Synodontis multipunctatus

by **vwfan79** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:42 am

I have 2 Synodontis multipunctatus cats and was just wondering if they would be happier if I got more of them. One other question, is it normal for them to hide in a cave all day and only swim around when the tank light is off?

by **Tmercier834747** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:57 pm

..this profile says that they are more bold in 'small groups'.
http://www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/af ... 100061.asp

I noticed a lot more boldness out of my Platydoras Costatus before I took his two buddies away due to overcrowding.

by **gumbii** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:20 am

in my tanks they would get very territorial once they got older... unless you have a pair i wouldn't try to get more unless you have the space or they are juveniles...

once they pair up they breed whenever another cichlid pair in the tank would start breeding... i had a tank with mutli's and another tank with petricola's... the multi's are more aggressive and breed alot more... good luck... and don't over pay for them... go on cichlid-forum.com and check if there's some sort of local breeder near you... and they will also fight with other cats like loricidae and such...

by **vwfan79** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:23 pm

Thanks gumbii, I haven't seen any aggression out of them though, the other cats in the tank are Pictus cats and they don't bother each other. I was still curious about the behavior, they hang out in cave when the light is on and only swim around when its off. Is that normal?

by **Tmercier834747** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:50 pm

I'm pretty sure most catfish or synos are nocturnal or will show some nocturnal behavior. If you'd like to see more of them you could invest in a moonlight LED but is that what I'm seeing cutting through the center of your water column there? or just flash/reflection?

by **vwfan79** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:56 pm

Ya I've been thinking about a moonligtht, what kinda time frame do run those for. I have my T5s come on at 5 and go off at 12 would I run the moonlight say from 11 to 3 or do you leave it on all night?

by **Tmercier834747** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:59 pm

I leave mine on all night. There are many areas of the tank that are completely dark because of plants/decor/etc so I'm not worried the fish will get stressed. It probably actually feels a bit more natural. You could try a 1 hour window on either side but personally I think a seamless transition makes for less stress when the "sun" comes on instantly if you know what I mean.

Also I just have 1 LED over my 16gal its a nice high quality one so it puts out a ton of moonlight, thankfully the plants shade things a lot. In your 90gal you may need 2 or 3 for a good effect. Mine was built into my PC unit. I believe they sell varying lengths of LED-only units and stuff on ebay for fairly decent prices if you look around.

by **vwfan79** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:07 pm

Thanks for the advice, looks like that will be the next purchase.....it seems like the purchases never end between new stuff and upgrading stuff......but you can't take your money to the grave with you so....
Do you happen to have any links of where to find a good moonlight, I use drs foster and smith some times, but is there a better one?

by **Tmercier834747** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:09 pm

If I can dig up a post by gumbii..he posted a great link once somewhere in general discussion. I don't have time atm but I'll look for it later.

by **vwfan79** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:15 pm

Thanks, I'll take a look around in there and see if I can find it.

Synodontis multipunctatus

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