right now with about 3 peppered corys, two bristlenoses, 8 harlequins, 8 lemon tetras, 3 tetras (like neons but with orange stripe) and 15 or so neons, which over 10 or so months since I bought Syno, are now down to 5. Prior to that he has eaten 5 head and tail lights and about another 10 neons. I bought 3 penguin tetras 3 weeks ago, and we are down to one, and one with his tail eaten This guy is a monster lol. Thanks for tip re more regular cleaning - will try harder - I really do love fish too Cheers

hrm.... what size tank do you have? most people new to fish were sold tanks that are really too small for the number of fish they want to keep. if you don't know the number of gallons or liters, take measurements of length, width and height. that'll be enough information for us

other than that, you'll want to try increasing the number of water changes to a 20-30% change once a week. three weeks is a bit long between changes for most tanks.

 

[Mor61e]

I think he's definately the culprit

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i'm not convinced, not worked out the exact gallonage of the tank but that's a lot of fish.

i fear there may be water quality issues due to over stocking and not enough maintenance, neon's aren't hardy at all so it wouldn't be unusual for them to die and the others be OK. it's a warning sign though to sort things out a bit.

virtually all fish will happily eat the dead body of a fish, i don't think the syno would be eating them live though

 

[Suey]

Thanks I will try harder, but really, for a 150 litre tank, there is only about 15 very small fish and the three larger ones - I have been told I have room for heaps more, but don't want to get them when they will only be a meal for JAWS.

i'm not convinced, not worked out the exact gallonage of the tank but that's a lot of fish.

i fear there may be water quality issues due to over stocking and not enough maintenance, neon's aren't hardy at all so it wouldn't be unusual for them to die and the others be OK. it's a warning sign though to sort things out a bit.

virtually all fish will happily eat the dead body of a fish, i don't think the syno would be eating them live though