Synodontis Angelicus

[cichlid-mad]

Hi i just found out that i have a Synodontis angelicus can any1 give me advice on this catfish thnx.

 

[stang1]

Hi i just found out that i have a Synodontis angelicus can any1 give me advice on this catfish thnx.

Synodontis angelicus - The Polka-dot Catfish
We have just purchased a Synodontis angelicus and didn't know too much about it. I found this article on a website. Hope it helps
By David Marshall
Written for the Ryedale Reporter, Ryedale Aquarist Society, England
Aquarticles

Ask any fellow aquarist to name a member of the African catfish genus Synodontis and chances are that they will immediately answer 'angelicus'. I fell in love with the first angelicus I ever saw, during a visit to the British Aquarist Festival in the early 1980's, and have kept them ever since.

Synodontis angelicus occurs naturally in the Malebo (Stanley) Pool area of Zaire. Colour varies with populations so we find those which have dull grey bodies speckled with white spots to those whose bodies are a brilliant jet black and adorned with spots of the brightest yellow. Although the majority of textbooks still give 8" (200mm) as the maximum size attained by these fish, specimens greatly in advance of this size are currently seen on the showing benches here in the U.K.

In our hobby these fish have been known under a host of common names, so although you are most likely to know them as polka-dot catfish, you may have seen them offered for sale as angel catfish, pearl squeaker (the noise they make when removed from the water) or black clown catfish among others.

When purchasing a Synodontis angelicus never pick a specimen with a sunken or thin looking body as these never fare well. Always make sure that your fish is double bagged as they can use their pectoral fins to break the strongest of plastic (and do great harm to unwary fingers). For this reason we never move any species of Synodontis in a net and I prefer to usher these fish into cooking bowls.

The minimum sized aquarium in which to keep a Synodontis angelicus is 48"x12"x12". A temperature of 78 F and a pH of 7 will keep these fish happy. We use small sized gravel as a substrate (their lively activity sends sand flying around the aquarium). Decorate the aquarium with tangles of Mopani wood, large Amazon sword plants (real or plastic) and add variously sized ceramic plant pots as refuges. It does not take an angelicus long to pick out a favourite territory. Although initially shy it does not take them long to settle down and loose their natural nocturnal nature.

Angelicus tend to be very lively and boisterous. At Chester Zoo they have managed to maintain several angelicus together as a group but this is not always wise and I have heard several accounts of how the members of such a group will fiercely fight and bite at each other in order to form a strict 'pecking order'. I have kept them in the company of other large growing Synodontis and although they will feud and hold territories rarely do much harm to such companions. Other species of fish with which I have successfully kept angelicus include red parrot cichlids, plecostomus, large rasbora species, keyhole cichlids and doradids. I have seen them kept with Rift Valley cichlids and was very surprised to see an angelicus maintained in a brackish aquarium but cannot comment on their suitability, or how they coped in the long term, in these respects never having kept these fish in such a set-up.

Feeding angelicus is never much of a problem. Unlike Synodontis decorus, which will often only take vegetable-based flake upon importation, angelicus will usually accept a varied diet right from the start. All standard commercial fish foods, prawns and pieces of Thai crab sticks will be taken with great gusto. It is not unknown for some specimens to become obese but there is very little that the aquarist can do about this.

Synodontis tend to fall into two categories. There are those, as I have found with commercially produced Synodontis alberti (Albert's catfish), which grow very quickly but pay for this with relatively short lives while others, which form the majority, grow at a slower rate and can live in excess of 20 years. Thankfully our angelicus fall into the latter category, if cared for properly.

Angelicus are very immune to many fish illnesses that occur in aquaria. One of their worst maladies is to acquire burns from aquarium heaters. Often their bodies will show scratches from fights with fellow tank companions but these soon heal over. An angelicus unhappy with the water quality of its aquarium will form a mucus coating (which first appears around their head) until water changes put the conditions back to its liking, at which point the mucus usually falls away without leaving any sore patches etc.

From the published accounts of field researchers we know that these fish spawn in seasonal floodplains. Mature females, which were seen to be more rounded and have plainer body colours than their male counterparts, can release close to 4,000 eggs. These eggs are said to be very sticky. Going by what we know of Synodontis zambezensis we can expect the eggs to be dark orange in colour. No parental care is undertaken with the eggs falling towards the substrate. The newly hatched fry feed upon naturally occurring micro-organisms.

Although I have read no reports of commercial spawnings I have been told, by several aquarists, that breeders in Poland were the first to use hormone stimulation in order to breed these fish (along with Synodontis decorus) at some point in the early 1990s. Seeing some of the beautiful Synodontis that are currently coming to us from the Czech Republic I would not be surprised to find that angelicus have been bred here also?

As a final word always shop around when thinking of purchasing a Synodontis angelicus as their price, certainly in the U.K., can greatly vary from one retail outlet to another.

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[cichlid-mad]

thanks alot

 

[stang1]

Thought I'd give you an update on the synodontis angelicus (Polka-Dot Catfish). We decided to buy 3 pictus catfish to put in the tank, we were told that they would all be fine together. No sooner had we released the Pictus the Polka-Dot went crazy! He kept attacking the Pictus and it was a really ferocious attack. We intervened the best we could but the Pictus ended up cowering in different parts of the tank. The Polka-Dot ended up stalking them and in the end we rang our lfs. They offered to take the Polka-Dot off us and said it was unlikely he would have settled with the Pictus. We were incredibly sad to see him go but it would have been unfair to keep him . We've since learnt that he could grow up to 55cm and not 20cm like we were told. We're not blaming anyone for this as we've learnt that like humans they all behave differently. I'm not in anyway saying that yours will behave the same but I thought I'd let you know. They really are a beautiful fish and we will miss him, but hopefully he'll be rehomed with something more suitable.
I hope you have more luck