Synodontis Petricola

[natalia89]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum, and looking for some advice on my new Synodontis petricola catfish. I have had him for 3 days now, the first day was fine, he was very active and sucking on the tank glass but the past two days he has just hidden in available caves and heavy plants. He is showing no signs of illness but his behaviour is definatley not of the typical Synodontis petricola. He has bonded with my Garra flavatra, who regularly goes and sits where he is hiding with him for a while. Any advice on what could be wrong would be great.

Thanks

 

[roadmaster]

I have kept Synodontis multipunctatus and Petricola in the past and both species were more active after lights out than during the day with exception of feeding time.
I found them to do slightly better with regards to activity level's when kept in groups.
They also seemed to like a bit of current in the tank which I provided by using a powerhead.
I fed mine chopped earthworms,carnivore pellet's,frozen Krill,and Cichlid Biogold pellet's that they stole from cichlids.

 

[natalia89]

Thanks for your reply. I am going to get another later today, see if having another of his own species will help him. He is not interested in food what so ever, and just hangs upside down in one of the caves. I will try alternative foods too, see if I can bring him round.

 

[MartinS]

Hi
Any chance of a photo?
Firslty, Synodontis petricola is often mistakenly identified, and your fish is most probably Synodontis lucipinnis. With regards care, they are pretty much the same, but am not sure I have ever seen synos sucking on the glass.
These fish (as am sure you are aware) require hard, alkaline water, plenty of rockwork and meaty foods and flake. Sadly there are lots of hybrids being sold and I think a photo would help confirm the ID before giving any further advice.
HTH
Martin