Synodontis Catfish Advice Asap Please.

[DazzaClio]

Hi,

I picked up around 8 decent size Synodontis Catfish last night all different types.

Now this is my first time owning these and ive read up on condtions etc.

Heres my problem they seem to be breathing really rapid ie gill movement, now is this normal with these?

All my water parimeters are fine, ive got good aeration and the water temp is 27 celsius.

Any advice asap would be great as i dont want to risk losing any.

Thanks.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

You need to get this lot properly identified ASAP, the Synodontis group contains a whole of temprements from highly social to downright evil with any other Synodontis in their tank, not to mention they have wide ranging setup requirements.

27C is also rather high until you know what you have, this could be a big factor in their gasping because that water can hold far less oxygen than say a Synodontis brichardi would get in a 22C "rapids" setup, you need to reduce the temp to 24C tops ASAP with lots of surface rippling from the filters and powerheads until you know what you have.

Besides the excess temperature, other factors that could contribute include a big change in water chemistry from their old tank; simple stress from the move; stress because there are some placid synos mixed with evil ones; not enough hidey holes for everyone; the acclimitisation process was too quick etc.

But cool that water down and get some good photos uploaded that you can embed on forums, be prepared to join Planetcatfish for proper IDs, there are many similar looking Synodontis that can easily be misidentified eg. I ordered a Synodontis notata online and received a S. congica instead.

What sizes are these "decent sized" fish and what are the dimensions of the tank?