Upsidedown Catfish

[Zeno]

What do you guys know about the upsidedown catfish? How easy is it to care for? What is the minimum tank size it needs?

 

[RadaR]

A very cool catfish to have. Water conditions aren't insanely important just not any extremes. They are Omnivores so feed flakes and tablet food, supplemented by frozen and live food. They are relativley peaceful, older ones can become territorial, don't keep with small fish. Im not sure on size as it can vary, some grow to about 6" whilst others stay at 3". I would think a 36" length tank is suitable. As for decoration, rocks and drfitwood, delicate plants might get eaten so plants like java fern are best. Sand is a good substrate and it won't wear down their barbels.

 

[andywg]

Upside down catfish can refer to either the entire genus Synodontis or more precisely to a few species (notably Synodontis nigriventris).

The genus has some fish that grow to around 8" and some that top out at around 2". Ths S. nigriventris tops out at about 2.5" for males and 3.5" for females IIRC. I know ours haven't grown much past that in the last year.

I have never known ours to look at plants for food, though shrimp and catfish pellets go down a treat, as do bloodworms.

I would recommend sand as they like to burrow in it, I don't htink there is any evidence in the belief that gravel can wear down barbels. This was put forward quite convincingly by someone who kept corries in gravel, sand and on broken glass as a substrate and all had exactly the same condition barbels (good). Shortening barbels is far more likely to be a water quality issue than substrate choice.

 

[daspricey]

a lot of hiding places go down well.
best in groups.
watch out though, some lfs sell a diff type of usdc that grows large and pred, it's black with little spots.

 

[§tudz]

a lot of hiding places go down well.
best in groups.
watch out though, some lfs sell a diff type of usdc that grows large and pred, it's black with little spots.

check out this thread, another person was asking question on there, and I've posted answers similar to those required by your questions:

The Other Thread