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Best Small Plec


malawi_man

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does anyone know of a small plec that only gets around as big as a bn, has attractive colouring and doesn't cost too much?? i have noticed that the baryancistrus sp. are normally around $150+ :cry: which is too much for my budget. oh an it would probably have to survive ph 8.2. i am not looking for fish for sale, just ideas. if no-one knows any, what about african fish that look like synodontus.

Thanx in advance

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Regarding the synos - there are generally two types - those from riverine environs and those from the rift lakes. Obviously the rift lake ones are going to handle the pH no problems, the riverine ones would prefer a lower pH but I have found them to be very adaptable.

Probably the most common syno you're going to come across are the Featherfins (S. eupterus) - a riverine type. These are often imported as small juvinile fish (about 4cm long) that have attractive white stripes on a dark back ground and sell for $10-$20 from memory. These will grow quite rapidly into dark spotted specimens about 20cm long) with dorsal fin extensions.

Other ones that you may come across are:

S.nigriventris (the Upside down cat) - please note that some shops list any old syno as an upside down cat, these are smaller fish max of 10cm.

S.angelicus - black with white spots, often quite pricey, have a large adult size (from books - 55cm) but I haven't seen any really large specimens

S.decorus - attractive markings - large spots and some stripes on the tail.

S. nigrita - pale brown with darker spots

S. schoutedeni - one of the smaller types, max size ~15cm have a reticulated pattern

The one that would be interesting for an african tank would be S.multipunctatus - the Cuckoo syno, it lays it's eggs while some of the African cichlids are spawning, the cichlid picks up the catfish eggs as well as it's own and then ends up spitting out a mouthful of young catfish. The multipuncs can be difficult to find and often expensive though.

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