Synodontis Eupteris Trouble Maker

[AnnaFish]

Hi. I have an S. eupteris in a 55 gallon with just a few other fish. I am going to completely restart my fish hobby because with the 80 hour work weeks I had last year I totally botched it.

I don't want to get rid of him. He's my favorite. But he can't stay there. He'll eat any fish smaller than his mouth whole in the middle of the night.

I can easily sell him back to my LFS. I got him there when he was like, 2 inches. And now he is about 7". I could probably give him away too. But I was wondering, what would you guys do in order to keep him?

What kindof special tank setup could I finagle to make him the star of a tank? Or something?

 

[kizno1]

what else is in the tank?
you just need to keep him with stuff he cant fit in his mouths.

 

[AnnaFish]

Oh, sorry.

The point is that there are only three labs in the tank with him. I want to fix up this tank and get some fresh "talent" so to speak. But he'll eat them all!

 

[San O Fisher]

I went through similar issues with my syno eupt, but there is hope.
- make sure he has lots of hiding spaces
- he will eat little fish when he is hungry.

I usually drop a cube of blood worms in every couple days about two hours after the light goes off. I still lost a tetra or two when i leave for a three to four days, but normally he is fine. now that he knows he gets blood worms he tends to wait for those. I would also recommend fish that are quick, like danio's if you want smaller fish. catfish are lazier than most people think and for the most part will not chase down a danio.

you could also do tiger barbs which he cant eat. does this help?

 

[AnnaFish]

Yes, that hels a lot! Of course, it's a Malawi tank, but the blood worm idea is good!

 

[raptorrex]

- he will eat little fish when he is hungry.

its interesting you should say that. i have two, one 3 years old (6-7 inches) one 18 months old (4.5). neither bother any of my fish. i have 4 cory small enough to fit its mouth, but they are all still there! i have ADF's too, all still there. the tank is a mature, well stocked 50ukg. i feed, as i do all my fish, with flake, the odd chunk of blood worm and some pellets. they love cucumber and peas too.
no caves/hides though.